I got a double kick in the ***** today. Replaced the primary fluid without a hitch. upon reinstalling the last torx screw into the derby cover, the head stripped. I went to ace and purchased a deep allen replacement that was just a little bit shorter than stock (they didnt have any the exact length). Went home, started putting it in, grabbed the torque wrench set to 90 inch lbs (no where near the suggested max of 108) and boom... the tightening stopped at about 50 to 60 inch lbs I would estimate. A sliver of thread came with the screw when I removed it. I have a few questions thatI have yet to find searching through the other threads addressing this...

1. Is it possibly that the type of metal the replacement screw was made out of is what jacked it up?

2. If only one rotation of thread came out... is it still completely screwed(lol)?
I can still hand tighten with one of the stock screws without any slippage.

 

How'd you strip it when installing? Usually it strips trying to come out. Makes me wonder if you over tightened it or wasn't going in straight, thus stripping it.

 

Well the head of the bolt stripped worse than it was originally because I slipped while tightening. But once I got the replacement and began tightening that one(not an oem bolt) it felt like it was possibly cross threading. Hind sight is 20/20 lol. I took out the bolt and shined the flash light and it appears to be partially damaged. Idk how it didn't pull them all out. I'm not sure if the remaining threads can handle the listed torque. I'm wondering if my best bet is something like locite thread repair. Or helicoil.

 

I hate to ask: Did you get a new bolt with the same pitch thread as the original? What you described sounds like what would happen if they are close but not the same.
Helicoil is good for repair, Keensert is best in this application.
Also, did the new longer bolt bottom out on the clutch basket before the bolthead made contact?

 

I'm gonna swallow my pride and say I jacked up checking the pitch. I used the ace hardware pin up thing where you screw into a chart that tells you the size. I was trying to save a few bucks and get something that would be sure to loosen but it looks like I shot myself in the foot on this one

 

I never put the longer bolt in cause I felt resistance too quickly. I thought the shorter one would work but it obviously didn't. It worked fine on one without stripping it though. Like I said. The messed up thread is hand tight right now with no issues but I don't wanna push it.

 

Ok. Find a tap the correct size, and re-tap the hole. You may be able to save it that way. Or just get a Keensert repair kit and try that.

 

Will do... So what you are telling me is that my situation is fixable without having to buy a new primary cover?

 

Yup. There's a couple ways out of this relatively unscathed. Re-tapping the hole is first, followed by more serious measures. After the tap use a correct size screw and gently reinstall everything. Use blue loctite, and no torque wrench, it isn't needed on those screws anyway. Nice firm handtight will do with a screwdriver type torx bit.

 

The torque wrench is the first mistake! This is my first Harley and I told myself I'm gonna do everything by the book and of course this is what I get haha. I should have just hand tightened it in the first place. Do you think it would be a bad idea to test the waters with the hand tight screw even though I lost a thread or two?