From my recent experience's I'd conclude that this is going to be the most wanted DIY of all times for beginner's, cause this is a common mishap and sometimes can be very frustrating to overcome, especially if you'r a newbie like me.

Recently I decided to change the oil in my 5month old ZMA. And to my surprise the oil drain bolt was tightened shut with so much force by the inexperienced SVC guys that this is what the bolt looked like.

(Pics taken after removal)


It was over tightened so much that the O'ring was almost squeezed to non existence. And looked like a thin layer of paint.


So coming back to topic, even thought tried to get it off with a box spanner.
(Always use a box spanner when dealing with Aluminium bolts/nuts cause with any other form of spanner it can easily get deformed like seen in the above pic's)


It was pointless cause when we reach a particular point of torque the spanner would start slipping. So in short it was pointless and hopeless and would only get me in a much more worser condition if I kept going at it.

At this point it was of no use taking the bike to SVC cause they said that the cover bolt could be removed at a 50/50 chance by hammering in which the risk was cracking the engine cover. So normally at this point beginners like myself would start feeling all other sorts of negative emotions ranging from simple hopelessness to blaming ourself for choosing the particular model of bike etc.

But no need to worry guys, cause there's a safe way out of this. As we all know the bolt is made of a weaker metal compare to the engine cover so with proper force we'd be able to break off the inside thread of the cover bolt and that too in a safe way rather than going by the SVC method by trying to break off the whole bolt by hammering.

So here's what we should do.

1. Place a bar of the below sort, on top of the tappet bolt, just like we do when we were trying to remove it before.


2. Then using a hammer hit the other end of the rod facing us with minimal force, just tapping it a few times would do, since the material is not that hard.


The point of the above is to equally distribute force on the cover bolt so that the inner threads break off and at the same time without causing any harm to the engine cover.

3. After completing the above process, using the box spanner once again, try to remove the bolt, and to you'r surprise the bolt will start coming off with ease. And in some rare conditions the bolt will just keep on rotating and wont come off, then just pull it out using our fingers is enough.


Now since you've gotten the bolt out, oil will start to gush out, which should be collected using a collecting pan, so keep it ready before starting out the whole procedure. And once all the oil along with the restrainer and everything else has fallen into the collecting pan, slowly using a bit of clean cloth run you'r finger around the oil drain window, and wipe off all the broken off thread from the cover bolt.

Now I hope you guys know the rest, if not then refer to the video link given below.