got a problem...needs fixed....idea's

[quadracer45]

hey i recently bought a kfx and went to go change the oil and to my surprise the big 17mm bolt was stripped out. So i have thought about this for the past week and still cant make up my mind on what i want to do here is my options throw in yours if you have any.

1. Drill the threads out and tap it to one size bigger wich would be an 18mm.(this to me sounds like the correct way to fix and not the half @ss lazy way and doesn't cost anything at all.)

2. Helicoil it and drill it and re-tap it for the 17mm bolt.(this would cost me about 120 bucks to do and sounds like a temporary quick fix.)plus i have never used helicoil.

3. Your opinion's

thanks for any help.

[riddler170]

I stripped out the small oil drain bolt (6mm), and tried both of those options. I tapped it to one size larger because I was in a rush to go on a 4-day desert ride. Then I went back and helicoiled it back to the 6mm size. I'll say this about helicoils from personal experience, they are not the half-assed method. When dealing with aluminum, they are the best option. Aluminum, in most cases, is weaker than the grade 8 bolts used. So eventually, they will strip. Just look at the automotive world. Most aluminum heads and blocks have some form of threaded insert used in them. I have never had a problem with a helicoil, and I don't really worry about stripping out a bolt that has been helicoiled. Plus, a typical helicoil kit for a M12x1.5 runs around $50-60 and you can do it yourself in about an hour.

Helicoil kits are pretty straight forward to use. Drill the threads, tap the hole (oil the tap), screw in the insert, remove the tang, and done.

[SCEADU]

Blieve it or not I have used this stuff and works when used correct. I had 3 stripped out header bolts on my SB chevy and I can get 45 lbs of torque back on them with this stuff. Not perfect but will work in a pinch


http://http://www.permatex.com/produ...ead_Repair.htm

[quadracer45]

Well the thread pitch is 1.5 by 14 mm diameter. It will cost 120 so I guess. I'll have to take it in the pooper on this one.

Is there a cheaper place online

[250ftabyss]

I am a metal worker by trade. I can say that stainless helecoils are WAY BETTER than aluminum threads and by no means are they temporary. Helicoil kits are not anywhere close to $120 more like $20-40 with the install tool. Good luck!

[teeth212]

were are you looking at helicoils at man well were ever it is you need to block that web site just cheeck around at rocky mountain and denis kirk and places like that i just put a helicoil in my wifes rancher the oil pleg stripped on it to i just went to the honda shop and got the heli coil and tool and my bill was only thirty two bucks and i got the nice tool but good luck and the best method is the helicoil for sure

[quadracer45]

Also i looked at the drain plug its self and its not like a car drain plug it has two holes about half way down the threads and no holes on the top. To me this would mean that it wont drain unless the whole bolt comes out and with helicoil thats not going to work. has anybody ever noticed that. Again this is on the big 17mm drain bolt.


well heres the deal i checked o'reilly's and they didn't have a 1.5 x 14 and neither did a place called automotive supply and they had them but it would run me like 118 to 126ish.

so i came home and looked online and figured out why. its because automotive supply cant order my 1.5 x 14 so they were going to try to sell me a metric kit wich comes with every meteric size helicoil.

so i found a store online called national tool warehouse and they have the one i need and it comes in a package of 6 1.5 x 14 for 11 and some change.

should i go for it and just buy it online.

[Slaytanic454]

Helicoils are very permanent, and superior in strength and durability to the original threads (More like a rolled thread; they're superior to cut steel threads even, they're FAR superior to cut aluminum threads). You definitely wouldn't be able to drill out the stripped threads, and tap it 1mm bigger; you'd have to go quite a bit larger (The tap drill size for the new tap would have to clear the major diameter of the old threads)

Go with the helicoil so you won't have to worry about it again. And what about drain plug having some kind of goofy holes in it? It's a plug dude, it blocks a hole, nothing more. As long as you can thread it in to prevent oil from getting past it, and thread it out to let oil through the hole, you're good.

[quadracer45]

k well i think the problem may be bigger than that. i know what your saying about how its a drain plug but next time you change your oil look in the hole and you will se that it doesn't drain from the top it is blocked off. what it does is drain from the sides, about a 1/4 inch from the bottom of the case. If i use helicoil it will block it from ever being able to drain.

and im afraid that it may be a little sleeve that was casted into the case and if i drill i that it will go to big a take the sleeve out completely

just let me know what you guys think and thanks for the help. i just don't want to do something and it cant be undone or screw it up by doing it the wrong way.

[kfx450r#490]

i did the same thing and was going to retap it, but weve had a very hard time finding a replacement larger plug. ive never used a heli coil nor has my dad, so were both very skeptic about them but like quad racer45 said "what it does is drain from the sides, about a 1/4 inch from the bottom of the case. If i use helicoil it will block it from ever being able to drain." so now for the guys that have replaced the threads with the heli coil are you able to drain with the coil in or are you just using the small one to drain?