QuickNick
Registered user
I buy my oil filter (mahle OC 91 D ) from a local motor factors for my 1100gs and it comes with a small bag of various size alu washers which will do gearbox/final drive plugs as well, so never needed to reuse old washers.
Reusing sump plug washers
- Thread starter robc
- Start date
DutchBryn
Registered user
Long story made shorter, I had a very slight (on the floor) oil leak, from having torqued the sump plug to spec. The (new!) washer was distorted.
Must admit, it was tighter than I would've, left to my own devices, but not mega-tight. Too much, though, obviously.
Replaced crimped new washer with the 2nd hand but better one from last time. Tightened to what felt reasonable for a thread that size, and all was well again.
Anyone else remember Keith Floyd? He said, "People ask me how much salt & pepper to use. I tell them 'enough'! "
Lesson learned for me.
B.
Must admit, it was tighter than I would've, left to my own devices, but not mega-tight. Too much, though, obviously.
Replaced crimped new washer with the 2nd hand but better one from last time. Tightened to what felt reasonable for a thread that size, and all was well again.
Anyone else remember Keith Floyd? He said, "People ask me how much salt & pepper to use. I tell them 'enough'! "
Lesson learned for me.
B.
Greger
Registered user
Tempering hardens metals, annealing softens.
To anneal copper you heat to cherry red and immediately quench in water. Just letting it cool won't do much
I could be wrong but when I was working on plumbing stuff quenching was only to allow quicker cooling, I think slow cooling would not affect the process. It is the heating to cherry red that is the softening bit.
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Well, I stand corrected - I was always taught to quench copper but it's only what I remember from college (which was quite some time ago)
Apologies to Bowser.
Stewart H
Registered user
I just checked Wikipedia, I have often reused copper washers, annealing them by heating to cherry red then allowing them to cool, the subject of quenching them has caused me to have a crisis of confidence, I decided wikipedia would be the arbiter, "allow to slowly cool" it says.
Stewart
Stewart
Hi Stewart,
The next sentence reads:
"Unlike ferrous metals—which must be cooled slowly to anneal—copper, silver and brass can be cooled slowly in air or quickly by quenching in water. In this fashion the metal is softened and prepared for further work such as shaping, stamping, or forming."
Regards
Rob C
The next sentence reads:
"Unlike ferrous metals—which must be cooled slowly to anneal—copper, silver and brass can be cooled slowly in air or quickly by quenching in water. In this fashion the metal is softened and prepared for further work such as shaping, stamping, or forming."
Regards
Rob C
If i've got a spare washer kicking around, i'd use it - more often than not, i never do so i don't change them.
The washer is a seal - to form the seal it must deform to conform to the deviations from flatness of the sump face and the bolt.
I take it that in these days of cnc machines, the surfaces are pretty damn flat, so the confomance would be minimal.
I've always found that the pressure between the surfaces caused by the torque applied to the bolt is enough to re-deform the washer to cause a seal to be effected.
ergo - i've never had a used one leak yet.
OLD brit bikes had them for a reason, bmw's have them for the dealer to make money on
The washer is a seal - to form the seal it must deform to conform to the deviations from flatness of the sump face and the bolt.
I take it that in these days of cnc machines, the surfaces are pretty damn flat, so the confomance would be minimal.
I've always found that the pressure between the surfaces caused by the torque applied to the bolt is enough to re-deform the washer to cause a seal to be effected.
ergo - i've never had a used one leak yet.
OLD brit bikes had them for a reason, bmw's have them for the dealer to make money on
There's a washer between the oil temp. sensor and the engine?
I had a leak on the GS from there last year. I removed the sensor. I saw no washer. I cleaned the mating surfaces and refitted the sensor. Leak gone.
I dropped the oil the GS on Saturday. I treated it to a new sump plug washer. A 25p copper one. It was exactly the same size as the sump plug so had to me slightly modified using a pair of pliers
Regards
Rob C
It is important to ensure proper sealing to prevent any leaks in a motorcycle, and using new washers or reusing copper ones by heating them up and allowing them to cool can be a cost-effective solution to achieve this.
Your replying too a posting from ....05/10/2010....
for the cheapskates amongst us ....buy a lifetimes supply .
https://www.beal.org.uk/sealing-washers.html
change them everytime .
https://www.beal.org.uk/sealing-washers.html
change them everytime .
I'm all for it but there comes a time when they have to be replaced.
I serviced my RT for the first time since I bought it in July and here's what the washer looked like. FFS!
A new washer is shown for comparison just in case anyone is wondering what I'm whinging on about
Regards
Rob C
VW started to use aluminium crush washers on flexi brake pipes , they were failing due to corrosion by the time of the cars first service, they went back to copper washers.
With a faired bike used in winter that washer may only be a year or so old
