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Tranny drain plug

geezer

Senior Member
Contributor
The drain plug on my Heritage tranny is getting harder and harder to screw in and seal. The dealer did the 1000 mile change and the first time I changed the oil I had to use the ratchet all the way till the plug came out. Was it cross threaded at the dealer, not sure. I was wondering why I couldn't screw a short drop pipe in the tranny and put a cap on the end. In the future I could just remove the cap to drain the oil. I would make the pipe long enough so I could see the end between the shocks without a mirror but not so long that it was below the frame and couldn't drag or get hit by anything. I believe the plugs are pipe thread or am I wrong? This would be easier than putting a heli-coil in the tranny. What do you guys think?
 
Sounds pretty ingenious - don't know if this solution could cause problems, but would be better fix than heli...

Did you address this w/the servicing dealership? They probably wouldn't admit fault, but I'd definitely discuss w/service mgr & maybe see if they'd take action. Good luck!
 
If you check out the location of the drain plug, I have seen a few that are not directly between the shocks and off to one side where the pipe would be hitting the shock. Maybe yours is straight but before going that route I would chase the threads and continue with a new drain plug.
 
Sounds pretty ingenious - don't know if this solution could cause problems, but would be better fix than heli...

Did you address this w/the servicing dealership? They probably wouldn't admit fault, but I'd definitely discuss w/service mgr & maybe see if they'd take action. Good luck!

Thanks for the quick reply Iceman. I can't be bothered to talk to the dealership about it because the mechanic and service manager aren't there anymore. After being on this forum I have more confidence in my abilities and know there's always someone that here that will have the answers.

If you check out the location of the drain plug, I have seen a few that are not directly between the shocks and off to one side where the pipe would be hitting the shock. Maybe yours is straight but before going that route I would chase the threads and continue with a new drain plug.

Thanks Glider, I'll check that out also.

I checked the location of the plug and it seems to be in the middle of the shocks. I could easily chase the threads and get a new plug but I would still have the problem of a steel plug screwing into aluminum. Won't the threads be looser after chasing them? But the o-ring doesn't need much torque to seal I guess. Just hard to get the plug started straight up in there. It is pipe thread though, isn't it?
 
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The drain plug on my Heritage tranny is getting harder and harder to screw in and seal. The dealer did the 1000 mile change and the first time I changed the oil I had to use the ratchet all the way till the plug came out. Was it cross threaded at the dealer, not sure. I was wondering why I couldn't screw a short drop pipe in the tranny and put a cap on the end. In the future I could just remove the cap to drain the oil. I would make the pipe long enough so I could see the end between the shocks without a mirror but not so long that it was below the frame and couldn't drag or get hit by anything. I believe the plugs are pipe thread or am I wrong? This would be easier than putting a heli-coil in the tranny. What do you guys think?
Oh my gosh -- I feel for you - and had the exact same problem with my 01 Heritage. After many posts here and help from the good folks here, I finally took mine into the HD shop for a Timesert. Long story short - they said they could not install the Timesert, but 'chased' the threads and installed a new HD OEM plug with plenty of thread sealant and it has NOT leaked a drop since - about a month ago I guess. I had them fill with Mobil 1 synthetic gear oil and it should last a long time at my rate of putting on the miles before I have to unscrew the plug again.

Good Luck - I know that tran plug is hard to see and install on heritage. Be careful,
IF you like you can go back and read some of the posts on my thread about stripped trans plug - lots of good into there.

Bill
 
The drain plug on my Heritage tranny is getting harder and harder to screw in and seal. The dealer did the 1000 mile change and the first time I changed the oil I had to use the ratchet all the way till the plug came out. Was it cross threaded at the dealer, not sure. I was wondering why I couldn't screw a short drop pipe in the tranny and put a cap on the end. In the future I could just remove the cap to drain the oil. I would make the pipe long enough so I could see the end between the shocks without a mirror but not so long that it was below the frame and couldn't drag or get hit by anything. I believe the plugs are pipe thread or am I wrong? This would be easier than putting a heli-coil in the tranny. What do you guys think?

Geezer; Take a look at this Fumoto site. I read a thread that a guy with a difficult oil drain used one of these, and was quite pleased with it.
Engin Oil Drain Valve - Fumoto Engineering
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. Not sure which way to go. I think Harley could have come up with an easier way to change tranny oil on the softails. Never a problem I guess if care is always taken to make sure to never cross thread the plug. Shouldn't have taken the free 1000 mile service.
 
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