Sump plate studs

[groily]

The A10 however will produce a solid could of smoke that goes 2 or 3 gardens down and lasts for ages.  Considering how good a condition the engine is its beyond annoying.  It has an oil filter on the return and I'm now wondering if that empties into the engine too.

Blimey! That isn't good, don't blame you for wanting a cure then. Could be as Rex says above, but if, per your original post on this subject, we're talking 1/4 pint in a few days, or 5 fl oz, I'd be amazed if that would be enough to smoke out all the neighbours and take so long to clear. Maybe there is a return-side filter drainage problem . . . but what comes out the bottom will tell you what's dripped in, from wherever.
And there will always, I presume, be some oil in the bottom when it's been standing after a run, as the oil from the top end drains back down, plus some from the crank probably, and some from the timing chest maybe. 1/4 pint wouldn't be far off I don't think  . . .  If there wasn't some oil down there, there'd be no quick oil return on start up: there'd be the sort of delay we see after an oil change and full drain-off. (Some other bikes I have hereabouts are supposed to have about 8 fl oz in the sump . . .)
Good luck with further tests.

[muskrat]

G'day Rob.
As Groily said, there will always be residual oil in the crank case. On both mine after a run and stand for an hour there is at least a cup of oil in there.
My A7 plunger used to wet sump a full tank into the sump in a few weeks, hence the full rebuild a while back. If I neglected to drain the sump (only 1/2 tank in there) she smoke a little but I wouldn't have to leave the shed. Now she doesn't sump a drop.
For yours to smoke that much I'd say there's other problems like rings, valve guides, blocked return holes from ex side of head.
Cheers
ps: may have to split this topic.

[limeyrob]

Well back on topic I've helicoiled two of the 4 sump threads. The 2 on the D/S were OK which was handy because there was less metal around those whereas the 2 one the T/S were pretty much stripped.  Tricky job because the drill supplied with the helicoil set was VERY sharp and wanted to grab the ally, took a lot of very controlled slow drilling but its done now and the new ally sump plate is on with the nice big brass drain plug.  I've gone for 1/4 Whit cap heads rather than studs.  Helicoil kit came with about 20 helicoils so I'm well supplied

[chaterlea25]

Hi Rob
Best plan when drilling like you did into soft alloy is to use a tap wrench to wind the drill into the alloy
or dull the drill edge.
Rather than punch away the tang on the helecoil which can sometimes jump the last coil into the next groove I made a small hook from 1.6mm stainless welding rod and pull the tang back through the helecoil
I often further weaken the tang with a diamond needle file to help removal but you need to be very careful doing this

John

[BagONails]

Put the new screws in with a smear of thread sealant/anti-seize in the threads to stop them seizing in the helicoils and hopefully prevent any oily drips.