Busted oil pan bolt

Can I just forget it? Have new gasket and it is sticking out about 1/4 inch. Third busted bolt on this dang bike. Getting tired of drilling them out. 1984 VF1000F.

Thanks,

Dave

 

Not trying to be funny, but do you use a torque wrench? Might be a wise investment if not. If they are breaking coming out might be time to bite the bullet and do them all and replace with new bolts.

 

No I hear you on the torque wrench, this is the third bolt to break trying to get things apart. I bought this bike as a "project". One oil pan bolt, one exhaust stud and one fairing bolt. I think this bike sat outside for some time.

 

I would try heating it with a propane torch and try a pair of vise grips on the remaining part of the bolt.

 

I've always had good luck by hitting the bolt/stud with a hammer/punch several times first. This will shock the threads and break them loose. It's basically a must when you have aluminum part with steel bolts/studs. As said before heat works also. Using both works real good. Just heat the aluminum area and stay away from bolt/stud as much as you can. You can also use a spray penetrate like WD40, Blaster etc right after you heat it. The heated case will draw the penetrate up to it most of the time. Just watch the fumes and have the heat source off.

 

Grey's advice works good for me too. Steel and aluminium don't play nice together. After you extract/replace the bolt, use a bit of anti-seize on the threads. And use a torque wrench like stated above. It doesn't take much to distort aluminium threads from over torquing. I now have a set of perma-thread/heli-coils in common sizes in my toolbox for such occasions.

 

Always tap the bolt with a hammer before removing.
Just like getting a jar lid loose. Tap it first as it breaks the bond.

Spray all of your bolts with Triflow or WD40 before reusing.

By the way if it is supposed to have a washer and you do not have the washer, that will strip the bolt many times because the bolt may not be threaded far enough.
Very common on oil drain plugs.
People change the oil and the washer drops into the oil pan and they do not notice it.
Then when they put the drain plug back in it seems ok but when they try to remove the bolt on the next oil change- it is stripped.

Also on these 25-30 year old bikes replacing the set of bolts or nuts is a very good investment and makes the bike look better. Always use the HONDA hardware. NOT hardware store bolts!