first time service and a stripped thread

[IanPorter]

I'm just working my way through my first service on my 1150GS and all was going well until I took the right hand head cover off to adjust the valves and found that the lower left screw has stripped the thread out of the head.

I'm assuming it's been like it for a while as it came out very easily and there wasn't much left of the thread when I cleaned the remnants out.

the other three screws are fine and torqued up correctly and running it for a few minutes there doesn't seem to be an oil leak.

so the question is do I not worry about it or should I get it sorted and if so how.

also how rusty would you expect the coil sticks to be on an '03 28000 mile bike, mine look horrible.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Need to get it sorted out.
Why not drill and tap for a slightly larger bolt.

 

[bowser]

good engineering shop and a heli coil or timesert

 

[MattW]

If there's no leak then you're ok for now but I'd think about a helicoil in the future - not a difficult job to do and fairly cheap

Can't help with the stick coils - I don't have them

 

[MattW]

Need to get it sorted out.
Why not drill and tap for a slightly larger bolt.

Can't use a 'larger bolt' - the rocker cover screws are specials

 

[IanPorter]

Anyone know anybody near Derby that can fit a thread insert?

And I've found a thread with coil sticks that look like mine, looks like I need to spend some money

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[ducatiparts.110mb]

There doesn't seem to be any relationship between rust and failure on the coils. Some are rusty as hell and go on for years, others fail with relatively little rust. Don't worry until the bike stops pulling so well, then change them.

mark

 

[kennyc]

I had this same problem on my RT11, I bought a helicoil kit from a guy in the states via Ebay, IIRC about £16, easy to do and no problems in the 6 years since.

PS for these bolts I don't use a torque wrench, I "snug" them up by feel, mine was stripped by a Pro using a torque wrench! the covers seal very well with no leaks visible

 

[The Sea Dog]

Get it fixed promptly with a decent thread insert, do it yourself, it's easy and quick to do.

I'm just working my way through my first service on my 1150GS and all was going well until I took the right hand head cover off to adjust the valves and found that the lower left screw has stripped the thread out of the head.

I'm assuming it's been like it for a while as it came out very easily and there wasn't much left of the thread when I cleaned the remnants out.

the other three screws are fine and torqued up correctly and running it for a few minutes there doesn't seem to be an oil leak.

so the question is do I not worry about it or should I get it sorted and if so how.

also how rusty would you expect the coil sticks to be on an '03 28000 mile bike, mine look horrible.

 

[IanPorter]

Just looking a heli coil kits now

Am I right in thinking it's a 6mm x 1.0 thread.

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[ian6760]

99.9% sure that it's m6 x 1mm. I got a kit to do the job and it worked a treat and easier to do than I thought. My 2p worth of advice is to get a set with everything that you need including the drill bit, unless you have a good set of bits, plus a cheap T-handle tap ratchet. I also did a trial run on a piece of scrap ali first so you know what to expect. It's a bit of an arse twitching moment if you haven't done it before.

Have fun.

 

[IanPorter]

99.9% sure that it's m6 x 1mm. I got a kit to do the job and it worked a treat and easier to do than I thought. My 2p worth of advice is to get a set with everything that you need including the drill bit, unless you have a good set of bits, plus a cheap T-handle tap ratchet. I also did a trial run on a piece of scrap ali first so you know what to expect. It's a bit of an arse twitching moment if you haven't done it before.

Have fun.

cheers

kit ordered and yes I'll have a practice run

just tested my coil sticks too and one is buggered and the other has swelled somewhat so I'll get them replaced too while I'm at it

 

[MikeO]

I ended up getting all eight helicoiled - two of them were stripped by the time I started doing my own servicing (post warranty).

The torque setting is so low that in the real world they are easy to strip accidentally. My local bike shop came up with a good price based on doing three each side at the same time (little extra effort - the masking off is the thing that can take a while) after I stripped another one a couple of years ago. No problems since...

Mike

 

[stolzy]

There doesn't seem to be any relationship between rust and failure on the coils. Some are rusty as hell and go on for years, others fail with relatively little rust. Don't worry until the bike stops pulling so well, then change them.

mark

FWIW mine (2005 bike) have 42,000km, moderate rust, but are shagged. Removed both last week and the bike ran just the same.

I'd though it had been a bit sluggish the past couple on months.

New pair on the way.

 

[IanPorter]

FWIW mine (2005 bike) have 42,000km, moderate rust, but are shagged. Removed both last week and the bike ran just the same.

I'd though it had been a bit sluggish the past couple on months.

New pair on the way.

I'm not the only one then

I knew something wasn't quite right and fuel consumption had gone up a bit

now I know one of them is buggered I'm quite impressed how well it ran when not firing on all plugs

 

[IanPorter]

well that runs better with two good coil sticks

the heli-coil kit arrived today so guess what I'm doing over the weekend

 

[ebbo]

Just make sure you drill as straight as you can, get someone to check above and to the side the drill is going to go in square before you pull the trigger.

 

[IanPorter]

I've come the conclusion that my bikes not run right since I bought it, took it for a 50 mile spin this evening and it now goes like stink and I haven't balanced the TBs yet.

So those old rusty coil sticks must have been performing poorly all along.

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[IanPorter]

Well that's the thread fixed, another time I'd use a variable speed drill as mine was a bit fast drilling out the hole. Other than that it was a doddle.

I did have a panic moment though when I found oil pissing out of both sides but a quick search on here identified it as the spark plug seal wasn't seated properly on both sides so that slowed me down a bit finishing the service.

throttle bodies took a while to sync but I've never done it before and u got there in the end.

So thanks for the advice guys.

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[Michael R1150GS Adventure]

my coil sticks look totally dead.
Heavily corroded all over and bits missing cos of the rust. Dont know how i got them out and in without them folding up.

Runs ok as far as I can tell - perhaps if i ride someone elses I might be shocked!

03 GSA 38K miles