ohhhhhhhhhhh man.......stripped drain bolt......please, please, please read

[ryanh250ex]

oooooooooooooooooooooh **** am i screwed.....here's the story. i needed to change my gear oil, so i go to open up the oil cap on the top of the driveshaft with a ratchet and in the middle of unscrewing it, it breaks on me. it breaks cleanly right in half,with the bottom half still screwed in.no biggie, i figure, and by hand i turn the bottom of the cap out. using the same ratchet, i go to unscrew the drain bolt, and it does the EXACT same thing! only this time i doubt i can pull it out with my fingers....it broke right in half, just above the washers, leaving little, if any room outside the outer metal of the driveshaft. this leaves no bolt-like surface to grasp and unscrew.


does ANYBODY AT ALL know how to get this thing out?

ANY advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Ryan

[310Rduner]

are you talking oil check.. or drain bolt at bottom of the motor??

try tapping it.. to get some lodged in it.. then turn it out..

or drill it a bit.. be VERY careful .. when you drill it.. just start turning it out with like an easy-out..

its a big bolt.. it should be too hard..

[ryanh250ex]

i'm talking about the drain bolt at the bottom of the driveshaft.

i'm gonna see if i can get the face of a flathead screwdriver chiseled into it.

i'm gonna go try that now.

drill a hole and get an E-Z out

unless u know what ur doing take it somewhere. I broke the bolt in the case saver after it was installed with red locktight :rolleyes: I tried to get it out with easy outs, making a flat head in the top, grabing it with pliers, etc. After a week and having the biggest headache and wanting to sell the damn thing i brought it to a shop and they got it out after an hour using very good tools. (something i dont have :mad: ) Its so much simplier to let someone else deal with ur problems. :D But remember shops are very expensive (around here its $60 - $100 an hour for labor) Try first but if u cant get it quick or mught end up screwing it up worse, bring it somewhere.

[nastynotchback1]

if you can get to it with a drill drill it out useing a left hand thread drill bit.if the drill bit chatches as you drill it may back the bolt out.if not the use an eazy-out on it after u drill the hole.

[phatswinn]

if theres anybolt sticking out cut a line in it and use a flathead screwdriver to take it out or get a nut the size of the bolt and turn it on the bolt with some thread locker and turn it out that way

[Ben]

Originally posted by phatswinn
if theres anybolt sticking out cut a line in it and use a flathead screwdriver to take it out.

You know that is an interesting idea that I never thought of! Good idea, may come in handy some day!! :D

[kxrider]

if there is not stickin out you will have to drill, ,my friends 400 did this last week, just drill it then get some new inserts cuase you will proly mess up the threads

[ryanh250ex]

thankfully, i got it out. it was just barely sticking out of the bottom of the driveshaft, basically at the very surface of the metal of the case. i used a flathead screw driver and then my hands to pry it out....surprisingly, it was really easy. now i just have to go replace the parts i broke and some new washers and i'll be set.

QuadMX..........i am not going to pay an absurd amount of money that i dont have to change out my gear oil.i do follow my shop manual for the most part and have a general idea about what i'm doing. the last time i went to a shop, i needed a rejet, a valve job, and a oil change, and the asswipe that did the work (mike @ outlaw atv) had my machines for 4 MONTHS, temproarily lost my keys (2 keys + 2 NJORVP membership tags) and never returned my calls. until my dad drove up to helmetta nj (a good drive from my house in jackson) and surprised mike by showing up in person and threatened to get other people involved, he blew us off.

while i am perfectly aware that not every shop works in this manner, i would still rather do the work myself. i am on a tight budget as i am 15 and have no source of income (that will change soon, though). my parents also do not usually have the time to drive me to where i need to go to have my work done. there are also no reputable dealers or shops in my area (dealers are terrible, and i dont hear too many positive things about the few shops near me). besides, i am trying to learn how to work on quads, since i plan on doing work on them in the future. i appreciate your suggestion, but it doesn't work for me. sure, it's simpler to let someone else deal with your problems, but it's alot more expensive, too.

thank you all for your suggestions. i dont know what i'd do without the help from the members of this site.

[ryanh250ex]

now that i'm thinking about it........why the hell did it break in the first place?

i was using a ratchet, when i was supposed to be using a torque wrench- could that be the reason?

i dont remember what things i was using on the ratchet to unscrew them.

any ideas?

[Martin Blair]

you can also get a reverse threaded steel screw, you can find them t home deopt and ACE hardware.

Srew that in and it will bakc it out then go buy a new bolt.

[250EXking]

you think thats bad ryan250ex. my dumbass brother was emptying the motor oil on his 250ex. and broke the threads that the drain bolt threads into. and of cousre that thread is part of the middle casing. so that required a new case and gaskets. honda ended up paying for the labor. but he payed 300 for new parts. now i do all the quad work around here.:D

[ryanh250ex]

Originally posted by 250EXking
you think thats bad ryan250ex. my dumbass brother was emptying the motor oil on his 250ex. and broke the threads that the drain bolt threads into. and of cousre that thread is part of the middle casing. so that required a new case and gaskets. honda ended up paying for the labor. but he payed 300 for new parts. now i do all the quad work around here.:D

i'm not saying that what happened is the worst thing imaginable. at the time i made this topic i was panicking like there was no tomorrow because i had no idea how to get it out, IF there was a way to get it out.

now that it's out and it didn't damage the threads, i gotta replace the parts and put them on. not a big deal, but now i need to figure out why the hell they broke like that.i'm gonna be fuming if i break them a second time and have to replace those parts again.

[99'300EX]

just dill a smaller hole thru the old bolt and and tap it and put a smaller bolt thru there..just make sure u flush it out a few times to make sure all the shaving are out..it worked for me

[White_Knuckles]

ryanh250ex, I've found several phillips head screws and bolts that have factory locktight or are over-torqued. I have a hand impact driver the right bits, sockets, an air impact wrench, propane torch, torque wrenches etc. I’ve sheared off too many to count over the years for no apparent reason. Good fix with the slot technique.

Providing you were turning the drain bolt OUT, the ratchet is the right choice. A torque wrench may add leverage but it's too spongy for removing bolts.

I think it may be an evil Japanese trick designed to make us think we should of used the dealer. There is a secret list of nasty bolts the dealer hides in their shop. :devil:

[ryanh250ex]

Originally posted by White_Knuckles
ryanh250ex, I've found several phillips head screws and bolts that have factory locktight or are over-torqued. I have a hand impact driver the right bits, sockets, an air impact wrench, propane torch, torque wrenches etc. I’ve sheared off too many to count over the years for no apparent reason. Good fix with the slot technique.

Providing you were turning the drain bolt OUT, the ratchet is the right choice. A torque wrench may add leverage but it's too spongy for removing bolts.

I think it may be an evil Japanese trick designed to make us think we should of used the dealer. There is a secret list of nasty bolts the dealer hides in their shop. :devil:

hmm....very interesting.

so you're saying that chances are i had it right, and the factory screwed up by over torqueing it? ugh. stupid factory.

how do i know when to stop screwing it in? when it becomes hard to screw?

[White_Knuckles]

Yeah, if you began the removal by turning out (not tightening) then it was a fluke it snapped, the tool and method you used was correct.

To properly tighten a fastener, first check if it is steel or an aluminum thread your going to tighten. If the manual has a torque spec. you may use the T-wrench to set to spec. I found the cheap pointer/scale wrenches work best for small settings where the spendy "clicker" ones are best for head bolts and higher T-specs.

It's a learned "feel" for hand tightening into aluminium. Use your basic 3/8 rachet, choke up on the handle almost to the end (eliminating handle leverage) and tighten until it stops and you can't apply any more hand power. With a steel thread you may apply a little more handle assisted force, but never pull down hard with full leverage and strength on bolts other than specific engine and large steel frame fasteners etc.

People think they need to crank 'em down to prevent vibrating out. Too loose, bad - lost a bolt, Too tight, Way Bad - lost a weekend fixing something that was preventable.

[Matt102]

Yeah, the japs are trying to get us back from WWII.:scary:

[redroost85]

Heh, heh, heh! ryanh250ex...I am laughing now because it is over, but I remember when I was trying to get the drain plug out from the bottom of the shaft. I think it was like a 10mm or something, but it is awkward angle to get in there to the bolt. Oh yeah, be careful not to overfill the shaft with oil. Use the drain bolt check on the side, when it starts coming out, that is enough oil.....I am sure that you know all this already! Well, anyway I am glad you got through all this with a smile...hopefully!.......don't you hate it when you feel that you have effed something up beyind no return?!:D

[250x#93]

I stripped my drain plug a little once but I retapped it and fixed her right up:devil:

[250x#93]

Yeah I always tighten **** up and am like ya that looks good, then I'm like no I better give her a little more, and then comes the dreadfull CLUNK!!!!!:devil: HAHA:scary: