Cracked the bolts holding in the oil screen

[panamaniac]

Title says it all. Was re-tightening the bolts that hold on the oil screen and long story short torqued em all til they cracked. If you must know, I thought the cracking sound was the torque wrench releasing. Didn't realize a problem til the fourth bolt head sheered off completely!

So since I just changed the oil, My hope is to just leave this alone until the next time I feel I should open the screen (probably a year or so). Assuming no leaks, is there an issue with that approach? I assume the fix here is going to be drilling into the bolts themselves to remove them, something I haven't done before and am not looking forward to.

Thanks,

Panamaniac

[enforcer]

Title says it all. Was re-tightening the bolts that hold on the oil screen and long story short torqued em all til they cracked. If you must know, I thought the cracking sound was the torque wrench releasing. Didn't realize a problem til the fourth bolt head sheered off completely!

So since I just changed the oil, My hope is to just leave this alone until the next time I feel I should open the screen (probably a year or so). Assuming no leaks, is there an issue with that approach? I assume the fix here is going to be drilling into the bolts themselves to remove them, something I haven't done before and am not looking forward to.

Thanks,

Panamaniac

I would fix it more sooner than later. Drilling them out is a last resort. If there is a small amount of thread left, use vise grips to back it out. If not, left handed drill bits are your friend. Make sure you center punch first.

[enforcer]

Oil screen? What is that??? Is it something unique to the 800? I feel like I should go buy another 1400 to see if it has one just so I can break it and be able to relate to this issue!

Smaller Intruder has an oil screen under the sump. Just a little extra filtering. Not sure if the 1400 has one or not.

[panamaniac]

Oil screen? What is that??? Is it something unique to the 800? I feel like I should go buy another 1400 to see if it has one just so I can break it and be able to relate to this issue!

Any excuse to have another Intruder, eh?

I would fix it more sooner than later. Drilling them out is a last resort. If there is a small amount of thread left, use vise grips to back it out. If not, left handed drill bits are your friend. Make sure you center punch first.

I assume you're suggesting sooner rather than later because (a) I'll forget about this in a year or two and/or (b) they'll always be easier to remove sooner than later, yes? Both solid reasons I suppose, and did you have other ones too?

Hmm, well three of them still have the heads "on" but since I heard that crack I'm assuming they'll pull off if I touch em. When you say "small amount of thread left" I assume you man thread that extends past the surface of the bike, meaning something I might be able to grip on to.

Did some googling on left-handed bits and it sounds like they're what's used for extraction. Good to know!

Will see when I can get around to this.