Changing Engine Sump Cover

[MountainMan]

I went and busted out the center oil plug tryng to load my '08 R3T onto the trailer the other day. New sump cover is on the way and the rest of the parts/pieces should all arrive within a week or so.

My question: Do you have any advice or "tricks of the trade" for changing out the sump cover? Proper gasket cement or silicone, thread lockers, should plugs be in or out, proper tightening sequence, best way to hold your mouth, etc. The manual covers the basics, but there's always a little trick or two you experienced guys seem to have in your back pocket.

Thank-you for any help you can provide.

 

[Trirocket3]

I just keep in place with thin smear of grease tighten diagonally opposite, ole school
dead straightforward job

 

[MountainMan]

I had already posted this thread when I saw your thread and Warp's response over in the How To forum. I forgot to look there before I posted here. Oooops.

In looking at the pictures posted by Warp, it looks like he doped up the silicone pretty thick. My only question was whether that much silicone might interfere with any of the internals as it gets squished out and away from the sealing (gasket) surface. I'd hate to think about a blob of that stuff roaming around and clogging up some little oil galley or passage.

Since Ol' Blue only has 800 miles on her I don't expect a lot of grit in the oil pickup filters, but you never know about new engines.

Did you have the oil plugs in the sump cover when you bolted it up or did you add them afterward? Is there any advantage one way or the other?

Thanks, guys.

 

[warp9.9]

I had already posted this thread when I saw your thread and Warp's response over in the How To forum. I forgot to look there before I posted here. Oooops.

In looking at the pictures posted by Warp, it looks like he doped up the silicone pretty thick. My only question was whether that much silicone might interfere with any of the internals as it gets squished out and away from the sealing (gasket) surface. I'd hate to think about a blob of that stuff roaming around and clogging up some little oil galley or passage.

Since Ol' Blue only has 800 miles on her I don't expect a lot of grit in the oil pickup filters, but you never know about new engines.

Did you have the oil plugs in the sump cover when you bolted it up or did you add them afterward? Is there any advantage one way or the other?

Thanks, guys.

Keith thats the original gasket in them pictures I did not use any silicone as I bought a new gasket for the job. Now when I sent my bike in to Triumph for the upgrade kit they did use a considerable amount of clear silicone on everything the touched. As long as you let it set up you will be fine with some if you feel the need.

 

[MountainMan]

Thanks, Scott. New gasket is already ordered and on the way with the other bits. If the old one survives the removal process, I'll keep it on the shelf cuz, you know, I have so much shelf space for that kind of stuff.

I'll let you know how it goes after "surgery."

 

[CADFather]

Years ago when I was playing at being a drag racer and building my own engines, I found a useful trick to help hold gaskets in place during engine assembly. Use some Permatex Vinyl Trim adhesive to hold the gasket in place. To make things easier glue the gasket to the part that you can remove and use RTV gasket maker on the other side. We always called it "Yellow Death" mainly cause it's Yellow and has a grip like death. Anyway it's basically just rubber cement but sets up fairly quickly. I used it on everything I assembled from valve covers to oil pans, if it's got a gasket I would always glue one side.

 

[MountainMan]

As promised, "surgery" has been performed and it looks like the patient will live.

Nothing in the magnetized pickup screen (none really expected with only 800 mile on the bike). The gasket came off ugly and in pieces. The good news was that an unmolested version, along with a complete set of pan bolts, came with the Pinwall replacement sump cover. I used a thin layer of red RTV silicone directly on the gasket (one side only). I didn't try and remove the gasket from the new pan and decided to rely upon compression to squeeze it tight and seal. If it doesn't work, I'll use the shiny new gasket I had delivered and which now sits on the shelf waiting for a leaking pan. Like malfuncnz, I didn't have a torque wrench small enough (I really need to pick one up) so I did a fine bit of "guess the torque" to get them all even at approx. 6-7 ft.lbs.

The one thing I noticed that made me nervous was a movable "plug" sticking down from the motor. The diameter was about the size of a nickel and it was at least 1 1/2" long. I didn't pull it out for fear of screwing something up. I pushed up on it and it squirted oil onto the floor from further back on the motor. Anybody know what this doohickey might be? I'm curious.

I just have to wait for the new toe-only shifter and then fit a connecting rod and I'm back to creating traffic hazards all over the Columbia River Gorge. Thanks for your advice and support.

 

[Sidecar Flip]

The one thing I noticed that made me nervous was a movable "plug" sticking down from the motor. The diameter was about the size of a nickel and it was at least 1 1/2" long. I didn't pull it out for fear of screwing something up. I pushed up on it and it squirted oil onto the floor from further back on the motor. Anybody know what this doohickey might be? I'm curious.
.

Actually, inside every Rocket engine is a penis. It gets erect when the motor is running and flaccid when it's not. Tou saw it in it's flaccid state. Im' suprised it didn't start getting hard when you 'pushed up' on it. It's very sensitive............

It did ejaculate however........

 

[NM ROCKET]

:lol:

 

[budman]

..the plug you're referring to is probably the bank angle sensor..and now I see where your username came from..and here I thought it was some kinda esoteric Freudian thing..:lol: