Sump Plug

[ScaredyCat 1,659]

Has anyone used a Stahlbus Oil Drain Valve / Slump plug on their NC (or any other bike for that matter)  - Seems like a good solution to getting oil everywhere.

 

 

Edited June 18, 2017 by ScaredyCat

[DaveM59 1,608]

I thought about one when I got the Integra, but then decided it was a lot of money to do nothing the existing plug doesn't do except remove the need to replace the copper washer occasionally. Then there is the chance you lose the tube, plus I wonder if the smaller diameter would make the process longer and less of a complete drain. I like to stick my finger in the hole and wipe out any residue I can reach if nothing else to allow me to check if the oil is getting particles in it. A faster fuller empty may shift more build up than a slower one down a tube. The idea of being easier to put a bowl under it and not to have to remove a big plug has merit but I think the drawbacks may outweigh the benefits.

 

I think the replacement coloured plugs with the built in O-ring rather than a washer may be a better value option.

[Guest Mac750]

I didn't change the copper crush washer when doing an oil change on my PC 800. 

This resulted in losing the sump plug whilst riding and dumping my engine oil all over the back tyre on my way home from a club meeting. Luckily I spotted a problem before the oil light came on as the back tyre slipped in a bend and I pulled over thinking it was a puncture. When I stopped hot oil poured out beneath me.  I now always change the crush washer it nearly spit me off and could have goosed the engine for 20p. 💀

[DaveM59 1,608]

Are you certain it was the lack of a new washer and not the lack of tightening it up that was the issue? Getting disturbed by someone part way through a task and forgetting where you were up to is easily done, even the pro's do it apparently.

I don't think I have ever replaced a washer on any sump plug on any vehicle I have ever owned, bike or car, and have never had a plug weep even, let alone come loose. I never heave on them when tightening either just a gentle 'nip' with a standard socket bar and I turn the washer over each time. I check them after running the engine up to temp and never just go for a ride straight away. They always seem to be much tighter to undo again next time as well. Heaving on a plug takes all the life out of a washer where as being a bit gentler allows the washer to perform it's job repeatedly for at least the length of my ownership (70,000 miles and 13 years in the case of my X9).

The sump plug finger wipe test is included on my pre-longer ride check list along with the dipstick (did I screw it back up properly after dipping?) and all the usual things like tyres, fluids etc. For local running and commuting I just get on it and ride with just a glance over the bike every time I approach it or walk away but for longer trips I do a proper check.

Some owners will be horrified by this lack of safety before every ride, but then when did they last open the bonnet of their car and check the fluids or really give all 5 tyres a check and have a look underneath for broken exhaust hangers or weeping fuel lines....I bet rarely if ever. A car is safer for the occupants admittedly but a weeping diesel pump is exactly what can hurt a biker so why not check?

[Andy m 23,660]

Copper washers and drain plugs work and have been through the manufacturers engine test rigs. A universal fit aftermarket component always risk finding some frequency that'll cause it to fail.

 

The copper washers can be a PITA to source. You buy a filter you don't get one. You buy a service kit its pot luck and get get ripped off on the filter. I usually put the old one back at the first oil change having drawn round it, meaning to get one for the next change. Sometimes I actually do. There is always a quick blast with a plumbers torch ti aneal the old one once you have two.

 

Best bit of oil change kit I ever used was in our old test shop. A drip tray designed for trucks. It was so big you could get it under a bike with just the side stand inside then undo all the plugs. Tip the bike vertical, wipe off the stand and slide the tray out. No mess.

 

Andy

[Guest Mac750]

Yep nipped up the plug I had owned the bike four years and done many a oil change on these, having owned three of the same type before. 

I'm slow but methodical as opposed to fast and get it back in the road. But in this instance I didn't have a replacement washer to hand and in the past I too have reused a crush washer so never gave it a thought. That is until I was left at the side of the road looking like the Torry Canyon all over again. 

(Oil tanker lost its cargo off the coast of Cornwall in the sixties. ) 

 

[gonzo 2,214]

For years i have backed up copper washers with ptfe tape, if it can take steam it will be fine on a petrol engine, been doing it for years 

[Spindizzy 7,109]

17 minutes ago, Mac750 said:

Yep nipped up the plug I had owned the bike four years and done many a oil change on these, having owned three of the same type before. 

I'm slow but methodical as opposed to fast and get it back in the road. But in this instance I didn't have a replacement washer to hand and in the past I too have reused a crush washer so never gave it a thought. That is until I was left at the side of the road looking like the Torry Canyon all over again. 

(Oil tanker lost its cargo off the coast of Cornwall in the sixties. ) 

 

If its copper you can place it over a flame (gas hob, whatever) to get really hot then plunge it on cold water, softens the copper and seats better.

 

Before someone quotes steel, steel is different, that would just harden and embrittle the metal,copper only.

[wingrider.steve 975]

Copper washers???

Genuine Honda sump-plug washers are soft aluminium. At least all the ones I've bought for as long as I can remember are.

[Graham NZ 1,186]

Buell use Dowty type self-sealing washers rather than crush-washers.

[Rick 236]

Yes the Honda ones are aluminium and you can get a packet of five the same size on the net for the price of one Honda washer.

[Graham NZ 1,186]

Annealed copper and aluminium washers are not difficult to come by and are much cheaper than original Honda parts.  The advantage of the Dowty system is that you can tell easily when the plug is tight enough whereas with a crush-washer 'opinions vary' unless a torque wrench is used.

[ScaredyCat 1,659]

 

I'm just starting my oil change but I'm a little concerned over the amount of force I need to use to remove the sump plug. 

 

Turn to the left to undo?

 

How much force can I put on it?

[F.Honda750xd 197]

I know there's a saying and I only know one part and it's righty tighty but the lefty evades me at moment. 

[outrunner 4,457]

26 minutes ago, F.Honda750xd said:

I know there's a saying and I only know one part and it's righty tighty but the lefty evades me at moment. 

Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

 

 

Andy.

[embee 7,288]

I use the "Dowty" type bonded seals on my sump plugs where suitable. The seal rib is usually located towards the inner diameter but with an inner locating rib to centralise the washer on the plug shaft, so if the sump detail has a large chamfer etc they aren't always appropriate, but I've found the ones I have work fine on my NC. Note that  there are lots of different detail designs available, so it depends on what you get, where the seal rib is relative to the inner diameter.

 

I have a selection of sizes and to be honest can't recall which one I'm using, it depends on how the washer fits on the plug (undercuts etc) as to whether I use the same nominal size (e.g. 12mm washer on M12 plug) or a different nominal size to get a tighter location fit.

 

The ones I have (from the auction site) look basically like this (from google images)

 

 

The exception is on my Yaris where I use the Toyota washers. These are an aluminium washer but with a polymer type layer on each side, and these work so well I keep using them.

 

Edited June 24, 2017 by embee