Dumb Question Of The Day... Oil Drain Plug Removal

[~JM~]

Sorry about what may be a dumb question, but here goes... What's it take to remove the Oil Drain Plug? I went to change the oil for the first time on my new to me '89 FJ1200 with OEM stock exhaust & was unable to remove the Drain Plug. The Plug on my bike looks like a bolt head with a phillips screw in the middle of it. Unfortunately the phillips screw is stripped out & non of my screw drivers can get a hold of it to turn it out. The bolt appears to be larger than my largest 17mm socket, so my simple oil change project came to a screaching halt.

So I come to you all & ask... What's the secret?

Thank you
~JM~

[FJmonkey]

The threads are easy to strip out, its possible that the PO up sized the bolt with a larger drain plug. Don't worry about the Phillips screw. Try some SAE sockets to see if they fit up snug to the drain bolt. If the fit seems loose then don't attempt it. Get the next size up in metric.

[movenon]

Tic tack toe  ..
Also not all metric sockets are the same... Snap On and probably others have a slight convex contour between the corners enabling you to put pressure on the center of the nut flat rather than the corners witch can round off.
George

[Pat Conlon]

Yep, you need a 19 mm socket.

[~JM~]

Yep, you need a 19 mm socket.

That's what I needed to know. Now I can go to Sears & pick one up.

What is the screw for anyway?

Thank you
~JM~

[Pat Conlon]

Glad to help.

The Phillips screw was used to attach a temperature sender used for tuning purposes. According to the Factory manual, the engine has to be at a certain operating temperature for final carburetor tuning adjustments. I have been told that most of the factory guys just opened up the oil fill cap and stuck a thermometer down in the oil for temperature readings rather than mess around with the screw.
FYI, if you still have your oem exhaust system, there are also 4 bungs at the bottom of your header down pipes where oxygen sensors were plugged in, also used for setting the carb's fuel/air mixture tuning at idle. All part of the EPA emissions regulations.

I remember doing my first oil change on my '84, that Phillips screw really threw me...I remember thinking....no way oil is gonna flow out of that puppy.
I had to crawl on my back, under the bike before I noticed the 19mm drain bolt. Kinda hard to see tucked up there between the #2 and 3 header tubes.

Cheers laddie.  Pat

[airheadPete]

Thanks for the explanation Pat. Recently did an oil change and wondered what the heck the philips screw could be for. Thought to myself, "That looks stupid." and pressed on. Though if I've got the four exhaust header plugs, those could be useful for tuning... 

[~JM~]

...I remember doing my first oil change on my '84, that Phillips screw really threw me...I remember thinking....no way oil is gonna flow out of that puppy....

My thoughts exactly, plus I was thinking it would take a lonnnng time to drain.

Thanks again for the info.
~JM~