I started the usual maintenance check on the Tiger, inspect the tires, check the brake pads, fluids and of course, change the oil... but what the?
Okay breathe and try again, grunt, swear, grunt and snap! I finally broke loose the drain plug.
Why was the drain plug on so tight? I had the oil changed when the sprag clutch was replaced.
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| New crush washer on left, "crushed" washer on right |
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| Someone took the term crush washer literally. |
I have never, ever, ever seen a crush washer this flattened. I replaced the crush washer and drain plug and filled her up with fresh oil...
Then I had to try to find from where the oil was leaking. Awwww man!?!
I went through the first stage - denial "This can't be happening".
I removed the drain plug, drained the fresh oil, confirmed the source of the leak and went right to the second stage - anger "Why me? It's not fair".
I immediately searched Bike Bandit and ebay for a replacement pan, cross referenced part numbers, posted up help requests on forums, checked the calendar, cursed, calculated downtime, cursed some more and jumped right to the third stage - bargaining "please let me find an inexpensive replacement part".
I emailed friends to politely bow out of an upcoming weekend ride, checked the forums, checked finances with the CFO and plodded onto the forth stage - depression "oh, what's the point?"
It wasn't until I went to bed before finally arriving at stage five - acceptance "It's going to be OK."
Tuesday morning I took Brandy's bike to work wondering what I was going to do. Through a couple of friends came a recommendation of a local aluminum welder and with nothing to lose I gave him a call. He asked me to remove it, degrease it then take it to the car wash and power wash it before bringing it into him. Since Brandy wouldn't let me near the dishwasher it was off to the car wash.
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| The first crack |
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| Is it? A second split in the case? |
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| From the inside |
Tim does great work explaining exactly what he did, why he did it and how he did it.
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| Good as new |
He also explained to me how these pans are made, their weaknesses, faults and the importance of torque wrenches. We chatted for nearly an hour telling me stories of his most memorable rides, many of them 1000 mile day rides, yes, I said day rides. And I thought 300 miles was a good day.
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| Evidently the inside was a b*tch to weld |
Next was to find a gasket, I called around today and found one in stock at Hansen's in Medford, four hours south of us and I asked them to send it Priority Mail to me so I hope to see it Friday. Now to wade through the gasket/sealant debate to find the best method to reassemble and wait for the gasket.
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My question is why does anything motorcycle related have to be a hard fix all the time? It seems there is really nothing simple to fix.
ReplyDeleteEverytime I do something on my bike it ends up being more than I had planned or intended.
DeleteOuch!
ReplyDeleteWhat do material do they use? Looks like recycled yorkshire puddings!
I don't know why bike manufacturers use cast aluminum, cost I suppose but definitely not the easiest material to repair.
DeleteI wonder what the guy who put the plug in was thinking!? Or did he keep tightening to try and stop the leak? Nice that you found a good welder.
ReplyDeleteI had a Saab with one of the allow engine castings had a lot of hairline cracks. I was unable to find a used one locally so a friend of mine welded up all the cracks. It's still holding fine to this date.
There is no reason to tighten a drain plug that tight, I understand human error but they should be able to do an oil change blindfolded.
DeleteThat sucks. The mechanic that tightened that up needs a bollocking. I bet it was an apprentice working on it without any supervision and without any F'n idea. I do all my own oil and filter changes, least I know its done right.
ReplyDeleteI'm working with the owner and I'm doing all my own oil changes from now on.
DeleteI'm glad you got it fixed before your trips. It would've been really bad to have had a problem on the road. Those are some interesting drain plug threads with the slots cut through them.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get the gasket are you going to use a sealer on it? I would!. When I used to work on cars a lot, I used Permatex Form A Gasket Sealer, it looked like dark brown pudding and came in a small toothpaste like tube. I've also used a spray gasket sealer that came out of the can like liquid copper. Both worked well when installing oil pans and water pumps. It will make the oil pan removal a little more time consuming next time. Because you'll have to clean the bottom of the engine block and the lip of the oil pan to get off any little pieces of gasket that will most likely stick to them.
Gook luck!
The slots allow all the oil to drain out of the pan. If the weren't there, about 1/4" of oil and accumulated sludge would remain in the pan.
DeleteRichard is correct, unfortunately the slots only allow for a couple of millimeters of thread and create a weak spot in the pan.
DeleteI am going to use a gasket sealant and considering the options.
Troubadour:
ReplyDeleteWOW ! Why did your mechanic pick on you ! Aluminum welding is an Art. I stripped the bolts on my Alum block when installing the water pump, on my Alfa Romeo. Noobies torque too hard and eventually the wrench just kept turning . . . Luckily my Uncle knew how to weld Aluminum and he did a build up and fixed it.
This is why I used a 1/4" drive now and use my left hand when tightening anything. Luckily it will be fixed in time
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
I'm doing all my own oil changes from now on with a torque wrench and my mechanic is going to have to earn my trust again.
DeleteBrad,
ReplyDeleteWow indeed - the mechanic must have used a 6 ft length of scaffold pipe to torque it up. It's a wonder that the Tiger didn't spin round on the end of it! I hate sloppy work like that - makes you wonder about what the culture of the place is like.
I've never had a problem with the shop in the past, I hope this was a one time screw up and won't happen again. We'll see.
DeleteWould never had thought to weld it as a fix. I need to go out and get myself a good torque wrench! This was like a "scared straight" blog post.
ReplyDeleteI've never crushed a washer, I hand tighten the plug then give it an eighth to a quarter turn and that's it. I'll be using a torque wrench from now on.
DeleteYeah, the more "exacting tolerance" motorcycles will not tolerate over-torquing things....sorry to hear about your troubles but sounds like you're well on the way to recovery.
ReplyDeletedom
Redleg's Rides
Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
i just had something similar happen with my car and trusted shop :( no fun... but glad to hear its repairable. can you get the shop that damaged it to absorb the cost to weld/fix?
ReplyDeleteThis is a definitely bummer. I have the same question as mq01: Is the shop going to absorb the cost of the fix? It seems to me someone needs to be accountable if he wants your trust....ever.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it is working out. These things seem to have a way of doing so.
~k
Ok. I second what not everyone said already. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad you saw it and have been able to get it fixed "early".
It's a good thing you are handy with that sort of stuff or you would be broke. You guys have sure had some issues lately...
ReplyDelete