Nice write up Duane.

 

Aye! That's a manly hammer. Not much room to swing one, so the old adage applies: "Don't use so much force, get a bigger hammer."

 

Very well done Duane.
I am a hobbyist but repairs like this scare the crap out of me.

 

The extremity of the challenge as Duane mentioned earlier is working through the steps blind as you can't see the plug.
(Unless you pull the pans off the motor).

 

Just wondering... If you have engine guard and pannier guards, if you removed all the bags, a little carpet for contact points and lay her down gently on her side ( have some buddies help ) Just wondering if you would be able to get the pan off? Would make it easier to get that plug out?

 

@Donny , yes, I thought of that too. @Nomad , Herb and I discussed it. Decided against it because the only thing I'd gain would be a longer hammer swing; e.g. still be working in the blind. I haven't pulled an oil sump, yet. It was close and I didn't see a problem with access from under neath the bike.

The final technique I used to get the plug out will be my primary technique in the future. I'd about 90% sure the inner plug is going to come out when drilled and using a #4 EZ-out.

Duane

 

Duane,

Thank you for a well documented post and a good illustration of patience. Years ago studying for my aircraft mechanics license a much wiser person than I at the time said, "Patience and the right tools will be your best bet to success." Your post is that in a nutshell.

Excellent idea to lather the bit with grease and as well another suggestion would be to rinse the bottom of the pan with kerosene and a long thin tube attachment to a non aerosol spot sprayer. Both prevention and a means to a cleanup afterwards.

Great advice on RL's plug to all newcomers and sage advise for the holdouts who haven't reached out to him yet.

note: During my research for this bike that was one of the first threads I read here that was so simple... brilliant. User R&D in the field, ingenuity at its best. I can't figure out why BMW hadn't acted on this simple concept by now and include it with a purchase, or better yet install it in during manufacturing. Low, I digress.....

Great helpful insight and info. Glad you are back up and running. Be safe

Andy

 

Duane,

Thank you for a well documented post and a good illustration of patience. Years ago studying for my aircraft mechanics license a much wiser person than I at the time said, "Patience and the right tools will be your best bet to success." Your post is that in a nutshell.

Excellent idea to lather the bit with grease and as well another suggestion would be to rinse the bottom of the pan with kerosene and a long thin tube attachment to a non aerosol spot sprayer. Both prevention and a means to a cleanup afterwards.

Great advice on RL's plug to all newcomers and sage advise for the holdouts who haven't reached out to him yet.

note: During my research for this bike that was one of the first threads I read here that was so simple... brilliant. User R&D in the field, ingenuity at its best. I can't figure out why BMW hadn't acted on this simple concept by now and include it with a purchase, or better yet install it in during manufacturing. Low, I digress.....

Great helpful insight and info. Glad you are back up and running. Be safe

Andy

Hello, av8or,

You mention "rinse the bottom of the pan with kerosene...": If I spray kerosone in there, how do I avoid that I just push any potential metal shaving further away from the drain hole? I guess I am just having difficulty understanding how I would actually do this. Do you have any images?

Thank you.

 

"There is nothing which the proper use of force cannot correct."

 

So Duane, That’s good news, then. So what I may do is: pull the plug the way you described it (maybe insert some sort of thin walled metal tube in there to prevent that plug from falling into the sump tray when I free it up), replace the inner and outer plugs, fill up with oil, run the engine with the old filter still installed, remove that old oil filter with the potential metal shavings in it and replace with a new one. Does that make sense?

Thank you very much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I wouldn’t worry about loosing the plug. And I wouldn’t worry about doing a 2nd oil change. But, it’s your choice. Up to you. If you think it’s warranted then do it.

Duane

 

If this happened to me, I would remove the oil pan before attempting to remove the stripped inner plug. I wouldn’t chance having metal shavings in my sump.

 

The plug, and therefore the shavings, are magnetic so a small diameter magnet stuck up in the hole would retrieve them.
By drilling from the bottom the shavings will fall out anyway.
Any minute ones will be captured by the oil filter.

1. Coat the 1/4" drill bit with copious amounts of grease. This is to catch as much of the metal shavings as possible

Doing what Duane does would also take care of the shavings.