HELLI COILS

Does antone have any experience with recoil thread kits? I think the douche bag that couldn't get my bike running before i bought it tried to stop a valve cover leak by tighening the crap out of it, picked up a gasket the other day but when i pulled the left side bolts out the threads came out to, I guess my queston is since there shouldn't really be that much presure on a valve cover bolt do you think it will hold with a recoil kit?

 

NO! it will leak. there is a lot of pressure on the gasket/cover, there is not a lot of TORQUE on the bolts for it. heli-coils work FANTASTICALLY, and after they are installed into soft aluminum it makes the thread holding capacity much greater, preventing future problems.

the directions are very clear, follow them and you will have no problems, and be very satisfied with the end result. i use them all the time at work.

 

Zookie,
I'm not sure if I understand the original question and how your response is supposed to be taken.


The OP asked if a recoil kit was a good idea (I'm assuming a recoil kit=heli-coils) and you say 'NO', but then go on the recommend them.

I'm somewhat confused. Am I just reading the posts wrong?

 

i have one on the long bolt holding my starter down, works good
the drill, tap and inserts get kind of expensive though, then the tool to put them in
but what else you going to do

 

I presume the Member does mean HeliCoil from the Title of the Thread.

HeliCoils are an ingenious invention. They are used to "Save" something every day!

Go to their Website and use the "Online Technical Support" Feature and you'll get brought right up to speed on how to accomplish a successful repair of your bike.

HeliCoil is a Registered Trademark of Emhart Teknologies.

http://www.emhart.com/products/helicoil.asp

 

When I pulled the valve cover off my '81 I discovered ALL 8 of the outer screw holes had been helicoiled. Guess the PO learned his lesson the hard way... they work just fine, BTW. Make sure you replace the rubber donuts on the bolts as well as the gasket. The rubber donuts are KEY to the valve cover being snugged down with enough pressure to not leak. Even with a new gasket, if you don't replace the bolt seals it will "weep." Mine were all baked "crunchy" and had little or no resemblance to rubber anymore. The good thing is that once you replace the gasket and bolt seals you're good to go for quite a while. Glue the gasket to the cover with gasket sealer and wipe the other side down with sil-glide or MMO, and it will be reusable many times over when you do valve adjustments. (Don't expect to get another 25 years out of it tho...)

 

Heli-coils have saved my bacon a few times. Good product that fixes problems permanently!

 

There's no oil pressure on the valve cover threads.

You should be able to pick up a kit with the drill, tap, insert tool and a half dozen coils for about $35.

 

I just put a helicoil in when I replaced my valve cover and it worked fine. can I make a couple points? Get a torque wrench -- the torque is really light on these bolts to my heavy hands. Get all the replacement rubber washers and a new gasket from chacal. follow these instructions:
http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... rt=45.html
Otherwise this can be a miserable job!

 

thanks all for the advise, as a parts consultant for the last ten years i have sold thousands of these kits but never had to use one!.

 

Helicoils are rock solid and invaluable for fixing bad threads on hard to find parts like an old XJ head. We use them at work for fastening cast aluminum plates to big industrial pumps.
They are much cheaper than replacing the head on your bike.

 

I glue my gaskets on to covers with permatex spray-on gasket sealer sprayed into a cup and applied with a small paintbrush. I dunno about Elmer's once it gets hard. Other than that, the above advice is spot-on. You NEED a torque wrench to work on these bikes successfully, torque on everything going into aluminum is "really light."

 

Never used a HeliCoil kit on a car or bike, but I used it on a big hydraulic cylinder for a crash test sled. Held up there great, even with the massive amount of torque applied to it. It worked on a 2300psi hydraulic application so I'll trust it anywhere on my car or bike