No pictures for this update - sorry folks.
In addition to the maintenance I did in part 1, I also changed the oil and filter. This is pretty routine maintenance and not a big deal at all, except there were a few serious complications that made it pretty tough.
First, the head of the bolt on the oil filter was old, rusty and the head was rounded off. When WD-40 and Vise Grips failed, I was forced to go pick up a set of bolt extractors from Canadian Tire. $30. Ouch. Well, after 12 hours of trying to WD-40 it out, I guess that's alright.
After that, things went fairly smoothly. Out came the old, nasty, blackened oil and in went the fresh, nearly transparent oil. Also dropped in a new K&N Oil Filter. Drain plug and oil filter bolt retightened, oil level check looks good, all set. Or so I thought...
One hour later, I started to skid a bit when braking. Shortly after the oil light went on. "Dude, you're leaking...!" Shit!
The drain plug had popped out mid-ride. So we hopped on Dave's ATV and followed the trail of oil down the road. About an hour of searching later, we found both the washer and the drain plug bolt. Crazy lucky, because they must have gone flying off at at least 70km/h.
The oil that came out (what little of it we caught in a bucket) looked nearly as black and awful as the old oil I had changed out earlier, so I might very well have done the engine a favor by accident. Anyway, another $20 of oil and a properly tightened drain plug later, everything is smooth.
No comments:
Post a Comment