waterbed Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Hi Friends, new to the forum but not new to my FJ-09. I've got a 2017, which I managed to crack the oil pan on while tightening the oil drain plug with a torque wrench that apparently wasn't set right or doesn't work. I see from some googling that oil pan issues are common on this bike and I'm a little unsure about how to proceed, so am hoping y'all can walk me through my options in this situation. In general I would buy the OEM part and swap the thing out after lots of reading and youtube, but it sounds like mods are commonplace as well. Given a choice between the two, I'd probably choose easy over cheap, but I don't want to take it to a shop if special tools aren't required. Thanks for any input or guidance, I look forward to participating in the community. On a related note, is there any reason not to ride the bike before fixing the crack? It's got a slow drip, but if I make sure it's topped off before the ride will I be hurting anything? Pics attached. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whisperquiet Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Oil pan replacement info. DYI 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butrzrulz Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) That's a pretty decent crack, and riding it in this condition is risky. You'll be heating and cooling that area and creating a stress riser. Last thing you want is that crack to grow while riding and have a massive oil loss event (also bad news for your rear tire). If you insist on doing it, throw some JB Weld over it and hope for the best. Edited July 3, 2021 by Butrzrulz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garybinnyc Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 That’s unfortunate .: agree with Butz I probably wouldn’t ride until it’s fixed. Def time for a new torque wrench as well! Good luck it shouldn’t be too bad to replace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted July 4, 2021 Supporting Member Share Posted July 4, 2021 4 hours ago, waterbed said: Hi Friends, new to the forum but not new to my FJ-09. I've got a 2017, which I managed to crack the oil pan on while tightening the oil drain plug with a torque wrench that apparently wasn't set right or doesn't work. 34 minutes ago, Garybinnyc said: Def time for a new torque wrench as well! Good luck it shouldn’t be too bad to replace. Many of the torque values are well known to be way too high in the owners manual. Of course its only my practice but I have never used a torque wrench on a drain plug or filter on any vehicle I have ever owned in over 40+ years, hand tight snug and then just a few degrees more is all I use. YMMV. 5 ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilo3 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 The mental gymnastics for someone to use a torque wrench on a oil plug then turn around and ask if they should drive with it leaking I find very perplexing. But yeah, jb weld it up. Actually jb steel or whatever the putty is would probably work better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipperT Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Did you replace the crush washer? Because in your picture it appears to be missing. -Skip 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbed Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Thanks a million, all. I'll be replacing the oil pan and will post pics and notes when the job is done. I won't be riding it in the meantime @skipperT Yeah, the crush gasket is in there, just smashed and swallowed by the overtorquing + crack. I never even felt resistance, it happened so quickly and smoothly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteinpa Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Yeah, no torque wrench, just 3/8ths drive socket, tight till firm then 2 degrees more, that's it. Hard to explain "feel" been doing it 40 years. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butrzrulz Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 3 hours ago, peteinpa said: Yeah, no torque wrench, just 3/8ths drive socket, tight till firm then 2 degrees more, that's it. Hard to explain "feel" been doing it 40 years. And of course, after that, you learn the feel of "dang, went too far". That's when you learn all about rethreading methods, haha! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fjray Posted July 15, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted July 15, 2021 On 7/4/2021 at 1:27 PM, Butrzrulz said: And of course, after that, you learn the feel of "dang, went too far". That's when you learn all about rethreading methods, haha! Anyone remember Ed Hertfelder? He wrote the Duct Tapes monthly in Cycle magazine years ago. His method was, tongue in cheek we hope, " run her in till she strips and then back her off a quarter. " 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member DavidS Posted July 16, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted July 16, 2021 On 7/3/2021 at 7:46 PM, kilo3 said: The mental gymnastics for someone to use a torque wrench on a oil plug then turn around and ask if they should drive with it leaking I find very perplexing. But yeah, jb weld it up. Actually jb steel or whatever the putty is would probably work better. Best quote on the forum ever!!! - Kilo3 should win the day! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandman900 Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteinpa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 17 hours ago, sandman900 said: That's just a smidge too tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbed Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) Just closing the loop on my original post. I got the new oil pan installed according to @foxtrot722's post, and it went great. Best part: the oil pan comes with the plug pre-installed, so I didn't have to run the risk of repeating my mistake. Moving forward instead of changing the oil the traditional way, I might just swap out the oil pan to avoid touching that plug I have nothing to add to foxtrot722's notes on oil pan swapping. It went exactly as the post said it would, and the parts list provided was SUPER helpful. Edit to add: the one thing that foxtrot722 doesn't get into a ton of detail on is re-mounting the headers. I watched some youtube videos on this which were helpful, because it can be fiddly. The #1 tip I took from those videos was to use a bit of grease to hold the 3 header gaskets in place while you shimmy and jiggle everything into place. Having those things falling out while trying to get the headers re-mounted was no fun. Edited July 17, 2021 by waterbed Adding detail 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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