Hello,
I have a 86 Suzuki LT 230s I just bought it a month ago and I have been working on getting it going. Then last week I went drain the oil and the drain plug came out fine. The when I put it back up the hole I noticed that the oil drain plug hole was stripped. Does any body know were I can get a oil drain cover at, or is it possible to fix the hole? The drain plug goes in by hand and will get finger tight but as soon as I but a wrench on it it just goes round and round and does not get tight.

 

I had this happen to me when i took my 86' Honda TRX350 Foreman 4x4 to have the starter rebuilt , the Dealer's estimate was $50.00 , but he called me at home to tell me the starter couldn't be rebuilt and a new starter would cost $200.00 ; and he ask me what i wanted to do ?

I told him since i didn't have leg's below the knee's i couldn't kick start it so put a new starter on the quad , when i went to pick it up the next day a young kid that was working for minumum wages told me he changed the oil and oil filter ; and adjusted the brake's which i had already done a complete servicing before i took it into the shop and i told the Dealer about this when i dropped it off !

When i picked it up the next day the bill was $289.98 , i told the Dealer i thought the bill was awfull high for a starter ; this is when he told me they did a complete servicing to the quad !

When i got home and started to unload the quad i saw an oil spot in the bed of my truck , i finished unloading the quad and looked inside the truck bed to see where the oil came from ; it was only in one spot of the truck bed !

I put my finger under the quad and felt oil on the drain plug , i thought maybe they didn't tighten the drain plug ; so i got out my socket set and a grease rag and tried to tighten the drain plug it felt like it was going to tighten then slipped i knew then they had stripped it !

I called the Dealer back and told him about the damage and he told me it was already stripped when it was brought in , i reminded him that i told him i had already done a complete servicing of the quad when i took it to him ; and i asked him if the drain plug was stripped why didn't he tell me about it when i picked it up ?

He didn't have an answer to that question , but he told me he would rethread it for $75.00 ; i told him i would repair it and charge him for the repair since i was a Certified Small Engine Service And Repair Technition and ran my own shop !

So after i got the Heli Coil set at an Industrial Supply outlet for $39.99 and Drill Bit for $19.99 + tax i did the repair myself , then as i told the Dealer i would i filled out a work order from my shop for the part's: $60.40 ; and charged him $90.00 labor Total Repair bill was $150.40 and i told him since he was a friend and fellow Business Man i didn't charge him tax on my labor !

At first he wouldn't pay me the money for the repair's , but he changed his mind after he recieved a summon's from Small Claims Court and he paid the bill in full ; but needless to say i couldn't get part's from this Dealer again but i found one who charged half as much as he did before this Business with the stripped drain hole !

You can get the Heli Coil set and drill bit for around $50.00 maybe less at a Auto Parts Store if they have one big enough for your drain plug , i had to go to an industrial supply Outlet because the Auto Parts Store didn't have one big enough for the Honda ; you maybe lucky and find the right size at an Auto Parts Store now !

Good luck with the repair it can be done just use some thick oil or bearing grease on the drill bit , and flush out the engine oil in the crankcase once you've drilled the hole out ; i used bearing grease on drill bit and flushed out the crankcase with kerosine getting out any filing's from the drilling with great result's !

I never had the Heli Coil to come out when changing oil and i changed it often , so this was the cheapest and best way to get the job done right ; and i was able to use the same size drain plug !

quad dude i forgot to tell you the Heli Coil Set come's with complete directions in the package , and it come's with 10 Heli Coil's in the kit ; just the drill bit is extra ; so good luck again !.......

 

This happened to an '86 CR-80 that I had when I was a kid. I didn't realize this when I bought the bike, but the previous owner had stripped it out and put a rubber stopper in place of the drain plug with a bolt through the middle to expand it and keep it tight. This worked fine and I didn't even know it was there until I changed the oil. I was only 13 and didn't understand the bolt-expansion idea so I just threaded the rubber back into the hole figuring it worked before, so why wouldn't it keep working? Well, the next time I went riding I was about 2 miles out and decided to stop and make sure the plug was still there-It wasn't! A CR-80 is a lot of bike to push when you're only 13. LOL! Anyways, I brought it to the shop and the mechanic fixed it. Not sure what he did, but I believe he drilled and re-threaded it with a larger plug. I really don't remember what it cost, but it was definitely over $100, and that was more than 10 years ago. With today's labor costs I would do it yourself if you think that you're capable.

 

I know what you mean BradW i've seen these rubber stopper's that you can use in automotive repair on oil drain hole's and freeze plug's they sell at Auto parts Stores now , they're good for a blown freeze plug's that's what the auto makers are using now instead of metal plug's ; but i didn't trust them for an oil drain plug that's why i used the heli Coil kit for the repair on my Foreman !

This happened to my Foreman in 1989 and the Honda Dealer charged $90.00 an hour for labor then ; that's why i charged him $90.00 Labor and the $60.40 for the part's with a total of $150.40 he didn't like it but he desided to payup than go to Small Claims Court he knew he would lose more that what i was charging for the repair's to lose a day's work !........