Oil Pan Drain Plug Issues

[65Cobra]

Even though this has been discussed before, I wanted to share some additional information since I'm now dealing with the dreaded drain plug issue.

I picked up a 2008 Busa (orange/black) at a Harley/Honda dealership this week. The bike is in immacualte condtion... 1,400 miles, not a single mark... even all the factory stickers still in place. The dealership prepped the bike, including changing all the fluids, and I rode it home to its new garage.

Next time I went in the garage I notice a small amount of oil on the floor... took a look under the bike and it was coming from the drain plug. Didn't think much of it and figured I would replace the crush washer, but when I removed the drain plug I found the threads were stripped.

To make a long story short... after reading other posts here, I now realize this is a regular problem and the dealer has agreed to get me a new pan. I removed the old pan yesterday and will post pictures so you can see the poor design of the drain, because I can't believe Suzuki actually approved it for production.

 

[65Cobra]

Pictures...

 

[GsxrBots]

That really shouldn't be an issue at all. The issue is the steel drain plug on the aluminum pan, mixed with too much torque installing it. The "groove" in the threads doesn't effect the strength as much as you'd think..

 

[Busa1166]

Could have they have designed it better ??? Yes I believe they could.. hell why use and aluminum oil pan, a steel version would have been nice even with a little more weight to it it would still be ok..

The thing is, it does work and it works fine as long as you do it to specs. Keep in mind also just about everything on the bike is threaded aluminum if you don't torque it right you will be stripping stuff all over the bike from the forks to the swingarm

 

[kromdom]

On my 3rd Busa now and knock on wood, have not yet stripped the oil drain plug. I keep it simple and follow the torque specs specified in the service manual using a decent in-lb torque wrench. Good thing the dealer took care of you.

 

[peterbusa]

Even though this has been discussed before, I wanted to share some additional information since I'm now dealing with the dreaded drain plug issue.

I picked up a 2008 Busa (orange/black) at a Harley/Honda dealership this week. The bike is in immacualte condtion... 1,400 miles, not a single mark... even all the factory stickers still in place. The dealership prepped the bike, including changing all the fluids, and I rode it home to its new garage.

Next time I went in the garage I notice a small amount of oil on the floor... took a look under the bike and it was coming from the drain plug. Didn't think much of it and figured I would replace the crush washer, but when I removed the drain plug I found the threads were stripped.

To make a long story short... after reading other posts here, I now realize this is a regular problem and the dealer has agreed to get me a new pan. I removed the old pan yesterday and will post pictures so you can see the poor design of the drain, because I can't believe Suzuki actually approved it for production.

Ive been there to ,dealer giving it back to me and not mentioning anything about the plug that they stripped ,but at least you got them to fix it ,ill tell you these dealers are somthing else,finding a honest and one with well schooled mechanics is priceless (well you know what i mean).Good day

 

[peterbusa]

I must appologize i assumed that they stripped out the plug. You see i didnt finish reading your thread ,its too early i guess. Either way why are you pulling the pan?Didnt you just purchase from them?

 

[65Cobra]

Since the bike was already home and the dealer was over an hour away, I decided to just remove the pan myself rather than chance reinstalling the plug and riding it back to the dealer. Besides, since they weren't a Suzuki dealer, I didn't want them to cause cause other damage to the bike i.e. removing/replacing the fairings which are a much tighter fit than my 99 Busa.

In case you didn't notice in the pictures, I cut off the tab that is normally in front of the drain hole. I'm trying to come up with an idea to fix the old pan that will eliminate the problem, making it better than new, in which case I'll hold onto the new pan or sell it. A friend, who has his own welding business, and I are considering plugging the original drain hole and welding a bung in that same area, but one that points to the front of the bike instead of downward. I plan to finish machining the bung today.

His only caution is... he isn't sure if the oil pan is all aluminum or contains a mixture... i.e. magnesium... so I'd like to know if anyone here has already welded an oil pan and if there were any issues.

 

[65Cobra]

I must appologize i assumed that they stripped out the plug. You see i didnt finish reading your thread ,its too early i guess. Either way why are you pulling the pan?Didnt you just purchase from them?

The dealer had to strip the threads in the oil drain hole, but apparently stopped tightening before the plug actually broke loose. When I looked under the bike using a flashlight and mirror, something didn't look right with the washer so I decided to just remove the plug and install a new crush washer. I've done that before... these places never replace the crush washer and a few times they didn't even put one back on. So if I see a leak, I just replace it. Since I only removed the plug, and that's when I noticed the aluminum shavings, it was stripped by the dealer.

I also forgot to mention... since the plug is a 14mm x 1.25, which is the same as a spark plug thread, the washer was a crush washer from a spark plug. Not sure what the original crush washer is supposed to look like but I plan to replace it with a standard copper or aluminum crush washer.

 

[Caperj]

Did you take any pics of the pan removal? Did you have to remove the exhaust? I screwed mine when I couldnt find my torque wrench

 

[m_ridgeway]

OSR Hayabusa Cut Oil Pans for Gen1 and Gen2

they get cut and welded all the time. why would they blend magnesium with an aluminum oil pan? make sure your friend can weld aluminum before he trashes your pan.

 

[65Cobra]

Sorry, no pics of pan removal... since it was my first attempt, I didn't want to be distracted. I had to remove both fairings then drop the exhaust to make enough clearance to remove the bolts and drop the pan. I've removed the body on my '99 Busa multiple times but removing the fairings on this bike was different so I'm glad I had the manual.

 

[nabusa]

OSR Hayabusa Cut Oil Pans for Gen1 and Gen2

they get cut and welded all the time. why would they blend magnesium with an aluminum oil pan? make sure your friend can weld aluminum before he trashes your pan.

With that much of the oil pan cut off, does it hurt anything? And is that oil thread on the new welded pan steel?

 

[65Cobra]

they get cut and welded all the time. why would they blend magnesium with an aluminum oil pan? make sure your friend can weld aluminum before he trashes your pan.

Depends on the series of aluminum. Series 1000 is pure aluminum which I'm sure the oil pan is not. There are other series run from 2000 to 7000 and can include one or more of copper, manganese, magnesium, silicon and zinc. Each series has its advantages and disadvantages and may be more suited for a particular use. But that also means each series requires it's own particular precautions when welding.

He's a welder by profession and has welded numerous items for my custom car and the '99 Busa, although he isn't in the automobile or motorcycle field anything I've seen him weld is near perfect. But this is the first cast aluminum part I've taken to him, something neither of us is familiar with. Without knowing the series and without a scrap piece to test with, there is a minor risk. So I figured I would ask. But the new oil pan will be here Thursday, so I'll just let him do his thing on the old one. I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[Caperj]

Sorry, no pics of pan removal... since it was my first attempt, I didn't want to be distracted. I had to remove both fairings then drop the exhaust to make enough clearance to remove the bolts and drop the pan. I've removed the body on my '99 Busa multiple times but removing the fairings on this bike was different so I'm glad I had the manual.

Thank you very much for the reply, winter project!

 

[Giovanny]

just did my 1st oil change on my 2015 gen 2 today and i just got bike from dealer like 2 month ago. same issue kinda... when i went to take oil plug out it came out with super ease i was like hmm why is this drain plug not tight on there , i took it oout put new oil and once i try and put plug back on it did not want to tightened it was stripped i was like OMG!! wth! i have not even puut any force or torque wrench yet so what i did to fix it was drain out oil again clean off the threadings, went to autozone bought a oversized plug and it ended up working perfectly. freaking dealer trying to set me up! lol.

 

[Mythos]

I don't torque my drain plugs to spec. Maybe about 2/3 of what the book calls for. Never had one come loose yet but I do think about putting a safety wire on it just incase.