slipping "nut" in gas tank

[CO Dan]

the bike is my daughter's 01 KX100, bought used

The right radiator shroud is stuck onto the gas tank permanently. The reason is that one of the threaded inserts, in the tank, where the screw holding the shroud screws in, now slips, making it impossible to remove the screw.

To try to make this clear...there is a threaded insert in the gas tank. It serves as the female part of the connection, matching with a screw. That insert, which is supposed to be fixed in the tank, rotates, making it impossible to remove the screw.

Any ideas? Buying a new tank is not an option.

Thanks

 

[njdrtrdr]

I've had it happen a couple of times to me with my kdx's

I never figured a way to remove the screw from the nut, so I left it as is (mine always happened with the bottom bolt)
What I did was

In shroud, in the pocket where the bolt is, I would cut the top half of the screw hole bigger. Then I would put the shroud in the bottom bolt through the larger spot, then pull the shroud up to where it will be if it was bolted on and then put the top screw in. This probbaly sound confusing.

To make it easier, I modified the hole so it would work like the hole in tback of a wall plaque, picture, etc. Where one end of the hole is big enough to fit over the head of the screw in teh wall, then you slide it down to make it tight.

Nick

 

[MrLuckey]

Is there any way you can cut (dremel maybe) the head of the screw off? Then remove the shroud, use penetrating oil and maybe push a screwdriver tip or something in to keep the insert from rotating while you remove the rest of the screw? If you can get that far I would think some good epoxy down in the insert hole (careful of the threads though) would hold it in place. If you get her fixed, a little anit seize would hopefully keep the problem from re occurring.

 

[jboomer]

I too have had that same problem with both my bikes. I tried the screwdriver, but all it did was end up making the hole the "receiver" was in larger (it still rotated). Penetrating lube wouldn't work either. Ever notice how those types of bolts turn "white?" Big time corrosion over a short period of time? I will try that epoxy.

 

[IrishEKU]

Originally posted by TTRGuy
Is there any way you can cut (dremel maybe) the head of the screw off? Then remove the shroud, use penetrating oil and maybe push a screwdriver tip or something in to keep the insert from rotating while you remove the rest of the screw? If you can get that far I would think some good epoxy down in the insert hole (careful of the threads though) would hold it in place. If you get her fixed, a little anit seize would hopefully keep the problem from re occurring.

Good post Eddie, to further the point after you have removed the shroud and gotten to the offending fastener drain the tank and let it purge/vent to get all the fumes and vapors out. Then you could try a heat gun to make the plastic maleable enough to try and reseat the fastener or try to use the epoxy seat it again, keep us posted on how it works out on which way you go.

Good Luck,

 

[MrLuckey]

Are the screw and the nut different types of metal? I would try to epoxy the nut in place, use penetrating oil for a day or two after the epoxy is solid. A lot of times when you have a stuck nut or bolt it will break loose with a good solid jolt when constant even pressure will make something strip or slip. Try vise grips (as tight as you can get them) and then give it a quick solid whack with your hand or a hammer.

 

[YZThumper]

I had this happen to my 94 YZ 250. I wish I could offer some helpfull advise, but I was never able to remove the bolt from the insert, or the insert from the gas tank.

I was able to get the shroud off, and I tried the epoxy trick, but the insert still spun. I had the bolt cranked down in a table mounted vice with me and a buddy pulling on the gas tank . . . . In the immortal words of George Bush "Not Gonna Do it" !!!

If they made the rest of the bike as durable as that insert is inside the plastic gas tank, we'd never break down or have to buy parts again.

I ended up buying a new gas tank from Clarke and the first thing I did to the new bolts and inserts was to put anti-seize on them.

 

[MikeT]

I don't have a solution, but what is a good way to prevent this from happening in the first place? Oil? Antisieze? ?

 

[Nevada Sixx]

i left the screw in, and just pulled my shroud till the screw come on thru, and left a bigger hole in my shroud. if you do it just right, you can push your shroud back on and it will stay pretty well..you still have 2 other screws holding the shroud on...

 

[KXTodd]

Don't know if you'll see this since you haven't posted back but.. When it happened on my old bike I was able to hold the washer in place with some visegrips and turn the bolt out, guess the washer kind of put enough pressure to hold the shroud against the insert? Don't know but it worked.

 

[jimmiv]

I had this problem on my 2000 kx250 and this is what I did to correct the problem: Drain the gas. Now take a drill with a 8mm socket attached and turning in a counter clockwise direction. Place the drill and socket on the problem bolt and spin at a medium/fast speed. We are intending to create some heat from the friction of the spinning brass nut in the tank. The heat may melt through the radiator shroud first, this can be fixed using a larger washer when reinstalling. The key is to get behind the bolt with a small pry bar while spinning the bolt (creating heat) and the brass nut will pull through the plastic. Remove stuck bolt and replace nut in to gas tank using a plastic friendly epoxy. Be sure to use ant-seize when reinstalling bolt and a larger washer if needed to hold shroud in place. Good Luck!

 

[BIKEMAN111]

shroud insert repair

I had this happen on my old 88` cr500,I read in dirtbike the perfect fix.use a compressor,hook up your air ratchet,using appropiate bit/socket etc.Set to loosen the just keep spinning it the high speed will melt a minute amount of plastic around the insert and it will quickly pop off.Then you can use your vice grips on it to remove it.Then fill the hole with JB weld but ensure the threads aren`t full.Place the insert back into the tank and presto it`s fixed correctly for life I`ve used this tip on a 88`cr500,85yz125,90`rm250,and several others.It is awesome,try it you`ll be a believer :nod:

 

[motogps]

You can get the insert out by heating it up with a soldering iron. It will come right out when it gets hot enough. Then put it in a vice and unscrew the bolt. Run a tap through the insert and put it back in the hole of the gas tank and with the iron melt some of the plastic back into the hole around the insert. I actually made new inserts out brass for my cr 250 as the nut heads were broke off. I also used some of an old fender for additional plastic.

 

[motogps]

You can get the insert out by heating it up with a soldering iron. It will come right out when it gets hot enough. Then put it in a vice and unscrew the bolt. Run a tap through the insert and put it back in the hole of the gas tank and with the iron melt some of the plastic back into the hole around the insert. I actually made new inserts out of brass for my cr 250 as the nut heads were broke off. I also used some of an old fender for additional plastic.

 

[phranticness]

use a 3/8 air gun and run the bolt and the insert untill they both come out together, put the insert in the vise and remove the bolt, clean the threads untill they work freely together. run the bolt into the insert a couple threads and clamp the bold head with a pair of needle nose vise grips, find some plastic stock I.E. soda bottle, coolent bottle, whatever, cut some peices small enough to cover the hole in the tank with a little excess now heat the insert with a propane torch untill it's really hot, it won't glow red so about 2 minutes, now set the hot insert on the hole forceing the new plastic in and hold untill it cools. pretty safe repair that works....

 

[jimmiv]

Hello,

I had this problem with my 2000 kx 250 and it is a fairly easy fix. Get you cordless drill with a 8mm socket attached. Spin the stuck nut with the drill at a high speed creating heat. Use something to pry behind the shroud and the entire brass nut should be heated and pull out of the gas tank. You might cut through the shoud due to the heat - use a washer behind the bolt before reassembly if this occurs. After removing the bolt from the nut - use some epoxy in the hole and insert brass nut - use anti-seize on the shroud bolt and reinstall after epoxy cures. Good luck!