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Son of a bitch. That MOOSE Magnetic Plug F-KED it up. I all ways torque to 14.5 lbs., the plug went in FINE last time, went to put back in & I've got THREADS on the bolt. I tapped using a 10mm Heli-Coil and I goes in fine, BUT WILL NOT TORQUE to 14.5lbs. I have it snug and put 700cc of oil in, ran it and have to see if the seal/tightness is good enough. It's been 15 minutes and it's still dry (the Oil Bolt)

Get a couple of heat cycles on it and see how it looks. Using a plastic or fiber gasket on the bolt will also help if its got a slight leak.

I have the Aluminum gasket being used with the plug, but I was also thinking of a rubber gasket or TEFLON Plumbers tape. I always wondered if that would work or melt.
Wosre comes to worse, Illl have to bring it to my SIL, Nephews Dealership

I think Teflon tape would be a bad idea on the plug. Too much chance of it coming off and gumming up some place that you wouldn't want it to.

I'll second the "NOT" using teflon tape and I'll second the using of a plastic or fiber gasket as "GOOD" ideas if it leaks.

Also, as m0rie (lots of good info from him on this one) said...a few heat cycles will let you know if it's going to leak or not. The transmission is not pressurized, it doesn't take much to keep it from leaking.

I personally have never torqued a drain plug (car, truck or bike). Just snug. Never had one leak. Even smashed the oil pain right at the drain plug when the engine lift failed (ok...ok...I turned the hydraulic release a tad too much when lowering ) and that one never leaked just snugging it down.

It seems snug enough, still dry

14.5 ft. lbs.

It seem that Kawi wants you to keep them in business by having you buy a set of cases when you STRIP the bolt at that torque in the soft aluminum.

I snug mine down, maybe 8ft lbs max.

Two other areas I disagree with them on:

1) Torquing the spark plug to 20 ft lbs. 20???!!! They must want you to buy a head from them too. I usually do 10-12ft lbs., enough to crush the gasket and make a good seal. Never had one unscrew itself.

2) The fork pinch bolts torque order seems to be backwards. Why would you torque the lower pinch bolts where the tubes overlap each other to 18 ft lbs, and the upper bolts where they pinch the fork caps to 14 ft lbs? I do 15 lower, 15 upper and call it a day.

I am no engineer, but some of the torque values seem a bit off or excessive. I prefer I don't eat fork caps or loose my plugs when riding, but when an '04 YZ250 two stroke with much higher compression and power output calls for 11ft lbs for the same spark plug, I think that is more than enough for the KDX.

I have found that using the soft aluminum drain plug washers, they should be replaced every time you change the oil.

The aluminum washers will distort with repeated use and mushroom into the chamfer at the opening of the threaded drain hole. This will start smashing and distorting the first thread or two.

After repeated drain plug removals and installations will cause the aluminum case threads to gall and weaken the integrity of the thread and eventually strip out with tighten.

I agree with everyone here about using a torque wrench on the drain plug "don't do it", snug it by hand.

JMO,
Ron

Drain plug and spark plug are applied with the "torque hand"

Bailey28 - Are you talking about the upper and lower pinch bolts on the triple clamps? If your running USD forks 15+ is way too tight. 12 or lower on the lower pinch bolts is the only way to go for eliminating the stiction that too tight of a torque setting causes.

I don't have a choice now anyway. Snug seems to be fine, NO OIL LEAKING. I also, used the TINY HOLE in the Drain Plug & SAFETY WIRED it to the Lower Frame. The Spark Plug I always tighten by hand, if I can't turn any more it's got to be tight enough. Never shot a plug through the tank yet

Morie,

I have the conventinal 43mm kayabas from the factory, I'm not fast enough for USD forks!!

Bailey28 wrote:Morie,

I have the conventinal 43mm kayabas from the factory, I'm not fast enough for USD forks!!

Put the USD on & you will be surprised HOW MUCH FASTER YOU CAN GO. REALLY

Went out & rode 24 miles last night. Checked his morning & there is a tiny bit of Oil Wetness coming from the drain plug, where the washer meets with the casing. I have not replaced the washer, could this be a cause outside of having to RE_TAP the hole & replace with a new HELI-COIL?? No significant oil loss, still way safe, it just pisses me off.

RBD, any ideas if your reading??

Green Hornet,

I think you should try the plastic type of drain plug washer that m0rie suggested (actually use a nylon one from a good hardware store). You also need to use a flange headed drain bolt (if you are no longer using the stock bolt).

Your oil leak is probably coming from the threads of the heli-coil where it is threaded into the case. This is why you need to use a flanged drain plug and a thick nylon washer that fits snug to the drain bolt and is large enough to completely cover the heli-coil and seal against the case.

Hope this helps,
Ron

Question. The bolt head is 14mm, the BOLT THREAD is 10mm correct????

Looks like I'll be going for an Oil-Tite, Self-Tapping M11 or 12 -1.75 Oil Plug.
This Heli-Coil is not working out for me. Replaced Crush Washers, Re-Tapped again & now dropped the Tang from the Heli-Coil into the case. So now I have to take the clutch cover off to get it out. UNF#$KING BELIEVABLE

I definitely do not recommend the self-tapping drain plug !

Any other Ideas Ron, besides drilling a size bigger?? Outside of Drilling & using the next size up plug, is having the hole welded up & re-drilled.

I have a similar issue... the bolt was either cross threaded or overtightened when I got the bike. I didn't use a heli-coil -- I just cleaned up the threads the best I could with a tap and then reinstalled the plug with a thick plastic washer and then a normal steel washer (same size) to distribute the pressure a little more evenly -- I did have to grind the case slightly to get rid of the lip near the hole to make everything flush. After all was said and done, I still had a little leakage -- probably a quarter size stain on the floor after sitting overnight. To get rid of that, I put a small amount of black RTV between the bolt head and the metal washer... no more drip.

The other thought I had was to use a thread repair kit for aluminum -- I think it's by Permatex -- and then re-tap the hole. I've never used it so I can't tell you if/how well it works but it may be worth a shot. You can get it at practically any auto parts store.

As far as the tang goes, did you try to get it out by draining the oil? Or did I misunderstand where it went?

I did drain the oil & re-insserted the magnetic plug to try and grab it, I have to check later