Transmission oil filter cover - I'm an idiot

[Cirrusly]

It was time for my first oil change. Easy enough. Any dummy can do this.

Remove the drain bolt, drain the oil, replace the bolt, remove and replace the oil filter (which was REALLY tight by the way), take two bolts out of the transmission oil filter cover, remove and replace the transmission oil filter, and replace the cover. Simple. Anybody can do it. Yeah, right. Except for an idiot that doesn't pay attention.....

If you don't pay attention to which part of the oil filter cover goes up it CAN be installed upside down. To the defense of all idiots like me there is very little difference between "up and down" and there's no mention in the service manual about this either. If you look closely where the cover mounts to the NC you'll see that there is a small lip on the bottom, and if you look at the back of the cover you'll see that the bottom of the cover has virtually no lip. IF you're an idiot like me and you install the cover upside down the top lip of the cover will catch on the protrusion from the case, and when you tighten the cover down you're going to hear this awful "SNAP" which means you just snapped a piece off of your cover and now you get to buy a new one (+- $55 USD).

The pictures below should explain this better than my ramblings. I did learn a few other things that I'll pass along:

1. The service manual recommends that you replace the rubber gasket that's on the back of the cover when you change the filter.
2. There are no torque specs in the service manual for the transmission oil filter cover bolts
3. The transmission oil filter bolts take a 7mm socket
4. I ordered the replacement cover from my local dealer. They told me that overnight shipping from Honda was very inexpensive, and if the order was placed by 5pm EST there was a very good chance that the part was going to be here the next day. My order was placed at 4:30pm yesterday and it was here by noon today for <$10 shipping.

Steve

 

[670cc]

You seem to have company to share the misery with: https://www.nc700-forum.com/threads/replacing-dct-oil-cover.22985/

Earlier today, thinking about the other thread, I had looked up the procedure and was disappointed that, like you said, Honda failed to publish a torque spec for the DCT filter cover bolts. I guess you’d have to go by the standard torque recommendation for that screw size.

 

[Klap]

This reminds me of working on my BMW Airheads, where practically any part that could be confusing to re-assemble was marked with a hand stamped "oben" marking....meaning "top" or "above" in German. I used to think it was a bit over the top, but no longer......

 

[INTHEWIND]

You seem to have company to share the misery with: https://www.nc700-forum.com/threads/replacing-dct-oil-cover.22985/

Earlier today, thinking about the other thread, I had looked up the procedure and was disappointed that, like you said, Honda failed to publish a torque spec for the DCT filter cover bolts. I guess you’d have to go by the standard torque recommendation for that screw size.

My old Goldwing didnt have DCT cover bolt torque specs either.
Owners were snapping off the bolts with too much tightening. Go figure.
Common sense is a virtue.

 

[GregC]

welcome to the DCT Oil Filter Cover Mishap Club ... I started that other thread. I'm going to put an "up" arrow on the backside of the new cover with a permanent maker just to "idiot proof" this in the future. FWIW, it did not take much torque on the bolts to snap that piece of the cover off.

I think I'm going to lay the bike on its left side and change out the cover to minimize new oil loss. I need to practice with my MotoBikeJack anyway (MotoBikeJack).

 

[INTHEWIND]

welcome to the DCT Oil Filter Cover Mishap Club ... I started that other thread. I'm going to put an "up" arrow on the backside of the new cover with a permanent maker just to "idiot proof" this in the future. FWIW, it did not take much torque on the bolts to snap that piece of the cover off.

I think I'm going to lay the bike on its left side and change out the cover to minimize new oil loss. I need to practice with my MotoBikeJack anyway (MotoBikeJack).

welcome to the DCT Oil Filter Cover Mishap Club ... I started that other thread. I'm going to put an "up" arrow on the backside of the new cover with a permanent maker just to "idiot proof" this in the future. FWIW, it did not take much torque on the bolts to snap that piece of the cover off.

I think I'm going to lay the bike on its left side and change out the cover to minimize new oil loss. I need to practice with my MotoBikeJack anyway (MotoBikeJack).

Less than an .oz will come out if that.
Just leave the filter in place.

 

[Cirrusly]

welcome to the DCT Oil Filter Cover Mishap Club ... I started that other thread. I'm going to put an "up" arrow on the backside of the new cover with a permanent maker just to "idiot proof" this in the future. FWIW, it did not take much torque on the bolts to snap that piece of the cover off.

I think I'm going to lay the bike on its left side and change out the cover to minimize new oil loss. I need to practice with my MotoBikeJack anyway (MotoBikeJack).

Actually, once you look at it closely it's obvious which side should go down as it's the side with less material that allows it to fit inside the protrusion. I sure wish I would have seen your earlier post, however compared to the other dumb things I have done this one is actually really far down on the list!

 

[Brigante1982]

Please welcome another idiot here



One may guess from the pictures that I am a complete noob at servicing bikes, but hey, its my bike and that feeling of doing the job myself is priceless.

Anyway...

Snapped off the bolt on the left side. Was lucky enough not to snap the right one. I tried conventional bolt extractor tool from Home Depot with no luck. Could you please advise how to take that sucker out? Thanks a lot.

Regards!

 

[INTHEWIND]

Left handed drill bit, Bolt was not cross threaded when it broke, should spin out easily.

 

[INTHEWIND]

Please welcome another idiot here

View attachment 52223View attachment 52224

One may guess from the pictures that I am a complete noob at servicing bikes, but hey, its my bike and that feeling of doing the job myself is priceless.

Anyway...

Snapped off the bolt on the left side. Was lucky enough not to snap the right one. I tried conventional bolt extractor tool from Home Depot with no luck. Could you please advise how to take that sucker out? Thanks a lot.

Regards!

That other bolt was stretched a mile. WOW

 

[670cc]

That other bolt was stretched a mile. WOW

Good observation. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a motorcycle engine bolt stretched like that. It’s a wonder the aluminum engine case threads didn’t strip first. Obviously, bolt bolts need to be replaced.

It got me thinking that maybe a stretching on the bolt that broke attempted to distort it’s thread pitch, and that’s why the remaining piece is struck in there tightly.

 

[MZ5]

Yeah, dang! Those bolts were WAY over-tightened at some point in the past.

 

[670cc]

Regarding stripped or broken bolts, in the end, since Honda failed to provide a torque specification in the DCT oil filter cover installation procedure, one needs to look in the service manual table for torque values for standard bolt sizing/thread pitch, and diligently use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts only to those torque values. So called calibrated wrists, good-n-tight, torque it ‘til she strips and back off a quarter, I‘ve always done it this way, or plain guesswork have no place in properly servicing a motorcycle.

 

[INTHEWIND]

Common sense and experience is the remedy for bolt torque.
Any metric bolt table would work, better than guessing.

 

[jeremyr62]

I‘ve always done it this way, or plain guesswork have no place in properly servicing a motorcycle.

That's just your opinion. I rarely use a torque wrench these days. I don't strip threads or break bolts. I have been working on bikes for a long time. For the inexperienced they are worthwhile for sure.

 

[INTHEWIND]

Snapped off the bolt on the left side. Was lucky enough not to snap the right one. I tried conventional bolt extractor tool from Home Depot with no luck. Could you please advise how to take that sucker out? Thanks a lot.

Regards!

Any update?

 

[NovaGeeze]

These bolts just hold the cover in and provide tension via the spring, right? "Snug" should do the job, no? What's the upside from "tighter?" Nothing? What's the downside? Strip or break off bolt. Now, what's the downside from just "snug?" maybe some oil loss, that you'd probably notice and remedy by tightening a little more? Will the bolts loosen and come out? How about a few drops of blue loctite to prevent that? And the upside is no worries about breaking those bolts off.

 

[Wheelee]

By the way the other fun thing about the DCT oil filter cover. If you fit Sw Motech crashbars they don’t protect the cover , the hand guards or the exhaust , they all get scratched. Be warned

 

[GregC]

Less than an .oz will come out if that.
Just leave the filter in place.

Finally got around to replacing the DCT oil filter cover (when I was also replacing my Wolo Big Bad Max horn). As suggested, laid the bike down on its left side and all went well. However, did lose a bit of oil, which I didn’t notice and it apparently went inside the plastic shroud (which I did not remove), and then promptly dripped a pretty line from my driveway into the garage when I wheeled the bike back in. Doh!

Also got to practice with my Motobike Jack to raise the bike back up - two back surgeries 5 years ago and I take no chances). That jack is simple, quick, and effective.

 

[halfSpinDoctor]

Poka-yoke fail! Should expect better from a Japanese manufacturer!