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Or "How do I get the three screws holding the crank plate on the left side of the motor out ?". I'm patient. Really, I am ! I work with people all night who have no clue as to why they're calling my company and no clue on how to use a computer. I'm surrounded by managers that have no idea what I do. At home, I have two children, a Yankee wife, 3 horses, 2 dogs and 2 cats. Believe me, that takes patience !

But this bike has to be one of the most challenging devices I've ever tried to work on. I have used PB Blaster and Freeze Out along with a heavy duty screw driver and a mallet in an effort to get them to budge and no joy at all. As a last resort I put an air impact driver reduced to a 3/8" drive twisting on a large Phillips bit and unfortunately it has now worsened the issue by camming out the Phillips on 2 of the three bolts. I'm wondering if an Easy Out would work however the last time I tried this, the Easy Out broke off in the bolt.

Am I going to have to drill these out ?

Gidday John,

There are two options that I use when this happens:

1. Use a centre punch on the edge of the screw and hit it in an anti clockwise direction - sometimes you can get enough of a hit to break the screw free and wind it out, otherwise you'll need to take more drastic action

2. Drill the heads off.

From memory they are a 6mm thread, so start with a 3mm drill going in as close to 90 degrees as possible, but you only want to drill to the bottom of the head - not into the actual threaded part of the screw.

Then start increasing the size of the drill until the head comes off.

With a bit of gentle pressure you should be able to get the cover off, and a few mm of thread will be protruding. Soak the remaining parts of the bolts in WD40 and leave overnight, then remove with vise grips.

It all sounds a bit extreme doing it this way, but as a last option it usually works.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the reply. I'll try drilling them out. Since I've never had these screws out, can you tell me if the screw has a V shaped (countersunk) head ?

can you tell me if the screw has a V shaped (countersunk) head ?

Yes it does, as soon as the drill size reaches 6mm at the base of the head, it should just come off.

I got them out. Continued freezing them and took out some of my frustrations with the hammer. I think the screwdriver is a lot worse for wear however that's a lot cheaper than my efforts at drilling out steel bolts in an aluminum block.

I suppose my next challenge is to attempt to find replacements or pull the ones out of the spare (blown) engine I have in my van. Unfortunately Bike Bandit doesn't show a part number for them.

Called a Honda dealer today. They sold their last pair of VFR800's for $8200 each. Dealer says I'll have to wait for the '09's. Was hoping to not go into debt but I can't keep putting this much time into what is in essence a piece of transportation. I'm driving the SUV daily until I get the YZF or FZR back on the road.

Kiwi's advice is good. gentle heat (say prophane torch 'til spit sizzels) can also assist. if these fail, saw off as little of remaining scew as possible and center punch EXACT center and drill.(starting as small as possible). if enough screw is salvagable you may get a couple of trys at getting centered. drillin heads off puts 3 things to your' favor.. it takes tension off screw, gives you something to grab,and allows acces to lube and heat. if vicegrips still are insufficent to remove, chances are that all an ez-out will do is expand screw and the the heinous possibility of breaking off. by drilling with progressivly larger drills there usually comes a point at which remains can be "picked" from hole, and even if some threads are hurt, allows for a centered hole to heli-coi/timesert. been there cursed that, hope this helps G

Silver.
Don't go there. They're always a bugger to get out and not worth the hassle. I used three normal allen head bolts on mine when I put it back together. Couldn't have cared less for the counter-sunk space. Doesn't look bad and works a treat plus you know you won't sweat it next time.

John

Silver.
Don't go there. They're always a bugger to get out and not worth the hassle. I used three normal allen head bolts on mine when I put it back together. Couldn't have cared less for the counter-sunk space. Doesn't look bad and works a treat plus you know you won't sweat it next time.

I use counter sunk allen heads for these covers and with copper slip on the threads they're fine.

I use counter sunk allen heads

You can get them in your town/village????
I'm lucky to get a decent bolts with allen heads in a range of sizes. Forget anything fancy!!!
I'm happy for you that you've got such good fortune.
Yeah, I'd go with those if I could get them.

Cheers,
John

You can get them in your town/village????

Yep - and we even have running water and electricity

"How do I get the three screws holding the crank plate on the left side of the motor out ?".

Use one of these Silver Impact driver

A short dose of intense heat right on the bolt head too if it doesn't break loose in the first three taps.
Those screws have loctite on the threads - they're always a bear to get.

Doesn't help much now that they're broken, but maybe next time it will?

Sadly I've tried an impact driver and you need an extra-long bit to reach past the frame support. Haven't found where I can buy one, yet.

If you want some long phillips bits I can get some for you. They are about 6 inches in length. Let me know.

hotcam wrote:Sadly I've tried an impact driver and you need an extra-long bit to reach past the frame support.

Yeah, I guess I remember that - sometimes the most direct route for engine chores is just to pull the lump out.

The most annoying thing is that the cover doesn't really need to come off for the valve adjustment.

The easiest way of turning the engine over (unless you have the specific yamaha tool) is to put the bike in gear, remove the spark plugs and turn the rear wheel.

Yes, that's why I've just left the jammed screws in there. Will replace them some day.

I had to drill a few out of one of Jello's cases and the rest I used an impact driver.

I replaced all with aluminum countersunk allen heads. Never have the problem again