Oil Change Turns Very Ugly - Mystery Screw on Drain Plug

I am (or was) planning on taking a long ride this weekend, so I thought it wise to change the oil today.

I just pulled the oil plug and it came out like this:




Any ideas what this might be?

So far, my best guess is the screw for a cam chain guide (which would mean pulling the head:angry:).

Post edited by: mattb, at: 2006/09/21 23:52

can ya post a picture of it?

Sorry - technical difficulties.

click here.

picasaweb.google.com/mattblomgren/Misc/p...#4977417618781503506

I'm guessing it is number 11.

www.kawasaki.com/Scripts/ImgServ.exe/con...ilBR=0&ilIF=P&ilRE=8

I replaced that guide when I put the bike together, and I think it had locktite.

Bike is running like a top with no cam chain noise.

bummer id say pull valve cover 1st and peak down in there,is it making any noise?

I pulled the valve cover, and everything looks fine from up top (though you can't really see that much). My pop has a fiber optic scope that you can stick down pretty far and look around. I'll check it out later, but since the engine has been running good with no noise, I think I'll go ahead and ride this weekend. If I get stranded . . . that's what friends are for, eh?

thats right:P

Matt, Couldn't tell from the pic if that was a pan head or head head bolt. Which is it?

If that is number 11, then number 12 is somewhere else now.

wiredgeorge wrote:

Matt, Couldn't tell from the pic if that was a pan head or head head bolt. Which is it?

pan head. philips.

As for the location of part number 12 (cam chain guide) - Would losing the screw necessarily mean that that part comes lose? I was just talking to my dad (who did most of the engine work on this bike), and he thought that the guide might have been wedged between the head and the block. Is that just wishful thinking?

That is the ONLY pan head 6mm (about 3/4" long) in the engine that I can think of... the one that holds the front cam chain guide... It has two arms that sandwhich under the cylinder head in little channels. If it were mine, I would pull off the cylinder head and put the pan head bolts back in with some RED LOCTITE. I would not try letting it rattle in there loose. I use RED LOCTITE on all bolts internal to the engine cases and you just figured out the reason. That front guide... when you take it out, it is mostly a rubber type stuff except for the topmost part which is either plastic or plastic coated rubber. Once it starts to wear, it will disintigrate REAL QUICK. You can tell a bad one by looking closely and flexing it. If you see a horizontal crack develop when you flex it, just replace it with a new one. I bet yours is either deteriorated now or cracked so get a new one from z1enteprises.com!