what to do with a stuck oil drain bolt?

[yama02yz250f]

I was changing my dads oil and the crankcase oil drain bolt on his 00 426 is stuck. Its so stuck that, while using the proper socket it stripped. What should i do now? I am thinking that I will have to take it to the shop for them to get it off, if they can. How could this happen when I distinctly remember using a torque wrench at less torque then what the manual says?

[CaptainKnobby]

If you just striped the head and rounded it off try a pair of visegrips and if that dont work try cutting a notch in the head and taking a hammer and a screwdriver and pecking it around. If none of these two things work you can use a easy out but you will have to drill a hole through the center of the head and so far through the shaft and then stick the easy out in and twist out.......You might wont to try using a impact driver also.

[yama02yz250f]

ok i tried the visegrips because that has worked before on something else but it didnt burge at all. Does heat help loosen bolts up? I will try to raise the bike up so i can get an impact driver on it. thanks

[CaptainKnobby]

Man it must really be on there! You might try some heat.... I dont think there are any rubber orings or rubber seals around that area that the extreme heat will bother. Just try to keep the heat or the biggest part of it away from the cover or case if possible. But try the hammer and screwdriver thing if the impact driver dont work.

[rbinstoon]

I just went through the exact same thing last week.

Try some bolt removers, they're like an EZ Out for bolt heads. They look like sockets but they have a spiral ridge on the inside that cuts into the head when you turn them counterclockwise. I got mine at Sears but I'm sure there are a few places that have them.

Here is a link to see what I mean:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/search.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&keyword=remover

[CaptainKnobby]

Yea!! use what he said^^^^^^^^^^ I'll have to get me some of those!

[yama02yz250f]

ok thanks guys i will try the heat and then the bolt outs. Yeh the thing is sure in there. I just cant understand how it could get that way when i know for a fact i torqued it to a little less then the recommendation.

will the bold removers work if the bolt is really striped? ive got it into a sort of oval from using the wrench. Do the ridges just dig in a give more grab?

[rbinstoon]

The Bolt Outs will work even if the head is completely round, probably even better that way because the ridges are in a circle. I'd had to buy a bottom end and the drain plug in it had no flats left on the head, but I used a Bolt Out that just started on the head, tapped it on with a hammer to get a good bite, then put a wrench on it and it came right out.

[BergArabia]

I am with rbinstoon on this one.

I don't like the heat idea because to use heat you would have to heat the case and not the bolt. If you heat the bolt and not the case you will just make it tighter. Anyways, good luck with this. Let us know how it goes..

[moose offroad]

I was changing my dads oil and the crankcase oil drain bolt on his 00 426 is stuck. Its so stuck that, while using the proper socket it stripped. What should i do now? I am thinking that I will have to take it to the shop for them to get it off, if they can. How could this happen when I distinctly remember using a torque wrench at less torque then what the manual says?

Pops should be proud.......

[robg]

You are turning the right way? righty tighty lefty loosie, when your looking at the bolt. just checking

[yama02yz250f]

Pops should be proud.......

There is nothing i have done wrong. I know i torqued it to the right value and am turning it the right way.

[grayracer513]

If you use an acetylene torch, and apply the heat directly to the bolt itself, heating it as quickly as possible to a dull red, it will loosen right up. The crankcase is such a large mass of aluminum and transfers heat so rapidly that you will not heat the cases significantly if you work fast and apply the tip of the blue cone directly to the drain plug.

Heat it, shut off the torch, and grab it with something while it's hot and turn it far enough to loosen it.

[yama02yz250f]

well i tried the bolt remover and it worked! at first i could not get it on there too well, but I tipped the bike over and hammered it on a bit. After i did this and used a piece of pipe on the socket, it made a "pop" and it was loose.

Thanks for the suggestion and advice everyone.

[rbinstoon]

Right on, glad it worked.