[edmonster]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum, I am glad that I joined and I hope to contribute when I can.

I need all the help that I can get. Purchased a used 06 Honda rancher 350, was doing some maintenance on the machine today and mistakenly stripped the oil drain bolt. I think that this issue was partly caused by me, but it seems that the previous owner put the bolt in wrong.

I have read quite a few post on possible repairs but I wanted to ask if there was a consensus on what the best option would be, and more importantly what to absolutely avoid so that I do not cause further damage. I have plenty of thread left, the bolt tightens somewhat but not much. I have Not added oil or run it since I know that it will leak. Also I am concerned about shavings in the engine.

I cleaned out a few thread shavings, but I see a crack in the thread above the first oil drain hole (small hole) on the side wall of the thread.

I am leaning towards the rubber plug fix, I feel that it would be the fix which can cause the least damage, I am worried about taps and oversized bolts due to that crack in the thread.

Thank you in advance for all of your imput.

 

[mrbb]

I don't think I would trust a rubber plug
let me ask you this, as I am not super sure on this model
but if this model has a oil temp sensor, that screws into back of the case like, like on my 400 does
I been wondering on this some , since so many seem to strip there drain plugs
I was thinking maybe some folks, like you, since your case has a crack in
what about JB welding the plug back in as is or some other like wise deal?
and then when you need to change your oil, use the oil temp sensor as a drain plug, just stand ATV on its tail and it will drain like a bottom drain plug?
food for thought any how?? and heck, get to work on atv standing up then too LOL

 

[edmonster]

I have been told by others to do the same, the JB weld option has multiple possibilities, I can put in a permanent plug with a smaller piggy back plug or seal a plug in there and just suck the oil out through the filler like I do on my Jet boat, most boats don't have oil drain options so I already have an electric pump for that purpose. I don't have any experience with the JB weld and I am worried about how it will withstand over time with heat etc. once I go that route there is no turning back.

Does any know if putting the atv on its back will cause any damage, it will be without oil or gas of course but maybe there is something else that I can mess up and just not thinking about it.

 

[redtherocket]

Ok. shut the gas off, and you can stand the bike right straight up, it wont hurt anything, just don't have a right full gas tank either.. The bike will sit up fine leaning on its own racks.

I can tell you what I did to fix my 350 with a stripped drain hole..

I had a random brass fitting that was near the same thread, but in tapered pipe thread as the drain bolt...

The fitting was some sort of reducer down to a smaller hole.. I put a plug in it with an allen key ..... It didn't stick out very far either..

Now, if you look up into the drain hole, you will see there is a port where the oildrains from the side, looks like a little periscope, if you know what I mean..

You need to take note of where the port hole is and modify the bras fitting so it will allow oil to pass... I just threaded it in, made a mark in line with the port hole, took it out, and coped it out with a dremel just slightly past where my mark is so I could give it that extra tighten.... I also tidied the threads with a file on the fitting after the cut..

I also cleaned up around the oil hole. Then applied some JB weld to the base thread of the fitting so when I tightened it down the last thread of the drain hole would have a touch of adhesion..
I put some more around the base of the plug as well to ease my mind...

That fitting was in there a long time, never a problem..

But I always brought oil and a rubber plug just in case.. LOL

Hope that this makes some sense, its a bit of a ramble, but a solid fix other than buying a case.. Or welding a nut on which is very risky..

 

[LedFTed]

stripped threads

Ok. shut the gas off, and you can stand the bike right straight up, it wont hurt anything, just don't have a right full gas tank either.. The bike will sit up fine leaning on its own racks.

I can tell you what I did to fix my 350 with a stripped drain hole..

I had a random brass fitting that was near the same thread, but in tapered pipe thread as the drain bolt...

The fitting was some sort of reducer down to a smaller hole.. I put a plug in it with an allen key ..... It didn't stick out very far either..

Now, if you look up into the drain hole, you will see there is a port where the oildrains from the side, looks like a little periscope, if you know what I mean..

You need to take note of where the port hole is and modify the bras fitting so it will allow oil to pass... I just threaded it in, made a mark in line with the port hole, took it out, and coped it out with a dremel just slightly past where my mark is so I could give it that extra tighten.... I also tidied the threads with a file on the fitting after the cut..

I also cleaned up around the oil hole. Then applied some JB weld to the base thread of the fitting so when I tightened it down the last thread of the drain hole would have a touch of adhesion..
I put some more around the base of the plug as well to ease my mind...

That fitting was in there a long time, never a problem..

But I always brought oil and a rubber plug just in case.. LOL

Hope that this makes some sense, its a bit of a ramble, but a solid fix other than buying a case.. Or welding a nut on which is very risky..

i got a gas tank from e-pray, for my tractor, the threads to gas valve didnt match. if you could find an insert that looks like the brass one, JB weld should take care of the insert, outside threads. you can still have a plug inside to drain the oil... i used JB weld to attach the gas valve, with filter. it has a glass cup thingie, you take off, to get rid of accumulations, you dont want to reach your carb.
take your metric drain bolt, measure the thread, you could get closer to a better fit, than i did. the JB weld may just fill up the crack if its been cleaned enough.

 

[edmonster]

Thanks, just to clarify should I put JB weld up inside the thread or just on the lower thread of the permanent insert?

They sell drain plugs called piggy backs at the auto parts store but not sure which size and thread of piggy back to get. My oil plug is 12x1.5, but the piggy backs state different sizes like 1/2 etc

Any advice on prepping the area, thinking of standing the bike, and using carb cleaner to get rid of the oils, I will drain some fresh oil through it after the JB weld before I run it. Any advise on dry time with bike standing up?

I know exactly the port you are talking about, at first I thought it was a big piece of missing thread but then I realized it was meant to be that way. I have a crack and a missing thread right above that port.

Is the only purpose of that port to get the very last bit of oil out?

 

[mac102004]

Replace the case. Without some pics that’s about the only advice I have, when I hear “cracked” I think “scrap metal”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[_Wilson_]

Plus one ^^^^^

 

[redtherocket]

Thanks, just to clarify should I put JB weld up inside the thread or just on the lower thread of the permanent insert?

They sell drain plugs called piggy backs at the auto parts store but not sure which size and thread of piggy back to get. My oil plug is 12x1.5, but the piggy backs state different sizes like 1/2 etc

Any advice on prepping the area, thinking of standing the bike, and using carb cleaner to get rid of the oils, I will drain some fresh oil through it after the JB weld before I run it. Any advise on dry time with bike standing up?

I know exactly the port you are talking about, at first I thought it was a big piece of missing thread but then I realized it was meant to be that way. I have a crack and a missing thread right above that port.

Is the only purpose of that port to get the very last bit of oil out?

Don't put the JB deep in the threads, just the last one or two threads to keep it locks in.. I used a rag with some carb cleaner on it to wipe up the area..

If your port is cracked, the drain bolt was over tightened at some point..

Mine broke off as well, and I took the front portion of the case off and fished it out..

"thanks for changing my oil uncle scott..." lol



Mac is right, replacing the case is the best way, but if the bike is old and your strapped for cash or anything like that, this works...


Just keep in mind that these fitting are tapered pipe thread... DO NOT over tighten it into the case your the taper will split the rest of the case..

Good luck.

I just let the JB set that I packed around the bolt, and then set it back down..

It never leaked or even weep'd once in years..

 

[redtherocket]

I had 5500km on my 2000 350 when I did this... She was rode hard..lol


I wasn't spending $600 on center case portion, plus rebuilding the motor... Because if I was splitting the case, I was doing it all..lol

Bike was only worth about 1800$.... 2wd...

 

[redtherocket]

Is the only purpose of that port to get the very last bit of oil out?

Yes..

I always leaned the bike over and drained it out the filler hole to be sure..

More always came out..

 

[alloutdoors]

This post reminds me of the need to have on hand a small torque wrench. There is still time to get it on the list before Christmas, assuming you have been good, LOL.

 

[mac102004]

I had 5500km on my 2000 350 when I did this... She was rode hard..lol


I wasn't spending $600 on center case portion, plus rebuilding the motor... Because if I was splitting the case, I was doing it all..lol

Bike was only worth about 1800$.... 2wd...

For $600 I'd just buy another used motor and throw it in. But they are only about $400 new on partzilla and seem to come up used on eBay under $80-100.

My 2001 350 turned over 14,000kms a couple weeks ago, she needs a restoration to say the least lol.

 

[edmonster]

I ended up standing the atv on its rear, cleaning the area very well and JB welded the original bolt in place, thus no more oil drain plug. Here is Why I went that route. There are two cracks in the thread walls about half way up on each side. After further inspection, it had been tapped before or an oversized bolt had been used. This was very evident by the size of thread that was visible at the very top of the thread vs the bottom. The original bolt was the only one that would screw in and out very smoothly with no wiggle, it would just not get tight enough, I could tighten it by hand with the socket and could not turn it by hand at the very end but with a ratchet it would turn hence not very tight. After much diliberation, I figured the best of two evils would be sucking the oil out with an extractor for the rest of its hopefully long life. I am already use to this process since I have always done it this way on boats. I bought the bike used and if I need to do any repairs that will require any part of the case to come off in the future, I will change out that casing then, but hopefully that will never be needed.

I could not find a piggyback or bolt that could go in and out like the on that was there.

Only time will tell if I made the right decision,

It's going to set for 24 hours. Then a bit of compressed air through the filler and suction through the dip stick (I already cleaned it out very well before the permanent fix). Then I will put in 1/2 QT and suck it right out without even firing up the engine. Then oil to spec, ride for a few hours, and maybe another oil change.

Wish me luck

 

[alloutdoors]

I ended up standing the atv on its rear, cleaning the area very well and JB welded the original bolt in place, thus no more oil drain plug. Here is Why I went that route. There are two cracks in the thread walls about half way up on each side. After further inspection, it had been tapped before or an oversized bolt had been used. This was very evident by the size of thread that was visible at the very top of the thread vs the bottom. The original bolt was the only one that would screw in and out very smoothly with no wiggle, it would just not get tight enough, I could tighten it by hand with the socket and could not turn it by hand at the very end but with a ratchet it would turn hence not very tight. After much diliberation, I figured the best of two evils would be sucking the oil out with an extractor for the rest of its hopefully long life. I am already use to this process since I have always done it this way on boats. I bought the bike used and if I need to do any repairs that will require any part of the case to come off in the future, I will change out that casing then, but hopefully that will never be needed.

I could not find a piggyback or bolt that could go in and out like the on that was there.

Only time will tell if I made the right decision,

It's going to set for 24 hours. Then a bit of compressed air through the filler and suction through the dip stick (I already cleaned it out very well before the permanent fix). Then I will put in 1/2 QT and suck it right out without even firing up the engine. Then oil to spec, ride for a few hours, and maybe another oil change.

Wish me luck

The upside is you are aware of the drain plug issue, so keeping a keen eye on it will give you a piece of mind. Let us know how it turns out....

 

[mrbb]

you did about what I was thinking, as you said drain plug would screw in some what, and I figured if you could do that and then JB weld about the outside of things to hold it in and seal things, I THINK that would work here
CORRECT way to fix it is like MAC said, replace the cases, cracks over time will ONLY get larger
when JB weld is mixed right and allowed to set right, it can be drilled and tapped, its pretty strong stuff
not a correct fix, but will buy you some time

and again if you stand atv up on its tail, I suggest when you get it back on the tires, WAIT a while for oil to drain back where it should be and such before starting it, or I always do after extended time on its tail

but the oil temp sensor, is basically a drain plug with a temp sensor on the end of it?
you could again just stand atv up on its tail and drain that way, as to sucking it out and again, might be nice to do that while you can stand up to do so too LOL

again NOT the best fix, but one that can buy you some time till you replace cases ?

 

[edmonster]

Good evening, I wanted to give everyone an update and thank you all again for your help. The good news is that there is no leak from the oil drain bolt, so my fix there worked. The machine was a little hesitant to run but that was because it was sitting on its butt literally for about 24 hours while I waited for everything to dry. It ran a little sluggish at first, but then it picked up and ran like normal after about 3 to 4 minutes,

After extended use and running it hard I noticed oil coming out from one of the bolts near the spark plug, I think it's the valve cover or head cover.

This was not an issue before, the oil does not come out all the time. It seems to be when I run the motor hard for about an hour or so that the issue appears. The bike runs good and it feels like it did before, I feel like I hear a little bit more ticking from the engine, but it might be my paranoia. It runs the same as before as far as power, gear shifts and speed.

Any ideas on why the oil is coming out from the top? Could it be that a seal was ruined because the bike was sitting on its rear? Could it be that something like shavings or a foreign object messed it up from the drain plug "fix"?

Thank you

 

[Gww95]

Good evening, I wanted to give everyone an update and thank you all again for your help. The good news is that there is no leak from the oil drain bolt, so my fix there worked. The machine was a little hesitant to run but that was because it was sitting on its butt literally for about 24 hours while I waited for everything to dry. It ran a little sluggish at first, but then it picked up and ran like normal after about 3 to 4 minutes,

After extended use and running it hard I noticed oil coming out from one of the bolts near the spark plug, I think it's the valve cover or head cover.

This was not an issue before, the oil does not come out all the time. It seems to be when I run the motor hard for about an hour or so that the issue appears. The bike runs good and it feels like it did before, I feel like I hear a little bit more ticking from the engine, but it might be my paranoia. It runs the same as before as far as power, gear shifts and speed.

Any ideas on why the oil is coming out from the top? Could it be that a seal was ruined because the bike was sitting on its rear? Could it be that something like shavings or a foreign object messed it up from the drain plug "fix"?

Thank you

You using the oil extraction method still? How is that going? I think I'll be doing the same.