Yea, dickey ! If you think about doin' it, for peace of mind, do it!, & forget about it. Is that a sickness, or what ?

 

Yep, at the cost of amsoil; I would re-use it.

 

When you go to buy the o-ring, just get the plug assy. It's cheaper than a qt. og Amsoil. Just remove one and replace with the other. If done correctly, the loss of oil will be negligble.

 

If the O-ring is not seated and "pinched" out a bit, that will cut it and it will need replaced anyway. Also, you need to be very careful about over tightening the drain plug. The oil pan is cast aluminum and will strip out quite easily.

Yes they do. If you will look real close at the oil pan, there is a slight taper/bevel to accomodate the O-ring at the point where the head of the plug tightens up against the pan. The sealant that is used is PTFE paste and just adds an extra layer of protection against leaks.


Because of the aforementioned bevel/taper in the pan, a copper washer with not seal sufficiently against the oil pan.

 

hmmmm.......don't have any o rings on any of my drain plugs...or cooper washers....or leaks

 

"Yes they do. If you will look real close at the oil pan, there is a slight taper/bevel to accomodate the O-ring at the point where the head of the plug tightens up against the pan. The sealant that is used is PTFE paste and just adds an extra layer of protection against leaks."

As I said, they do not rely on the O ring. It, or the HD secret sauce (PTFE according to your comment.) is used as a back up in the event one, or the other, fails. Meaning, though the service manual only indicates the use of an O ring, HD seems to want to keep the PTFE a secret so you become frustrated with the leaks you get because you did not use their secret sauce. Then you take the bike to them, they use the secret sauce, charge you 3 hours labor to do so, because you are unaware of - and therefore do not use the secret sauce - you are never able to get the bike to not leak after changing the fluids yourself, you decide to use your local HD service department for all of the maintenance on your bike.

I understand the thought process. I just wanted to share my observation that HD uses a secret sauce as a back up and we should be aware of it if we are to do a "professional" job maintaining our bikes.

Thank you for the input. Especially about the other aspects of my comment. I had not observed the bevel you mention.

 

Guys

Doing my first service on my new to me 2001 FLHT. I bought the gasket kit for the service. I'm a little confused on the primary drain plug o ring. When I snug the drain plug it just squeezes the o-ring right off the end and it falls on the ground before the drain plug gets tight. If I leave the o-ring out the plug tightens up fine. So how does that o ring stay in place

 

Reuse the Amsoil. There is nothing wrong with it and it's too expensive to toss. Makes no sense whatsoever to throw it away. The guys that say toss it probably use cheap pretend synthetic oil. There is no pressure in the primary, and if your plug is not leaking, don't be trying to fix something that is not broke.

If you do feel you must change it, use the finger plug method and your wife or friend to install the new ring on the plug. That way, a thimble worth of spillage and you are done.