Stripped drain plug...am I screwed?

[unclejemima]

I purchased a 86 atc125, and I changed the oil once since I got it. I always am cautious not to over tighten the oil drain plug. (it is on the bottom of the engine, not the side)

Anyway, I went to drive it a few days ago and I noticed a little puddle of oil under the trike. I though, oh shat, where is that coming from? Put my hand underneath and it turned out just to be coming from the drain plug bolt. Ok, I figured I must not have tightened it enough, so I got my wrench out and gave it a few turns. Sure enough, it was loose, but it just kept spinning without snugging up. Damn, I thought.

The bolt is still semi-tight (not finger tight, still need a wrench to loosen). Is there an easy way to fix this? Do I have to re-thread the hole or is that dangerous because of metal pieces?

Any tips would be appreciated. This really sucks and has be bummed out. I hope it is fixable!

[blue27]

you can helicoil them, It does require drilling the hole a little larger, just drill slow and coat the drill bit with grease so some of the metal shavings stick to it.

[Rm250RF900R]

I heard my sv1000s has a problem with this. Many people have helicoiled them. It seems to work. I just dont know the process. Never had to do it!

[SWIGIN]

I have used helicoils many times to fix drain bolts.

I drain the oil and save it to flush out any metal that's in there. Use greese on the helicoil tap, that'll catch most of the chips.

[Tecate 50]

First thing, see if it can be re-tapped for a larger bolt. If so just re-tap the threads, you can use a vacuum cleaner to catch the shavings if needed. Before you finalize it, clean and flush the area for shavings. I had to do this to my kxt250......so if you go with a larger bolt, get a magnatized one if possible. This will catch all the junk at the bottom. Other wise drain the new oil and the stuff not caught will come out by way of gravity alone. Dont sweat it.......its been done before!

[rickybudz]

Temp fix: Teflon tape!

[Escanabajosh]

the teflon tape will melt after a while, or so i was told cause i thought the same thing when i had this problom on my sx. i'd get the heli coil or a time sert kit. i still have to do this to my sx i just bought this thing at carquest that has a drain bolt within a bolt )hard to explain) but i put that and some thread sealer on it and havent had a problom. it was a temp fix i never got around to permenant fix yet.

[JohnR.]

The one in my R was stripped when I brought it home many years ago. I brought the old one to the auto parts store and figured out what size it was, then I found what car/truck took the same size drain plug and grabbed one of the "one oversize" ones from the HELP section. They have a tip that will cut new threads just a little bigger than the original but the problem was that it was too long and wouldn't screw all the way in so I ran it in until it bottomed out (I guess on the gears) and took it back out. At this point it had cut the threads needed for the oversize plug to fit in so I just carefully hacksawed off the part of the plug that was tapered to cut the threads and put it all back together. That was about 15 years ago and just this season the plug stripped again. Not too bad for an easy, cheap, fix that didn't require any special tools or anything. IIRC this time the hole was just big enough for a 1/4" NPT brass pipe plug so that's what I went too.

[Dirtcrasher]

Especially with aluminum, the hole is already just a bout sized.

You won't need to drill it out, just use a helicoil tap (about 20$) and a coil (about 1$)

I do like the threaded inserts better for this application because it will be loosened a couple/few times a year.

A grab bar and other items I love using helicoils on...............

[unclejemima]

Thanks guys! I was worried that this would be a big deal. I really appreciate all the advice!

I'll get on it this weekend.

Take care,

[Sick200x]

Lots of good advice here already. I'd go the helicoil route first, usually the strongest fix and will last. Be sure to coat the treads (tap) with grease to catch chips like was said above. If the helicoil fails sometime down the road you can then drill/tap to next oversize. I usually flush any extra debris out with kerosene, let it drain out. Fill with oil, run up to temp, then drain the oil again to be sure you got any other chips out. Refill and your off riding. If none of those work for you I've got extra 125 cases I could put on ebay. Good luck!

[Sheridan23]

Someone said this earlier I think, but my friend bought an oil drain plug at the auto store that is meant for this exact situation. It's bigger and as you tighten it in, it makes its own threads. Its supposed to be for cars but it seems to have worked for his 250r