Oil Filter Cover Hex Screw Freely Rotates

[Haustorium]

I noticed a slight oil leak coming from the bottom of the oil filter cover, so I tried to see how tight the hex screw on the bottom of the cover was. It turns out that it is freely rotating and won't tighten at all. Is there any way to solve this, or am I totally boned?

[arbolmano]

Not totally boned. Unless the other screws got stripped too...Check the other two!
I'd first check an see if you maybe got lucky. Sometimes there will be a little more thread left in the hole.
A longer screw will bite and will hold with blue lock tite. If you don't have experience /tools for remaking threads
might be better left to a pro. Check close that all screws are the right length and pitch or even metric! I've have found before
where someone had lost a screw mid oil change and forced a 1/4" bolt into a hole meant for 6mm. I wouldn't dally on getting that fixed
Check out "Death of the Mayflower" in Admiral's posts to see a hazard of an oil leak.

[Haustorium]

Thanks for the heads up! I checked the other two and they're totally fine - the heads are a little chewed up, but they're tight against the cover (I didn't want to over torque those too!). That's a good call with the longer screw - I actually pulled the hex screw out and did see small shards of aluminum in the threads on the screw, so I know that the previous owner must have just way overtorqued it. I'm fairly new to the mechanical end of things, but do you know what I would be looking at cost-wise to get someone to remake the threads for that hole? If it would be way too expensive I would just grab a new crankcase cover and swap it out.

[Devils Advocate]

Are you sure it's stripped and not snapped. You may have a snowballs chance of this being the case. On my XR400 the bolts were sized to break before stripping the threads on the case. Ask me how I know.

Take the cover off, and if you're as lucky as me, you may be able to get the end out with just your fingers.

[Haustorium]

I'm pretty sure it's the case that it stripped it - I saw a fair number of aluminum shavings in the threads of the bolt itself and I'm not sure how those would get there if it was snapped. When you mention the cover, do you mean the crankcase cover, or just the oil filter cover?

[Devils Advocate]

Just the oil filter cover. Heck, you can tell by just pulling the bolt out.

If it is stripped drilling and tapping is easy on aluminum. Have you ever ran a tap in anything?

[Haustorium]

Yeah, the bolt looks intact. I wish it was that easy of a fix!

[Haustorium]

See, that's why I love this community - so helpful! I'm in the finger lakes region of New York. Sometimes I wish I was out in the Pacific Northwest though!

[TW-Brian]

For what it's worth, here is what the other end of that screw looks like. If the bolt did break off, you may be able to get the broken part out from this side. If the threads are just stripped, there may be enough material on this boss to install a heli-coil insert to restore these threads.

100_5268.JPG

[Dryden-Tdub]

See, that's why I love this community - so helpful! I'm in the finger lakes region of New York. Sometimes I wish I was out in the Pacific Northwest though!

Dude I am in Dryden! I have a tap set and will travel to you.


Tom