What did you do to your FJ-tracer-gt today?

[keithu]

I finally installed a sump guard. I ordered the SW Motech guard. I don't relish the idea of removing this thing every time I do an oil change, and since I still have the old-style oil pan with the bottom-mounted drain plug it was easy to modify the SW Motech piece. I mounted the guard temporarily to mark the oil plug location, and then drilled a small pilot hole in the pan. After refitting I found I was off by 5mm, so I repositioned the guard on the drill press and used a Unibit to drill a 1 1/8" (29mm) hole. It lines up perfectly and I should be able to do oil changes with the guard in place. 

[texscottyd]

5 minutes ago, draco_1967 said:

I have it hooked up to a little inverter in the tank bag. 

I was wondering if you were range constrained by the length of your extension cords...  😀

Very clever! 

[DavidS]

Great Idea, and something I have been thinking about for a long while, but I do have a question. One which has kept me from doing something similar.

I assume that to remove the oil plug, you will fit your socket, with an extender, so it can fit all the way through the cage, and fit over the oil plug screw. At this point, you can remove the oil plug screw, and the oil will start running out of the engine.

My question is, How do you keep the oil from just spilling on the top of the engine guard? Seems like it would hit the top of the guard, and just make a big mess. Does it really just drop down the hole you use for the wrench to unscrew the bolt? I'm curious how much oil gets on top of the guard vs how much cleanly drops down through the hole into a bucket.

And it seems like you would have to be pretty quick getting the wrench out of the way once the plug comes off the pan.

Let us know how it works when you do your first oil change.

 

[betoney]

31 minutes ago, DavidS said:

My question is, How do you keep the oil from just spilling on the top of the engine guard? Seems like it would hit the top of the guard, and just make a big mess. Does it really just drop down the hole you use for the wrench to unscrew the bolt? I'm curious how much oil gets on top of the guard vs how much cleanly drops down through the hole into a bucket.

Let us know how it works when you do your first oil change.

That's a good question, my oil never flows straight down, it seems to always flow in a slight arc in one direction.  I would think that the hole in the plate needs to be larger, maybe double in size to prevent spillage but I guess when @keithu does the first post-installation oil change he will find out real quick what works and what needs modification.  I am curious how it works out. 👍

[DavidS]

Alrighty then, we wait for @keithu and see what happens.

[DavidS]

Actually, on second thought, I remember the oil plug does a pretty good job holding the oil in the case with just finger pressure. I wonder if loosening the bolt so you can move it with your fingers would enable you to hold it in place to keep the oil from dripping until the plug is not held by any threads anymore. This would allow you to quickly move the bolt away and "Hopefully" most of the oil would drip straight down through the crash guard and into an oil pan.

Sounds like it would work, but we won't know for sure until someone (hopefully Keithu) tries it.

[Rick123]

And how about oil filter?

[keithu]

3 hours ago, DavidS said:

I assume that to remove the oil plug, you will fit your socket, with an extender, so it can fit all the way through the cage, and fit over the oil plug screw. 

Correct. An extension isn't absolutely needed with a deep well socket, per se, but I would use one anyway to make the socket and plug easier to hand-loosen once the bolt is cracked loose.  

Quote

My question is, How do you keep the oil from just spilling on the top of the engine guard? Seems like it would hit the top of the guard, and just make a big mess. Does it really just drop down the hole you use for the wrench to unscrew the bolt? I'm curious how much oil gets on top of the guard vs how much cleanly drops down through the hole into a bucket.

Since this is the old style drain plug that points straight down, yes, I assume most of the oil will just go straight down into the catch pan. There's no reason it should shoot out in an arc like it would with a side facing drain plug as found on the 2016+ FJ-09/Tracer and most cars. 

The oil filter is another matter. It will make a mess, no way around that. I might be able to fashion a makeshift funnel for the oil filter out of aluminum foil, but I'm sure that won't work perfectly. No big deal, it's pretty easy to reach inside the skid plate so I should be able to clean most of it up. 

Quote

And it seems like you would have to be pretty quick getting the wrench out of the way once the plug comes off the pan.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that. But that's one of the reasons I wear nitrile gloves during oil changes. 

 

Some trivia: After owning a Triumph TT600 years ago I realized that it could be possible to do oil changes without removing bodywork and other obstructions. Triumph designed a couple of little cutouts into the TT600 fairing to facilitate oil changes. You couldn't see them unless you were laying on the ground, but it was possible to change the oil and filter on that fully-faired sportbike without removing a single fairing panel. The drain plug was accessed through a little hole in the fairing about the same size as the hole I drilled in my SW Motech skid plate. It was one of several ingenious, maintenance-friendly features of that bike. 

[2and3cylinders]

If you review my post on my SW Motech skid plate installation I also drilled a hole but I have a low profile drain plug which is got a little 5 mm hex Drive in the middle and I slide a tube up through the hole and then the 3/8 Center Drive hex on an extension through the tube back out the drain plug and it drains down neatly through the hole in the skid pan to the catch pan.

I also drilled a small hole in the skid pan next to the front bracket bolt because when you unscrew the oil filter oil drips down on that bracket and then drains right out that little hole I put in the skid pan very neat no problem

I also safety wire my oil filter cuz I had that back off once as well as my aftermarket oil filler plug.

Check out my photos in my post on the skid pan

 

 

 

[Heli ATP]

I have a Fumoto engine oil drain valve on my truck and love it. Add a hose to direct oil to your container and no mess. Don't see an option for our bike?

EZ Oil Drain Valve

Fumoto

[betoney]

I spent the afternoon in the sunshine, I rode up Spirit Lake Highway to the Mount St. Helens observatory (Johnston Point)

Once I got above 3,000' elevation, I encountered snow, luckilly the roads were clear and I was able to make it to the top @ 4,100' ft.

 

[nhchris]

Nice work @betoney !!

Do they salt out there?

Edited December 5, 2020 by nhchris

[betoney]

2 minutes ago, nhchris said:

Nice work @betoney !!

Do they salt out there?

Not to my knowledge, most of the road treatment is sand.  Even though there was snow on the shoulders, the roads were clear and mostly dry.   Out in the open sunshine it was just over 50F but when I got into the shadows the temperature dropped rapidly, the lowest I saw today was 37F.  Brrr. 🥶

[roy826]

I finally completed my duel USB charger port. My gray factory harness plug finally arrived from Poland. The guys hand writing was something to be desired no wonder it took so long. Anywho I’m pleased with the results. Big thanks to @mellow for the power assistance. I couldn’t shorten the wires cause the positive fuse was almost at the end of that wire and I wasn’t up to splicing and soldering at this time. No worries plenty of room to stuff it all in there behind the dash. Works great! 

 

[2and3cylinders]

11 hours ago, betoney said:

I spent the afternoon in the sunshine, I rode up Spirit Lake Highway to the Mount St. Helens observatory (Johnston Point)

Once I got above 3,000' elevation, I encountered snow, luckilly the roads were clear and I was able to make it to the top @ 4,100' ft.

 

Beautiful!'  Im envious.  I haven't been up there since April 1980.  And you know what happened only a month later...