Gear oil change nightmare

47909Rider · Post by **47909Rider** » Tue May 20, 2014 12:16 am

So, today I was doing the factory recommended 200 mile oil dump.

Drained the gear oil. Noticed lots of metal in the drain bolt's threads - almost a complete casting of the threads.

Went to put it back in... yeah. Got it to "hand tight" then went to tighten... nothing. Spinning free.

So it's either a factory defect or the dealer really screwed up the PDI. :/

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Tue May 20, 2014 2:02 am

Well, that sucks, man.

Best fix is a HeliCoil or TimeSert.
For a good temporary fix, you can actually use a longer bolt because there are some more threads up in the case a little higher than the stock short bolt grabs.

Here's my post on the same.

Don't do the rubber washer thing, though. Try to get an aluminum crush washer in there.

47909Rider · Post by **47909Rider** » Tue May 20, 2014 10:17 am

Well it's at a local shop, since I really didn't know what to do. Just sucks this happened on a brand new scoot. Ah well.

47909Rider · Post by **47909Rider** » Tue May 20, 2014 1:42 pm

Shop has it all fixed up. (They used a Timesert.)

At least I'm getting it back quick.

(Now to call and smack the dealer around a bit. Once they're open anyway.)

KABarash · Post by **KABarash** » Tue May 20, 2014 1:55 pm

47909Rider wrote:Well it's at a local shop, since I really didn't know what to do. Just sucks this happened on a brand new scoot. Ah well.

Wouldn't that possibly be a warrantee situation? Just seems odd that that's happened right off the block.

47909Rider · Post by **47909Rider** » Tue May 20, 2014 2:19 pm

KABarash wrote:Wouldn't that possibly be a warrantee situation? Just seems odd that that's happened right off the block.

Most likely, but my dealer is (1) (was) closed Monday and (2) 65 miles away.... I didn't want the downtime.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Tue May 20, 2014 4:32 pm

47909Rider wrote:Shop has it all fixed up. (They used a Timesert.)

At least I'm getting it back quick.

(Now to call and smack the dealer around a bit. Once they're open anyway.)

Don't smack them too hard...you might need them in the future!

With something like that I usually give them the opportunity to make things right. I've made my share of honest mistakes.

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Wed May 21, 2014 3:22 am

BuddyRaton wrote:
47909Rider wrote:Shop has it all fixed up. (They used a Timesert.)

At least I'm getting it back quick.

(Now to call and smack the dealer around a bit. Once they're open anyway.)
Don't smack them too hard...you might need them in the future!

With something like that I usually give them the opportunity to make things right. I've made my share of honest mistakes.

Well stated BR.

47909Rider · Post by **47909Rider** » Wed May 21, 2014 10:22 am

Eh, they claim they didn't do any kind of oil service at all, and further claim there's no way the factory could have screwed this up.

And they further claim that the first major service is at 200 miles, while both manuals clearly state otherwise...

Ah well, the scoot is fixed and should be fine now....

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Wed May 21, 2014 4:15 pm

47909Rider wrote:Eh, they claim they didn't do any kind of oil service at all, and further claim there's no way the factory could have screwed this up.

I wondered the same thing when you first explained your problem. I did not understand why the dealer would have removed the oil drain plug as part of initial set-up. The bike comes from the factory with oil in the crankcase and gearbox (rear hub), so the most the dealer would do is check the oil level at the dipstick or fill opening. You would likely have been the first person to remove the drain plug since the bike left the factory.

47909Rider · Post by **47909Rider** » Wed May 21, 2014 4:19 pm

Dooglas wrote: I wondered the same thing when you first explained your problem. I did not understand why the dealer would have removed the oil drain plug as part of initial set-up. The bike comes from the factory with oil in the crankcase and gearbox (rear hub), so the most the dealer would do is check the oil level at the dipstick or fill opening. You would likely have been the first person to remove the drain plug since the bike left the factory.

Every PDI guide I've read has you dumping the factory oils for new because "factory oils are crap."

But apparently PGO doesn't use crap oils, so Genuine dealers don't do that.

BootScootin'FireFighter · Wed May 21, 2014 9:47 pm

I'm dealing a similar problem. A little over 33,000 miles, and fortunately after I got back from a 600+ mile trip, the next day, 6 miles from home, the bike started to stall and crap out. Upon further investigation, the spark plug threads were completely stripped off of the casing. Next step was swap the engine from the spare Buddy with 12,000 miles, which was no easy feat BTW, especially lining up the holes and inserting the main bolt by myself.

Next step is to drain the bad engine and remove the head and take it to get re-threaded or an insert put in. Then reinstall everything and sell the spare bike. What a PITA, I haven't even got the motivation to get started with it.

VinylDoctor · Post by **VinylDoctor** » Thu May 22, 2014 8:09 pm

47909Rider wrote:
Dooglas wrote: I wondered the same thing when you first explained your problem. I did not understand why the dealer would have removed the oil drain plug as part of initial set-up. The bike comes from the factory with oil in the crankcase and gearbox (rear hub), so the most the dealer would do is check the oil level at the dipstick or fill opening. You would likely have been the first person to remove the drain plug since the bike left the factory.
Every PDI guide I've read has you dumping the factory oils for new because "factory oils are crap."

But apparently PGO doesn't use crap oils, so Genuine dealers don't do that.

err, I think those crap oils are called breakin oils.

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Thu May 22, 2014 8:28 pm

VinylDoctor wrote:
47909Rider wrote:
Dooglas wrote: I wondered the same thing when you first explained your problem. I did not understand why the dealer would have removed the oil drain plug as part of initial set-up. The bike comes from the factory with oil in the crankcase and gearbox (rear hub), so the most the dealer would do is check the oil level at the dipstick or fill opening. You would likely have been the first person to remove the drain plug since the bike left the factory.
Every PDI guide I've read has you dumping the factory oils for new because "factory oils are crap."

But apparently PGO doesn't use crap oils, so Genuine dealers don't do that.
err, I think those crap oils are called breakin oils.

Most, if not all of those PDIs are targeted towards cheap Chinese scooters, and are intended to forestall problems caused by the abysmal quality of their factory-supplied lubricants, coolants, and brake fluids.

buddyz · Post by **buddyz** » Sun May 25, 2014 3:08 pm

Changing gear oil is definitely part of all the PGO bike's PDI. We drain gear oil and refill 90ccs (20cc residual) on all scooters as soon as we PDI them. I don't have my techs do it because the quality of factory gear oil, I have them do it because there's no way to ensure that the proper amount is in there. No dipstick on rear ends.

So not all dealerships change it, but they should. Your might have over torqued it when they did. How much torque did you apply to loosen the bolt?