cracked strainer cover assy

[goran21220]

Ok i decided to change oil on my bike today and when i was putting the plug screw back i guess i overtightened it and made a small crack on the cover right where the screw is going in...Yes it's leaking oil now ,a drop at the time but still...My question is:Anybody think i can get that soldered or i need a whole new cover($143)?Let this be a lesson to all of you!Is this part hard to replace,you think i can do it myself?

 

[mib7289]

the part itself should not be hard to replace i just looked at it and it looked to be only a few bolts. the only thing would be to get the pipes out of the way if it requires any sort of room. if you dont need to move the pipes or you can get those pipes moved you should be fine. I would not recommend soldering that tho.

 

[Fred]

Yeah, solder won't work, since that's an aluminum part.

Welding would be very difficult, since you'd have to get all the oil off, then weld it, then re-tap the hole for threads, and finally remachine the flats where the crush washer seals.

Not worth the trouble, IMHO, Replacing it is easier.

This is the second time somebody's broken the oil pan by overtightening it. So be careful here, folks.

 

[champion221elite]

Replace that part! Do not risk your life by doing some half-a$$ solder job. That part will heat up quite warm since it's in contact with your engine oil. Just imagine what would happen if the solder melts or the crack gets larger. It's going to dump 3 quarts of engine oil onto your catalytic converter which operates at 1200+ degrees fahrenheit. Imagine how quickly that fire will get started. Secondly, and probably even more important is your rear tire. What will happen to you when your rear tire gets coated in leaking oil?

For your safety, please replace that part.

 

[granda080]

When I cracked the oil pan on my VW they said it was going to be $400. to fix it. The heck with that! I used an Epoxy and it was great! Easy and has done the job for the past two years. No problems. The oil pan on my VW is aluminum too. Epoxy is also sandable to the finish you want, and can be painted after sanding. I'm sure I'll catch some flack for this post, but I promise it works. I got the epoxy from Autozone for about $15.00, if you want to know exactly what I used I'll go out to the garage find the tube.
Of course if you can afford to replace the part do that, but the epoxy works.
Cheers

 

[goran21220]

I decided to give it a try with J-B WELD.I took the oil out,got it cleaned with carb cleaner,now i'm waiting for engine to cool off.It cant hurt to try.If the leakage doesn't stop i will replace the part

 

[Sawblade]

JB weld works great.

 

[Fred]

I decided to give it a try with J-B WELD.I took the oil out,got it cleaned with carb cleaner,now i'm waiting for engine to cool off.It cant hurt to try.If the leakage doesn't stop i will replace the part

That may not work. Carb cleaner leaves some oil behind (to lubricate a carb's moving parts). Give brake cleaner a go.

 

[fazer.rider]

Ok i decided to change oil on my bike today and when i was putting the plug screw back i guess i overtightened it and made a small crack on the cover right where the screw is going in...Yes it's leaking oil now ,a drop at the time but still...My question is:Anybody think i can get that soldered or i need a whole new cover($143)?Let this be a lesson to all of you!Is this part hard to replace,you think i can do it myself?

did you use a torque wrench? how tight did you do it? cuz i tried to tighten by hand and there's no way i can crack the pan that way. unless i have superhuman strength.

 

[goran21220]

No i don't have a torque wrench,i used ordinary one,i would never think that aluminium is so sensitive...Oh well,lesson learned!By the way i applied JD weld and now i have to wait 15 hours for it to dry.Hope it will work.I'll keep you guys posted

 

[fazer.rider]

No i don't have a torque wrench,i used ordinary one,i would never think that aluminium is so sensitive...Oh well,lesson learned!By the way i applied JD weld and now i have to wait 15 hours for it to dry.Hope it will work.I'll keep you guys posted

cool. btw did you put in a new crush washer?

 

[wrightme43]

You know JB weld will more than likely work. I have seen it do some amazing things. Hope it works out for you. If not a new oil pan wont be that hard either though.

One thing you may want to do is practice tighting things up though.

Bolts actually stretch, thats what keeps them tight. Metal is a crystal latice and deforms. It is absolutely amazing just how fasteners work, and why. Overtightening causes them to loosen more than being just barely tight enough. Its wierd, but there are cyclical stresses on them, heat/cool, load/unload, rotational and so on. The overtightened male/female thread has to dislocate molecules of metal to try and keep the crystal structure intact. Then the next load cycle does it again to try and make it shaped right again.

If you tighten it right the load cycles never reach the dislocation stage on slight stretch/deformation stage and the threads stay tight.

This is really a books worth of stuff trying to stuff into a few sentences. If your interested in not having it happen again. Buy

Engineer to Win by Carrol Smith.

Engineer to Win: The Essential Guide ... - Google Book Search

 

[wrightme43]

Oh and hey you can read the first 39 pages on the link above and get a reall good idea of what I am talking about. Its worth buying the book though. They knowledge inside will make you more competent and much safer.

 

[dean2287]

The answer to the burning question is 31 ft-lbf (43 Nm) of torque.

 

[fazer.rider]

The answer to the burning question is 31 ft-lbf (43 Nm) of torque.

my last bike (06 fizz) i went to install a slider bolt and the threads striped before it reached the specified torque.. from now on i always hand tighten them and stopped following the manual torque or i will torque less than the suggested rating.

 

[goran21220]

Ok i received a new part in mail today and i will try to replace it first thing tomorrow.Has anybody done this before?Is there anything i should watch for?I've downloaded the service manual which is helpfull but i still have a couple of things i'd like to ask you guys:Service manual instruct to remove the coolant first?!I dont see why is that necessary?Also,my friend suggested to apply a thin coat of some kind of sealant on both sides of oil pan gasket before putting the parts together,he claims it's necessary but the service manual doesn't mentione anything.I never dona anything like this before so any advice will be appriciated!One more thing,as you can see from the photo oil pan gasket is slightly bent in one spot due to shipping.Should i be worried about oil leaking in that spot cause of it?

 

[scoobydrvr]

Ok i received a new part in mail today and i will try to replace it first thing tomorrow.Has anybody done this before?Is there anything i should watch for?I've downloaded the service manual which is helpfull but i still have a couple of things i'd like to ask you guys:Service manual instruct to remove the coolant first?!I dont see why is that necessary?Also,my friend suggested to apply a thin coat of some kind of sealant on both sides of oil pan gasket before putting the parts together,he claims it's necessary but the service manual doesn't mentione anything.I never dona anything like this before so any advice will be appriciated!One more thing,as you can see from the photo oil pan gasket is slightly bent in one spot due to shipping.Should i be worried about oil leaking in that spot cause of it?

The bent pan gasket shouldn't be a problem. It goes between two machined surfaces which are almost tight enough to seal themselves, so it'll flatten out.
Regarding the sealant, black silicone (engine silicone, high temp) or this stuff mechanics call "grape jelly". I'm sorry I can't tell you exactly what the latter stuff is, exactly, but it'll probly be best for your application. It's made to go between machined surfaces. A lot of times factory service manuals won't go into a lot of detail regarding the tear-down and build-up of parts under the assumption that the mechanic has the common sense to do it right... Not a philosophy I agree with, but it saved someone some writing. When I rebuilt my motor, the oil pan got a gasket as well as a silicon sealant on both sides of the gasket. It doesn't look very pretty if you aren't careful, but it doesn't leak either.
One thing to keep in mind when putting sealant between machined surfaces: a little goes a long way. Don't get too liberal with it or it'll go everywhere. This won't be a problem, mechanically (provided you don't put a HUGE glob inside the case) but, as mentioned before, it doesn't look good.
Best of luck to you and make sure you take your time. Give the silicone some time to dry up and you should be in great shape.

 

[scoobydrvr]

EDIT:

I did some thinking... the cager didn't get sealant on both sides of the seal because there wasn't a seal. However, the oil pan had a much different design from this so the point is moot.

The "grape jelly" is called Anaerobic sealer and is most likely NOT best for your purpose. It's meant for surfaces without a gasket. The black silicone should be your best bet.

Just a note, this is what I would use on my bike if I had the same problem. However, I would take the part with you when you pick up the sealant and talk to the guys behind the counter for a second opinion. Some of those guys have been mechanic-ing longer than I've been alive...

Again, best of luck!