Oil Change Demon

Oh, and thanks for mailing that MCN issue, Richard P. Lots of good things to read in there. :)
 
Team MCC at Chicago replaced the oil drain plug on the service I had,& am pretty sure the new one they put in had a hexagonal shoulder to it for a socket to fit,I would confirm this but the bike is not with me still,in fact it never left on the 9th sept ,it's still in Los Angeles !
 
BLIGHTYBRIT/SF said:
Team MCC at Chicago replaced the oil drain plug on the service I had,& am pretty sure the new one they put in had a hexagonal shoulder to it for a socket to fit,I would confirm this but the bike is not with me still,in fact it never left on the 9th sept ,it's still in Los Angeles !
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Please check and let us know ASAP.
If a hex head sump plug is available, I need one too.

However, knowing our Customs folks, we may have to wait till Christmas to find out. :lol:
 
I'm kind of pissed off about this ...
Oil Change Demon


I'd say that hex key socket is pretty butchered. :x I didn't look any better before I gave my last effort to unscrew the drain plug. Either Norton UK or MCC in Chicago owes me a new one after they did the first oil change.

Fortunately, there is an alternative way of getting the oil out as suggested by TonyA, although it'll be messy. The 8 sump plate screws will come out easily. When that plate is loose all the oil will dump out. Not what I was hoping to do for the first service, but what else can I do? In the meantime I'm removing the ECU and shipping it off for a re-map. The way she runs right now I can't even warm the engine up properly to do an oil change in the first place. :roll:
 
contours said:
I'm kind of pissed off about this ...
Oil Change Demon


I'd say that key key socket is pretty butchered. :x I didn't look any better before I gave my last effort to unscrew the drain plug. Either Norton UK or MCC in Chicago owes me a new one after they did the first oil change.

Fortunately, there is an alternative way of getting the oil out as suggested by TonyA, although it'll be messy. The 8 sump plate screws will come out easily. When that plate is loose all the oil will dump out. Not what I was hoping to do for the first service, but what else can I do? In the meantime I'm removing the ECU and shipping it off for a re-map. The way she runs right now I can't even warm the engine up properly to do an oil change in the first place. :roll:
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Before you go and remove the plate, try a standard size Allen wrench instead of a metric. It might be enough to bite onto the plug to get it loose.
 
Voodooo said:
Before you go and remove the plate, try a standard size Allen wrench instead of a metric. It might be enough to bite onto the plug to get it loose.
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Already tried that. It doesn't fit. The more I try to turn the screw the worse the stripping gets. I need to show somebody that it was not me who did it!
 
contours said:
Voodooo said:
Before you go and remove the plate, try a standard size Allen wrench instead of a metric. It might be enough to bite onto the plug to get it loose.
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Already tried that. It doesn't fit. The more I try to turn the screw the worse the stripping gets. I need to show somebody that it was not me who did it!
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I understand.
I'm a mechanic and I see this all the time from people. Is their enough to grab the outside of the plug with a extractor or needle nose vise grips? I'll have to look at my bike when I get home. I'd rather have a hex head plug over a inverted Allen plug.
 
contours said:
Voodooo said:
Before you go and remove the plate, try a standard size Allen wrench instead of a metric. It might be enough to bite onto the plug to get it loose.
Click to expand...

Already tried that. It doesn't fit. The more I try to turn the screw the worse the stripping gets. I need to show somebody that it was not me who did it!
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Contours,

Sorry to see your situation.

Voodooo is right, if they get a good bite with the vise grip on the head, you may be able to loosen the damn thing.
Worth a shot before removing sump plate.
 
BritTwit said:
Voodooo is right, if they get a good bite with the vise grip on the head, you may be able to loosen the damn thing.
Worth a shot before removing sump plate.
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I suppose it's worth a try. I just figured since I won't be riding it I would feel MCC out about my situation. I don't want to turn it into a hack job ... just yet. :roll:
 
Pipe wrench and be done with it. I agree, find a plug that isn't designed with such a tiny drive size.

Glen
 
If MCC does have a replacement hex head sump plug, please let the forum members know.
I would love a replacement, and I'm sure others would as well.

My technique for doing oil changes in the future myself will be to:
First, remove entire exhaust including headers, O2 sensors.
Make certain that I have replacement copper exhaust gaskets in case existing ones are spent.
Drain oil directly into pan without splattering oil over the X-Pipe. What a mess this is otherwise.
Hopefully, I'll have a hex head sump plug by then.

Your spare bike should make your 961 downtime less painful.
My spare bikes have helped me when my 961 was parked at the dealer.
 
I'm sure that richard pearce bike had a hex head when we did the oil change. I remember commenting on it. I bet all the new 961's have it.
 
richard-7 said:
I'm sure that richard pearce bike had a hex head when we did the oil change. I remember commenting on it. I bet all the new 961's have it.
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My bike is a 2016 it has a Allen plug
 
BritTwit said:
If MCC does have a replacement hex head sump plug, please let the forum members know.
I would love a replacement, and I'm sure others would as well.
Click to expand...

If one doesn't pop up soon I will do some research and find a substitute from another make and model. Even if it takes all winter! I sure don't want to deal with this again.

BritTwit said:
My technique for doing oil changes in the future myself will be to:
First, remove entire exhaust including headers, O2 sensors.
Make certain that I have replacement copper exhaust gaskets in case existing ones are spent.
Drain oil directly into pan without splattering oil over the X-Pipe. What a mess this is otherwise.
Click to expand...

Why go to the extreme of taking the headers off? With my exhaust removed from the x-pipe backward There seems to be plenty of room to get a drain pan underneath. In any case, it's damn annoying to have to go to this length just to change the oil. Being the lazy sort, I see myself holding back from riding just to minimize the number of oil changes each season.

BritTwit said:
Your spare bike should make your 961 downtime less painful.
My spare bikes have helped me when my 961 was parked at the dealer.
Click to expand...

I remember it well, BT. :roll:
 
contours said:
My technique for doing oil changes in the future myself will be to:
First, remove entire exhaust including headers, O2 sensors.
Make certain that I have replacement copper exhaust gaskets in case existing ones are spent.
Drain oil directly into pan without splattering oil over the X-Pipe. What a mess this is otherwise.


Why go to the extreme of taking the headers off? With my exhaust removed from the x-pipe backward There seems to be plenty of room to get a drain pan underneath. In any case, it's damn annoying to have to go to this length just to change the oil. Being the lazy sort, I see myself holding back from riding just to minimize the number of oil changes each season.
Click to expand...

Just saying that I watched the mechanic at my shop pull the plug out on my 961 and saw the oil splatter all over the the SBN X-Pipe.
Very sloppy process, and in spite of the cleanup, some oil "cooked" on the the X-Pipe and effected the finish after my ride home.
Removing/refitting the headers on a twin is not a big deal if it will help me avoid bigger problems with the drain plug, and preserve the finish on my pipes, so much the better.
My dealer doesn't stock the copper exhaust gaskets for the 961, but asked him to order 2 for me for my next oil change.
In the mean time, once I get the gaskets, I will check their size, and see if suitable substitutes can be procured from a another local source, or from ebay.
 
Gotcha. Yes, it can be messy in the best of circumstances.

I think my bike will be down for a while. I hope it buys me time to sort out the drain plug fiasco. I just pulled the ECU out tonight. I figure it will be 2 weeks before I get it back from MCC as long as they can still do a re-map. It's the stupid little things that make the ownership of this Norton not so enjoyable so far. :roll:
 
After my ECU is re-mapped and installed again I will finally go after the stripped oil sump drain plug. My reason for waiting is that I want to have a warm engine before draining the oil and I could not do that easily with so much difficulty getting to a steady idle. :roll:

So with a little bit of research I hit on this website that might provide an alternative to the ridiculously small inverted Allen plug that came stock with my bike.

https://www.belmetric.com/metric-drain-plugs-c-11_90/?zenid=s9fbdgcoi46sisfavk5crnakt2

I will get the dimensions off the stock plug after I butcher the thing with a pipe wrench.
 
Very good.

Looks like a great site, with many choices in size and thread pitch.
 
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