Anyone drill and tap in drain & fill plugs on chaincase yet?

[KnappAttack]

Pulled the chaincase apart today to re-gear, What a engineering SNAFU that is for Cat! Friggen torx screws stripped right on the bottom of the case too, had to drill out the rivets on the chaincase protector to get the vise grips on the damn things!

Anyway, I was thinking about drilling and tapping in some drain and fill plugs into the case. Looks to be about .125" thick or more and figured I could easily drill and tap in some 1/8" allen head pipe plugs easy enough for yearly or bi-annual chaincase oil changes.

Anyone done that at all yet with success?

I know, I know, I know you need to inspect everything in there, this is more just to change oil when you just want to change it warm mid-season and check for moisture intrusion. Ya, I know, I'm kinda OCD that way and prefer my oil to be fresh and moisture free.

 

[fatchance]

Just did mine yesterday. Pain in the arse! I'll be putting a drain tube in after the season on both the chaincase and oil reservoir. Anybody planning on doing this should have a good flex drive or 1/4 knuckle on hand. It's petty tight in there on a couple of those torque screws.

 

[gouldsjett1]

I was thinking about using some 3/4" round aluminum and cutting some 1/4" lengths to tig weld on the outside of the gear case cover. Drilling and tapping with the 1/8" pipe plugs shouldn't cause any interference inside the case with the additional thickness

 

[TurboJamie]

Pulled the chaincase apart today to re-gear, What a engineering SNAFU that is for Cat! Friggen torx screws stripped right on the bottom of the case too, had to drill out the rivets on the chaincase protector to get the vise grips on the damn things!

Anyway, I was thinking about drilling and tapping in some drain and fill plugs into the case. Looks to be about .125" thick or more and figured I could easily drill and tap in some 1/8" allen head pipe plugs easy enough for yearly or bi-annual chaincase oil changes.

Anyone done that at all yet with success?

I know, I know, I know you need to inspect everything in there, this is more just to change oil when you just want to change it warm mid-season and check for moisture intrusion. Ya, I know, I'm kinda OCD that way and prefer my oil to be fresh and moisture free.

Stripped from the factory? Wonder if they changed the hardware again they were using better quality stuff on the 16 and 17's from what I saw with ours.

 

[KnappAttack]

I was thinking about using some 3/4" round aluminum and cutting some 1/4" lengths to tig weld on the outside of the gear case cover. Drilling and tapping with the 1/8" pipe plugs shouldn't cause any interference inside the case with the additional thickness

If I'm not mistaken, I think I read somewhere that the chain case is magnesium.???

There is plenty of room for the pipe plugs depth wise. Just not a whole bunch of thickness to work with only being about 1/8" thick is all, but still should be enough for a couple of threads.

Load up the pipe plug with a few wraps of teflon pipe tape and one would think it would seal OK.

 

[KnappAttack]

Stripped from the factory? Wonder if they changed the hardware again they were using better quality stuff on the 16 and 17's from what I saw with ours.

No, just the crappy torx head screw itself. Threads are fine.

 

[stevewithOCD]

Don't get me started on TORX!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fatchance]

Maybe better off with a pipe dope paste. Has an adhesion quality to it and the oil won't break it down.

 

[Pstn head]

Don't get me started on TORX!!!!!!!!!!

I don't want to get you started on TORX!!!!!!!!!!! (Actually it be funny what you'd say) but anyway.... What I do when I think I have the proper size bit inserted in the TORX!!!!!!!! Bolt head I always verify with the size smaller and larger in order to be sure I'm using the right one, some sizes are very close to one another. Dang I meant to say some TORX!!!!!!!!! Sizes are very close to other TORX!!!!!! Sizes. So be sure your using the right TORX!!!!!!!!!! Bit.
LOL

 

[TurboJamie]

Maybe look into using bulkhead fittings. Generally used on aircraft fire walls or floats etc... maybe able to drill it and tighten the fitting both sides then thread the plug into the fitting.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg-84946-71548-50-fish.jpg

 

[hibshman25]

This is certainly on my list of things to address. Purchased a junk case to experiment with. Have some parts here to try, just have not had time to work at it.

 

[STAIN]

I would put the plug on the inside of the tunnel, on the inner case half, like factory does.
I also drilled all the rivets out of that lower panel and installed 1/4-20 nut serts, makes that job much easier when you can remove that lower panel.
Replace all chain case cover bolts with hex head......

 

[KnappAttack]

Maybe look into using bulkhead fittings. Generally used on aircraft fire walls or floats etc... maybe able to drill it and tighten the fitting both sides then thread the plug into the fitting.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg-84946-71548-50-fish.jpg

Thought about that Jamie, but then I'd never get the last bit of heavy oil off the bottom of the case, ya I know, it's a OCD thing, but at that point I'd think about just vacuuming the oil out.

Thought about epoxy to glue a boss to the bottom of the case too. I've used epoxy to build ports in cylinders and cases before on the two-strokes, but not too sure I want to trust it to the bottom of a chain case. Well, no guts, no glory. Maybe its time, if I cant tap the magnesium decent, I could epoxy on an alum boss on after.

 

[STAIN]

I would put the plug on the inside of the tunnel, on the inner case half, like factory does.
I also drilled all the rivets out of that lower panel and installed 1/4-20 nut serts, makes that job much easier when you can remove that lower panel.
Replace all chain case cover bolts with hex head......

 

[KnappAttack]

I would put the plug on the inside of the tunnel, on the inner case half, like factory does.
I also drilled all the rivets out of that lower panel and installed 1/4-20 nut serts, makes that job much easier when you can remove that lower panel.
Replace all chain case cover bolts with hex head......

Doing the same. Drilled the rivets out of the side panel and have 5mm rivnuts to put in.

Plan to pick up some hex head bolts for the chain case cover tomorrow too.