I searched and didn't find any other topics... so asking in a new topic.

I drained the oil today, and when I put the drain bolt in, by hand, I made sure it turned in smooth. But it won't torque down, just keeps turning. And won't come out either.

Anyone see this before?

* Last updated by: privateer on 5/29/2010 @ 3:16 PM *

You've stripped yer bolt my man!Only thing I could suggest Privateteer is get a set of vise-grips on er,and as you're turning it to come out,apply strong downward force(pull) underneath as well,just a turn or so at a time to get it to begin threading again on the loosening turns.I wouldn't try tightening any more.After you get er out,you can get down to the hardware store and get ya a slightly larger self tapping bolt(it'll have 4 slots in the threaded part,and the tip will be "smaller" in diameter than the ending threads at the top of the bolt shank).Get that in there with a decent thin washer(plastic)and retighten(carefully so yer not crossthreading it)....but NOT to spec.Just till see snugs down good...not TOO much now.Had one on another bike do that once.Fixed it by what I said here.Never leaked again.Just gotta remember....NOT TOO TIGHT!Sorry man...that is easy to do if yer not payin attention when ya make the final tightening turn."Just a bit more"....that's what gets ya everytime!It's an easy fix....no drama!(and an easy mistake....I know).

* Last updated by: blue07 on 5/29/2010 @ 10:20 PM *

Well, I figured the bolt was stripped, but that suprised the heck out of me because it never clicked my torgue wrench set 2 ft/lbs. lower than spec.

I guess I'm going to drop the pan, because I'd hate to find out the hard way I pushed some metal shards up into the pan.

"You've stripped yer bolt my man!
Only thing I could suggest Privateteer is.Just gotta remember....NOT TOO TIGHT!Sorry man...that is easy to do if yer not payin attention when ya make the final tightening turn."Just a bit more"....that's what gets ya everytime!(and an easy mistake....I know)."

That was blue's repair. Here is Hub's F.. IS IT?:

1. 4 new exhaust gaskets.
2. 1 new sump pan.
3. 1 new sump gasket.
4. 1 new 17mm drain plug.
5. 1 new drain washer.
6. 1 new oil filter.
7. 4 quarts of...
8. Road Testicle for leaks.
9. Your Bike ~ Your Repair.
10. The FiX IS INN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1VNJD_Uzo

Hey, I was put under the bus with car mechanics. There was so much overload, they let me service what is called a "gravy" type work order. This is a major service with valve adjust. Nothing but routine service. No chasing problems, just basic air pressure, change oil... Change oil?

Here I take a break from bikes, try auto mechanics for half a decade. The car mechanics seem to be worse than bike mechanics, if that is possible (you say). There were some screwed up drain plugs on those Honda cars. How these guys could not figure out how little you need of a bite on that drain bolt. Once that crush happens, you would think...... Naaaaaaaaaaaaa. What was I thinking. I've seen some car horror stories besides facing that stripped drain plug some so called, ASA badged "PRO" touch it for ya?

There is nowhere to hide, pri. You have that 'professional" touch too. Gotta figure it out, a torque spec is there in book, but not for; real world hands. You hand feel the tail light lens screw, not torque that thread to max pitch stretch with the plastic behind it. Kind of think around the bolt that way, after you see what you are torquing to.

I might just have the drain bolt hole drilled out, and have a stainless steel insert put in, so that I never have the problem again. Depends on if I can find the part.

Decided to just buy a new pan, pan gasket, plug, drain bolt, drain bolt washer. Going to be VERY careful snugging the pan bolts, they need only a small number of inch-pounds to be torqued fully.

I guess since I had to take the exhaust off, I might as well buy a new exhaust system and PC5.

Hopefully the new pan works for you, I had over-tourqued the oil pan bolts on my old bike (wrench was set to 25ft-lbs not 15...), i remember trying my torque wrench out for the first time, set it to 5 ft-lbs and tried it on a bolt, snapped the bolt off cause I didn't hear the click and didn't know what 5 ft-lbs felt like.

For future reference, i VERY highly recommend the steel inserts (helicoil is the brand name of 1) that oil pan bolt pulled the threads out of the block, i tried drilling and re-taping but aluminium is really soft and the new threads couldn't even handle 5 ft-lbs.

I used the helicoils and when i was practising on a piece of aluminium i had kicking around i accidentially did the EXACT SAME THING (set the wrench to 25 ft-lbs)... but the inserts held the threads (proof that they are just that good).

I've heard of people that will re-drill perfectly good threads to put the coils in because they do such a good job.

HOW MUCH FOR THE STRIPPED OUT OLD PAN?

THANKS -- BOBBY

Privy,

Feel how tight one 6mm bolt feels like? Hand tighten the thing right back so you get a 'feel' for it. Do not use a click style wrench on 6mm bolts. Watch the race pit guys with all their tools. They use T-handles, not torque wrenches. Get the feel down by HAND or you will be buying part after part, you do not get a grip on this.

* Last updated by: Hub on 6/1/2010 @ 8:43 AM *

torque wrench on the drain plug? ive always just tightened then give a lil bump. do same on the car, ive never had one come loose. well I hope that fixes her for ya.

Yes, what I will do with the many oil pan bolts, is put them snug by finger tip then a socket with extension but no ratchet attached, and only a couple fingers on it.

Same with the oil drain bolt.

Scottjkyl you bought the best exhaust system in the world for a ZX14. I'm waiting to hear from the ceramic guys how much, I want to have Brocks ship direct and have the ceramic guys ship finished product to me.

Someone in this, or the old, forum said you could take header off without removing radiator fully if you are careful. I can attest to this! I took out the two top bolts and unhooked the connector, and let the radator tilt forward against the horns. I have a radiator guard, so no worries.

The nuts holding the header on came off super easy, they had virtually no torque on them I could detect. So when I put the new system on, I'll duplicate that feel. It will be obvious when I fire it up if they aren't tight enough, lol. Besides, when the headers heat up, they get really tight.

I learned my lesson. I might be a good machinist, but had never dealt with such soft aluminum. The aluminum blocks on my sports cars over the years might have been softer than steel, but not enough you couldn't torque the drain bolt safely, lol.

Really appreciate the ideas, the support, and the humor. Its learning experience.

Bobby, I'm not selling the old pan, I'm taking it to my nephew the welder to try something. First, I want the drain hole bored out as much as possible and retapped, then have a stainless steel insert with out and inner threads screwed in with locktite sealant in the threads (it will never come out or leak). Then I can use a stainless steel bolt with that insert, and never have a strip happen.

But I won't put it back on, this is a trial run to see if we could make some for sale.

By the way Hub, I really do have a machinist background. I made a mistake, but I know what it was and it won't happen again.

I have a set of T-handles that make a race team look like paupers. And you are right I should have used them. I was in a hurry, not even thinking about the material I was working with.

However, I think I made a mistake by ordering the parts from BikeBandit, I might not get them until next year. LOL those guys suck they are so slow. Still I would have had to pay $80 more PLUS state tax to get them in 4 days from my stealer. I've got their 888 line on speaker phone, I'm going to leave it on all night if necessary and let them pay for it.

* Last updated by: privateer on 6/1/2010 @ 8:40 PM *

priv, im not the smartest guy on here but please explain why you would ceramic coat a titanium exhaust ? i asked brocks about that and they said no no no. this exhaust is cool to the touch within 1 min of shutting the bike off and no where near the heat that the stock header put off.

just curious.

priv im glad i took the radiator completly off it takes less than 10 min to remove and i had lots of room to work without worry of putting a hole in the raditator, and those springs that hook the header to the collectors can be a bitch 10 min and $40 worth of new coolant or $300 and $40 coolant if you put a hole in it a no brainer for me lol

scottjkl wrote :

priv im glad i took the radiator completly off it takes less than 10 min to remove and i had lots of room to work without worry of putting a hole in the raditator, and those springs that hook the header to the collectors can be a bitch 10 min and $40 worth of new coolant or $300 and $40 coolant if you put a hole in it a no brainer for me lol

I don't punch holes in radiators, I just strip threads and force myself to tear down the oil pan.

I'm not worried about the springs connecting the header to the collector, the ones on the flanges where the headpipes attach to the engine might be tricky though.

If I don't have to dump engine ice, I won't. Besides, you can easily use carpet tape with only one sticky side revealed and cover the bottom of the radiator and prevent any damage. The tape is like 8 inches wide, it doesn't take much. And comes off very easy with no residue. The upper part of my radiator is safe, since it has two fan housings on it.

Brocks has never said anything to me about not doing ceramic on their titanium pipes. If you understand materials, the reason the titanium is cool to the touch shortly after you shut down is because it radiates the heat faster than stainless. But it doesn't encapsulate heat better than stainless steel significantly. In other words, with the engine running, put your hand on the collector tube (from header to muffler body) and see if it burns you. Now ceramic coat it, and see. BIG difference. This heat encapsulation accelerates the exhaust gases (obvous benefits) awnd lowers the skin temperature by about 400 degrees.

The SR71 Blackbird had a titanium skin, but had to circulate fuel behind the leading edges to cool the titanium. The heat went right through it into the fuel. The canopy was at 300 degrees when it landed, and stayed there for several minutes before they could open the canopy. Extreme, but the purpose of the titanium was to reduce weight and gain extreme strength, not heat management.

You may very well be experiencing lower heat subjectively, which would mean the CT exhaust is flowing better than the OEM exhaust too. Well duh, of course it is ! Thats why it puts out the best horsepower numbers of any Brock's exhaust system.

priv, ok that makes sense. But I'd think twice about sending to coater first without test fitting the exhaust on the bike first, I say this because if for some reason there is something wrong with the fitment you will have wasted $$ coating it and you wont be able to return it to brocks after coating it. just a thought.

The main reason I pulled the radiator was that I was replacing anti-freeze with engine ice. But that was my first exhaust that uses springs to hold it together so for me it was to say the least a pain in the ass lol

I just got off the phone with EJ at Brock's. He agrees 100% with me about coating the CT-DUAL exhaust and has done it to his and other Brock's bikes, including several ZX14s.

It lowers the skin temperature so much the ZX14 no longer cooks you at stops in hot weather. Plus the performance and gas mileage improves due to increase flow velocity / reduced back pressure. The thickness of the outside coating is not enough (just a few milimeters) to interfere with fitment, which EJ confirmed.

My CT-DUALs are on the way, coming to me first, easier for Brock's. Just getting a PC3 because a PC5 won't benefit me. Since the side bodywork and tank cover are off, it will be a good time to install.

I'm just getting a street map, flies in, nothing else changed but the exhaust system.

So I guess the Givi luggage is off until Winter, because I am swapping around the order of buying things. Is ok, just won't go on the 3 day trips the gang has scheduled.

I am having Custom Coatings do the ceramic, they are going to do a race coat inside and 2,000+ degree satin black on the outside.

* Last updated by: privateer on 6/3/2010 @ 10:19 AM *

priv whats the cost of having that done ? and what are you coating? to the cans? please post some pics of the coated pipes b4 the install if you could. thanks

I am having Custom Coating do TLHB inner coating, which is a racing inner coating to increase exhaust velocity as much as possible. The outer coating will be Black Satin, which is beautiful and will look good with my carbon fiber. Having it done back to the cans, but not the cans.

About $290 with the TLHB, or $240 without it, using Black Satin inside and out.

Will be very happy to post pictures right before I install.

At least BikeBandit shipped my pan and stuff already, so by the time I get those parts, get them on, I'll still have to wait a week or two before I get the exhaust back, maybe a little more.