fuel tank bolt

[randy nelson]

hello guys im diassembling my just aqquired 89 kdx 200 for inspection lubrication and have found several broken bolts on this bike . i have gotton all out except one and that is a fuel tank radiator shroud bolt. it has a 1/4 stub sticking out of the hole so i can get on it but the nut is spinning in the plastic tank. ive tried penetrating oil {2 days} and wedging it with a screwdriver . what can i do? obvsiouly i cant use heat. can i pull the nut out and epoxy it back in?

 

[palmer69]

Same thing happened to me. I couldn't get the bugger out so I'm just living with it for now. Hopefully someone out there has the answer.

 

[KDXFreestyle]

mine is doing the samething on my 03 200. One of the gastank (8mm) bolts/nut is spinning. I htink i am gonna do what the other guy said..yank it out, and glue it back in

 

[palmer69]

Sounds good. That was my plan too. Let us know how you yank it out.

 

[kx200]

Try heating it just enough to pull the brass part out a ways. Vise-grip that part to keep it from spinning. Try to unbolt what’s left then try to push the brass piece back in again see what happens
oh some luck will be needed a 2oz bottle will do

 

[kawa]

Same thing happened on my last top end / power valve maintainence. The right side bolt just above the pipe at the frame was seized. A Sawzall got it removed and upon re-assembly I opted to leave that one alone. KDX tanks are so form fitted into the frame...after a couple hundered miles there doesn't seem to be any hard wear issues. This got me to remembering what the old tanks were like (even plastic ones) back in the olden days when you only had the one rubber crotch strap at the frame and one big bolt thru the frame at the front. Seems I can remember when money was tight i'd tie a banding strap around everything to keep it together(back in the 70's)
DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP ON RIDING!!!

 

[randy nelson]

well i got the bolt out finally. i tried various things , oil, jamming stuff around it ,and i finally started to get it out by taking a rotary file and cutting plastic around the nut @ 1inch. i was hoping to get a vise grip on the more exposed nut/insert. i removed about 3/16 of plastic and was just trying to get on the nut . the brass nut will break away when you try to grab it hard. i then tried to heat the nut with a plastic welder[ hot air, small stream] and try to move it out futher to get a better grip. i did get a better grip and was trying to hold the nut and also turn the bolt stub .......... still would not come out!!! finally i had a good grip on the nut and still that bolt would not come out.ugggggg i heated it up again and this time the nut actually pulled out of the tank. the tank is pretty thick there @ 5/8 thick. leaving a nice square hole and no fuel coming out. the actual nut/insert is brass and about 1/2 inch long square and has channels around it. i put the insert in a vise and my big vise grip and the bolt stub finally came out.!!!! to repair the tank i cleaned out the square hole of debris[ the inside of the hole was rough] and coated the insert as well as the hole with epoxy. i left the suface low by @1/8 inch .. after the epoxy dried i then filled the rest of the hole with clear plastic from my plastax repair kit . i sanded it smooth . it looks pretty good and the hole is operational. bottom line is make sure the bolts are the right size and it probably wouldnt hurt to put a little grease or anti-seize on the bolts .