Help removing O2 sensor guard.
 

So I bought a MM 2 in to 1 exhaust. Tried fitting at the weekend. it was all going well until I tried to remove the two allen bolts on the guard for the O2 sensor. I've completely stripped the allen bolts. I've applied penetrating oil and left for several days, I've applied heat, I've cut a line down the centre of the bolts so I can use a flat head screwdriver, I've even tried swearing at it (extensively).

I've got to the point now that I'm thinking about just sawing the heads of the bolts off and removing the guard using a bit of brute force. My thinking is that once I have the guard off I can just purchase some new bolts to attach to my new MM system. To be honest I may have to replace the bolts anyway considering the mess I have made of them.


So my questions are...

Am I barking up the wrong tree with my plan of sawing the heads off the bolts?

Does anyone know what size and type of screw I should be using to replace the old?


(Disclaimer: I am a complete novice and I may need things spelling out)


Thanks in advance!

No, I reckon I'd be barking up the very same tree! ;)

Ah, did you try wacking them? Mine were tough but a good wack on the head (them not me) with a hammer helped. You'll need to get them off anyhow (or the old system is un-usable) so cutting = last resort.

Heating them is another method.

Swearing should accompany all methods, iv'e been reminded of this today with my first try at a motard tyre change- Argh

Hi Arn

Blimey you kids can't be trusted to do anything!!!! that's the bad news!!!

The good

Just grind or file the heads off(don't mark the cover!!) and drill what's left out at your leisure.

What you want is M6x12

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M6-A2-Stai...item19ed35e663

Or ping me you address and I'll send you my originals I found some stainless but put them in mine and took the others out sorry mate!!!

I've tried giving them a good whack and another heating as advised but still no luck so looks like I'll be removing the bolt heads by force.

Thanks for the words of reassurance gents! I'm always very nervous of doing something irreversible.

Waynovetten,

You're a star! Cheers for the offer but I might treat my self to some snazzy new stainless steel bolts now that I have the right size.

In my defence, I fitted the handguards with almost no issues... almost.

I always thought stud exstracters were a bit of a gimmick til' I added some to my tool box. They come in various sizes & have a left hand thread so as you 'screw' them into the hole drilled into a snapped or stripped bolt it then winds the said bolt out of its right hand thread, if you catch my drift?
But get the dearest ones you can afford as the cheap ones also snap easily.
Good luck.

The tools for ******ed screw removal are the simply miraculous left handed drill bits.

No, this isn't an apprentice gag - they are exactly what they say they are drill bits that work in the opposite direction to normal. The miraculous bit is because they operate in reverse they unscrew the offending fastener as they drill in. No need to saw off the heads.

I have used stud extractors in the past and have also managed to snap one in the screw - then you are truly f*cked as you can't drill out the super hard steel.

The drill bits I've got are similar to these (I've not used this exact supplier):
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251801698126

I've not had a ******ed fastener defeat me since I got them.

I'd go along with sweller on the anti-clockwise drill bits, but if you round off a socket head (Allen) you can belt in a torx bit with hammer and that may work. Use a decent quality bit or it will probably just snap though. The hammering of the bit into rounded off Allen socket helps free the stuck thread. Another method I've had success with in the past is to tap a welding rod onto the bolt so it gets stuck, that heats the bolt up nearly red hot and then turn off welder leaving rod stuck to bolt and bend rod over,wind out bolt. Good luck!

I've ordered some left handed drill bits and will be giving that a try this weekend. It's probably for the best. The closest thing I've got to welder is the missus' hair dryer!

Let�s not lose sight of the principle objective here, which is I guess, to get the O2 sensor out as quickly, easily and cheaply as possible?

While you�re sitting around waiting for your LH drill bits to arrive, why not just cut/grind/file/drill (delete as appropriate) off the heads of the offending bolts, remove the cover and unscrew the sensor. Refit the sensor to your Metal Mule header and off you go!

You can then tackle the stuck remnants of the bolts at your leisure while still being able to ride your bike.

Good point well made but you haven't taken into account one vital factor. My complete unparalleled ability to mess up the simplest of tasks! I've made a pig's ear of one of the exhaust manifold bolts as well now :tear: so all work must grind to a halt until my new drill bits arrive.

I sort of accepted that doing the exhaust fitting myself would result in the bike being off the road for a few days/weeks/months/indefinitely. I've still got my Versys to keep me occupied while I stock my toolbox :ytiller:

Hopefully I won't need to turn up to the Wales meeting on it!

Having looked at mine I'd very doubt being able to get a drill in straight at the bottom one anyway so drilling it off the right way or the wrong way is a minor detail so long as the heads come off.

Unless anyone comes up the exact because they have used them I'd go for these if you need any.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-XT-...item3ce27285de

All of which you shouldn't have touched because you need the pipes tight for when you lean on the spanner to get the lamba out.

The next important bit Arn when trying to remove the lamba don't go using a rubber open ended spanner because if you round that off as well you'll be spitting feathers!!

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pslomihxvo.jpg

Re out conversation you haven't got to the difficult part yet!!

And don't forget when undoing the lamba count the number of turns so you can do the same number for when you put it back in so the wired isn't twisted.

Success!!!

The LH drill bits worked a treat. I ended up having to use a slightly larger drill bit to remove the heads of the bolts as the shafts just would not budge. I'm leaving the broken screw shafts in the old exhaust for now. I've had enough of drilling.

I've bought some flare nut spanners as suggested. Don't fancy rounding off anything else.

Thats a great tip. Without it i'd have definately ended up with a twisted cable.


I ordered my replacement manifold screws before you were kind enough to send the link for the XT500 ones.

For reference: Stainless Steel M8 x 35MM grub screws plus M8 domed hex nuts, both from ebay. I've tried them for size and they look like a perfect match.

I would guess plenty of copper grease should prevent me having similar issues in the future.


A big thanks to everyone who helped. I owe you all a pint!

:smilies0349: Victory at last! Well done.

Can we see some pictures of the finished result?

I'm surprised the L/H drill bits didn't unwind the screw shafts.

If you just wanted to decapitate the securing socket cap heads then drilling with a slightly larger drill bit (say 6.5mm or 7mm) dead centre of the head (rounded hex socket helps here) is easy - with normal drill bits too.

Shhhhhhhh he hasn't got the pipe on yet and made sure it isn't blowing from the front headers there's knack to doing it I just hope he remembers what I told him it took me 2 attempts and a lot of four letter expletives if there is anyone out there with 3 hands then it's a doddle!!!

If I remember correctly. Use 3rd hand to prevent gaskets from falling out while attaching new downpipes.

Attach downpipes loosely, run without silencer (apologise to neighbours), tighten once warm then attach silencer.

That's the plan anyway.

Once I'm all done I may put together an idiots guide to exhaust replacement, for other mechanically challenged individuals.

Sort of !! offer the headers up and try and keep pressure on then them so the exhaust gaskets don't move inside have the exhaust header nuts close to hand and attempt to screw on while keeping pressure on the headers.

Don't go mad with the allen key on those header nuts you can get a lot of pressure on them with a long allen key and that's not what you want take it steady screw both sides in square when they feel tight(ish) put the can on,no need to start it and fit into position with as little force as pos and of course you have fitted the lamba!!.

When you start it and the(if) header are blowing take the can off and slacken the header nuts off wobble the headers to taste!!!! and try again came good the second time for me.

Well, I've gotten myself into another fine mess. After removing the O2 sensor guard I set to work on the exhaust manifold studs. Two came off pretty easy and the other two, not so much.

Neither stud would budge using a mole grip. I managed to get one of the reluctant studs off using the double nut method. Tried it on the last one and completely stripped the thread off the stud.

I've still got my LH drill bits but I'm a bit nervous using these to drill out the stud. It's a really awkward angle and if I'm not dead on I'm worried about stripping the thread off the header.

So, unless anyone else can give me any better ideas I'm going to buy an arc welder and weld a nut onto the stud and use this to get some leverage.

Any advice/suggestions... Please!

:surrender:

Before you go out and buy a welder, one last thing you could try is grinding a flat on opposing sides of the stud so you can get a spanner or pair of grips on it securely.

Just tried this but I can't get the two bolts off that I've used to strip the thread from the stud.

I've just ordered an arc welder which I'll be picking up tomorrow morning. Hopefully the extreme heat may break the seal.

I'm assuming I need to remove anything electrical from the bike as I'll be welding a nut onto a stud still attached to the engine. If anyone knows exactly what I should remove and also where I should be attaching the earth clamp to, I would greatly appreciate any advice/tips.

I've never welded before so I'll be practising on the 3 studs I've removed before I chance it with the stuck stud!

Hi Arn

You need to disconnect the battery and the CDI box welding the nut on will not generate enough heat and you need put a lot more heat on the stud at the cylinder end because if you shear that off then you will be in the doo doo.

Finally! After nearly a month of trying to remove one bolt I manged to get it loose yesterday. My theory was sound but I was let down by my application. (Lets just say welding won't be making it onto my CV!)

I went through around 15 - 20 nuts trying to weld one successfully enough to the stud to get enough purchase to remove it. I'm sure the constant heating and cooling cycle helped in the end.

The really frustrating thing was that it only took me about 45 minutes to fit the new system. Fired it up yesterday, no leaks! :toothy9:

All in all a very positive experience! The bike looks and sounds miles better, saved some weight, gained some ground clearance, learnt some new skills and bought some new tools.

Once I've cleaned it up and put all the other bits and bobs back on I'll post some pics.

Thanks angain for the help chaps.

:toot: Well done - got there in the end!

As you say, not only have you got a better bike as a result of your blood, sweat and tears, but you've learnt a lot from it too. So what's the next mod then? ;)

Definitely a bash plate, either MM or Adventure Spec (modded slightly to fit the R). I'll be ordering it as soon as I can make my mind up.

I'm leaning more towards the Adventure Spec as it looks like it offers much more protection, although it's expensive and heavy.

Surely not the MM one for the Tenere? IMVHO, it is possibly the most horrible looking and made accessory I've ever seen created for an XT! ;)

The one for the XTR doesn't look a whole heap better either!

Just had to do a quick search for the MM Tenere bashplate... WOW! Did they make it out of Meccano?

I was looking at the MM XTR bashplate. Yer, I agree. It isn't the prettiest but like I said, it's cheap and probably a lot lighter.

I have an XTR, only looking at the Adventure Spec Tenere bashplate as they don't seem to make one for the R. There is a review from someone who's fitted it to a R with a "small modification." He's added links to some pics. Looks very nice and very substantial!

I must admit, I'd probably go for the Adventure Spec option, if nothing else because of the aesthetics. There are indeed a couple of members who've successfully adapted it to go on the R and it looks really rather good. I can see why cost would come into the equation though.

Meccano is a good description of the MM Tenere bash plate! :rotf[1]:

Well done Arn in getting the pipe on at the first attempt even when I did it on the second I can remember ' Blimey this could be a drawn out affair' and I thought I was lucky.

And for some strange reason I thought you had an X when we were talking so I feel happier because while I think the 2 into 1 is the way to for the R it wasn't where I wanted to go with my X.

We'll call it beginners luck!

Rode the bike today. Can't say I notice a massive difference in performance but then it's been so long since I've ridden it I think I've completely forgotten what it used to feel like! The sound is much nicer though and I've got that all important extra ground clearance.

I've ordered my Adventure Spec bash plate. It arrives tomorrow. I've got a day off to fit it and then i'll be set for some green lanes.

Just need to learn how to ride off road.