• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

Crush Washers

Picinisco

Picinisco

Scottish Transplant
I would like to have a stock of crush washers on hand so I have them when I need them. Does anybody know where I can buy them in bulk. Does anybody know if the crush washers used by Honda, Acura cars are the same size. Check eBay http://tinyurl.com/3aatxw will these fit.

John
 
What do you want them to fit? Which drainplug on which bike? BMW oil-change kits (as opposed to buying the filter by itself) include crush-washers, at least in my experience. Funny thing though- before I started riding motorcycles, I had never heard of using a fresh crush-washer. In all my automotive experience, I never changed one- not even on the cars that made it to a quarter-million miles- and they never leaked.
OTOH, you may want a couple of them handy in case of damage or loss- anything can happen in one's own garage! Just save a few from oil-change-kits, or take your current washer down to Pep Boys and find a package of washers the same size.
 
Just remember one thing...just because they may leak doesn't mean you need to tighten the drain plug more...as so many seem to do.

Remember all those stripped shaft drive drain & fill plugs on the airheads, and all because some tight wad owners tried to save on a nickle and dime sealing washer.

Aluminium sealing rings age and work harden. I replace mine every time.
 
I have just had the bike (95 R1100RSL) a month. Previous owner gave me an OEM oil filter which of course came with a crush washer, so no problem there. However changed the transmission and rear end oil which of course require washers. The gear box ones were in OK shape so reused them for now but the RE had a very overcrushed overused one on the drain plug and none on the fill plug. So I want a bunch on hand.
 
Bring the old ones to Napa and buy some brass ones. I have had a hard time finding alluminum ones. I live 150+ mi away from the nearest dealer, and after years of doing my own service I have learned to be creative with my parts needs. Now if I could just find someone other than fram that made filters to fit my bike. I am tired of buying them online.
 
bransan said:
Bring the old ones to Napa and buy some brass ones. I have had a hard time finding alluminum ones. I live 150+ mi away from the nearest dealer, and after years of doing my own service I have learned to be creative with my parts needs. Now if I could just find someone other than fram that made filters to fit my bike. I am tired of buying them online.
Click to expand...

I live 300 miles from the nearest dealership and 1100 miles from my regular dealership and I still replace the crush washers virtually every time. The advantage to a new crush washer is only partly in better sealing. What a new one really does is give you an accurate feel as to how tight the plug is - you can feel the washer crush and feel the plug get progressively tighter through about an eighth of a turn. Reusing an old one and it comes up tight (maybe) suddenly.

Using the old one again increases your chances of stripping the threads because of the lack of "feel" as the washer flattens, and also increases your chances of not getting it tight and having the plug fall out.

Over the years I have talked to the riders after three cases where an oil plug came out on the first ride after a homegrown oil change with the old washer. Two on airheads and one on a K100. These plugs are in-line with the rear tire and all three oil slicks dumped the riders at road speed from the oiled tire.

I buy them a dozen or two at a time in the two sizes I need. They cost about 12 cents each now - used to be a nickle. You can get a dozen in the mail with only a single 1st class stamp.
 
Picinisco said:
What are the 2 sizes you need?

JOhn
Click to expand...
"

18mm x 22mm PN 07 11 9 964 300

14mm x 18mm PN 07 11 9 963 200

Most dealers just call these a "300" or a "200"


And a 3rd one used on the oil drain instead of the "300" on R11xx bikes

16mm x 20mm PN07 11 9 964 252
 
An independent BMW automobile repair shop in Jacksonville, FL has an extensive assortment of sizes and types.
 
Heat & Pressure!

The heat and internal pressure of a motorcycle engine is far greater than in the automotive industry. That is why replacing washers / seals (i.e. the oil drain bolt) is essential each time you change fluid.

Equally important is the proper torque (tightness) of said bolts, filters, etc.

While oil changing can be a 'do-it-yourself' maintenance item, a torque wrench and a supply of OEM washers purchased from a BMW dealer are required items.

Happy wrenching!
 
GlobalRider said:
What internal pressure? The engine, TX and FD are all vented to atmospheric.
Click to expand...

Yes, but ...........

Oilhead bikes are known to eject aged oil sight glass windows from time to time, while K75/100/1100 bikes almost never do. The reason of course isn't that the holes are machined tighter in the K bikes ... it is that the crankcase pressures are higher, venting or not, in Oilhead bikes because both pistons are speeding toward the crankcase (or retreating toward the heads) at the same time.

I'm not sure that I think these pressures are likely to overcome the threads on a properly installed drain plug - but do use new crush washers every time unless I absolutely don't have one to use due to bad planning. (See Post #6 above for the reasons why).

The last time I did a major service on a K75 - for example - I was short one new "300" crush washer. Since the oil sump drain plug is centered with the line of the rear wheel and the transmission fill plug is horizontal on the side of the transmission case above the full line and both take the same washer - I used the new one on the engine sump and reused the one on the transmisission fill plug. Less dire consequences from error in my opinion.
 
Picinisco said:
I would like to have a stock of crush washers on hand so I have them when I need them. Does anybody know where I can buy them in bulk. Does anybody know if the crush washers used by Honda, Acura cars are the same size. Check eBay http://tinyurl.com/3aatxw will these fit.

John
Click to expand...

To finally get caught up with the original question, your R1100RSL takes a 16x20 washer for the engine oil sump drain and takes 14x18 washers for the transmission fill and drain and final drive fill and drain. The first number is the inside diameter in mm and the second number is the outside diameter in mm.

The ebay ad doesn't specify the size - but any good auto parts store listing will include the washer size - and if Asian or European probably in mm. Or you can measure them with a vernier caliper or machinist's scale.

Or you can order one "252" washer and four "200" washers from a BMW dealer for each service you do oil, trans oil, and final drive oil. (See post #9 above for the complete part numbers.)
 
I always bought crush washers and O-rings in bulk from my local dealer (bulk being 20 or so at a time...) I had an old tackle case about the size of a hard-cover book that had 12 compartments that worked perfectly to hold all the ones I needed, from the Oil drain plug to the little copper ones for the coolant drain. Whenever I noticed I was getting low I'd just order 20 or so more - at a nickle a piece it was never even noticeable on the final bill.
 
PGlaves said:
To finally get caught up with the original question, your R1100RSL takes a 16x20 washer for the engine oil sump drain and takes 14x18 washers for the transmission fill and drain and final drive fill and drain.
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul. This has been very helpful. Now to find an online supplier.

John
 
Od?

How much does the outer diameter matter? I can find some locally that are
14mm X 20mm and 16mm X 22mm . I assume they should work. These are for my 1998 R1100GS. Thanks.

(title should read OD not Od, for outer diameter)
 
d_day_6 said:
How much does the outer diameter matter? I can find some locally that are
14mm X 20mm and 16mm X 22mm . I assume they should work. These are for my 1998 R1100GS. Thanks.

(title should read OD not Od, for outer diameter)
Click to expand...

Its worth a try but be careful. The OD might matter because the machined flat on the case might not be large enough. This varies from model to model and even from year to year. Tight clearances on a final drive fill plug and an Oilhead transmission drain plug (in the little tunnel) come to mind.
 
I went to Bob's and got a handful. They are cheap and with what I save from doing my own maintainence not something to even consider looking elsewhere. He ships and they weigh nothind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

gtgt_bangbang
are Undertank MASTER CYLINDER crush washer seal, or pipe thread ?
Replies
4
Views
594
pglaves
pglaves
Pasta_Mouse
05 1150R brake bleeders, clutch and brake levers.
Replies
0
Views
1K
Pasta_Mouse
Pasta_Mouse
gtgt_bangbang
wheel bearing pre-load question
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
stevenrankin
stevenrankin
J
Front tire valve stem O-ring size?
Replies
1
Views
3K
lkchris
lkchris
senseamidmadness
M97 Transmission: which way to prevent the input shaft wear issue?
Replies
1
Views
2K
gsaddict
gsaddict
Back
Top