Article [13] ST1300 - Base Funnel Screws (Air Box) Fix

Byron

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(Screw, Pan (5mm) - Pn 91508-MM5-000)

O.K., you're going under the airbox to do some repair or farkling. When, one of those phillips head pan screws holding the base funnels on lets you know there isn't a phillips-head screw driver mean enough to take it out :eek:.

You do know that they were first labeled as "self evacuating" because that's what happens to the tools used to try and remove them, they just leave the head no matter what you do some times :mad:.

Anyway, you break out the power tools and proceed to remove it forceably. Now before I broke out the big guns I tried a Craftsman Screw-Out to no avail. Although once hooked up to a 3/8" reversible drill they did a good job of removing the head and washer part of the screw (exhibit 1).

Now I didn't even bother to call the Honda dealer for basically two reasons; 1) They USUALLY DON'T STOCK ANY PARTS and 2) because I didn't want another phillips head fastener.

After my usual net surfing looking for a source I stopped at the local Home Depot on the way home from work. I picked up 1 bag containing two 5mm x 20mm allen head cap screws, 2 bags of #10 5/16" x 1/2" aluminum spacers, and 1 bag of 12 #10 stainless cut washers. Now you're probably wondering how is this going to fix my problem. Have a look at exhibit 2.

Now for those of you that have had close encounters with this fastener you're going to say that the shank is not 1/2" long and you're right. You have to shorten the spacers to the proper length, about .3795". How you do it depends on the tools you have at hand or your friends have at their disposal. I have a small combination lath/mill so I simply turned them down to length. Once the spacers are cut down simply assemble the parts and eureka, and not the new TV series on the Sci-Fi channel on cable :D .

Will it work, just look at exhibit 3. So for a grand total of $3.15, plus a few minutes shortening the spacers, I have 2 fasteners that will not cause me any problems in the future because the "self evacuating," I mean phillip driver stripped another head. Oh, and for those who may chime in about using an impact wrench... I tried and no luck.

For those who are wondering what it would cost to replace all 8 of those pieces of ~hit screws I'll save you the trouble of doing the math.

4 bags of screws @ $0.53 = $2.12
8 bags of spacers @ $0.70 = $5.60
1 bag of washers @ $0.98 = $0.98
Sub-total = $8.70
Just add your local tax.

If I remember correctly Service Honda wanted $2.18 @ screw so you're saving over half and you won't have any trouble getting them out. Providing you don't take advantage of the drive power of the allen to tighten them.

UPDATE and WARNING!

After getting the rest of the parts to make a complete set I installed them tonight. Before putting on the top funnels I took a picture of my work. I then put the top funnels on and went about working on my Turbo City modified air box lid. While waiting for the silcone to dry and put it on the bike I sat at the computer and decided to look at the new pictures I had taken. When I got to this picture I about s_it my drawers :eek:.

(Edited to add missing image - see last attachment image.)



If you don't see why take a closer look inside the top left injector housing. Remember I already had the top funnels installed. Someone was looking out for me tonight.

Needless to say I took it all apart to verify everything else was where it should be and that this was the only one that had fallen out during the installation. What really scared me was I had done some work on my cruise control and warmed the bike up to verify that things were OK with it. I even bleeped the throttle slightly while it was warming.

Here is where I made the mistake. When putting on the lower funnels I would put the screw assembly in the pocket. I didn't think about the fact that the spacer went through the hole in the bottom and nothing would hold it in place. The spacer actually fits in the base plate. When I went to put this one on the spacer apparently slipped off the screw and into the housing. The screw tightened like all the other screws and there was no indication that anything was different or wrong.

The reason I'm posting this information is to make everyone else aware of the dangers of this fix/modification. I had thought about putting some form of adhesive on the assemblies to make them a single piece unit like the factory piece but was in a hurry and told myself I would do it the next time it is apart. Don't make my mistake. I was lucky this time it could have cost me an engine had it fallen past the butterfly.

Learn from my mistakes instead of repeating them.
 

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Yes, very nice... I'll work on it and it will be in the article section .. thanks byron
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Jefro added JB Weld to the screws which would fix the issue Byron had with parts almost falling into the TB's.

Thanks to Byron and Jefro for posting this information and to Paul for getting it in the Tech section. Good stuff here, I tell ya! :D

What do you think makes the best sense?... meaning easy for someone to find...

Merging the two articles, having a link within byron's that points to the other one or having two articles, fix1 and fix2..
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Mellow, take my post and photos and add them to this thread, then delete my original.
Thanks, Jefro.


I guess I could have saved everyone a lot of trouble by searching for this topic first and simply added my two cents to it, instead of re-inventing the wheel, so to speak. Lesson learned.
 
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Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Guys either is fine with me. Besides I came up with another variation on fixing the spacer to the allen screw.

Since I always seem to wait till the last minute I didn't want to wait for the J-B Weld to harden to fix my screws and spacers so I don't have another mishap like noted about. What I came up with is actually quicker and seems to work just fine. What I did was lay the screw, washer and spacer on a V-block. Then I used a shape center punch to stake the spacer to the screw. First hit with the hammer was just to leave a dimple for the second hit. Second hit, after making sure things were centered and in place was a little harder but nothing major. The center punch causes the spacer to dimple inside and catch the screw threads. I put three dimples around each spacer. Because they were in a V-block they didn't change shape and everything is now snug and ready to install. I've attached a couple of images.

Just to show that things don't always go as planned take a look at the last photo. Seems I caught the heat shield last night when I went to put the valve covers back on after the 32K valve adjustment. :( I just needed to loosen the bolts and remove the heat shield and re-torque the bolts and things were all better. :D
 

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Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Nice work. Bryon. Thanks for the heads-up on the potential blunder. I damn near s&%t my self just seeing the picture. I'm glad you found it before going WOT.
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

:bump

I, too, have just been ...ah... screwed by my airbox. Got the snorkels and six of the retainer screws off no problem. The other two are stripped, and the impact driver didn't help a bit. I'm debating grabbing a set of Ezy-Outs versus just drilling the damned things.

:censored

Fortunately, I still have the option of reassembling the whole mess and tackling it later, after I order replacement screws and a set of JIS screwdrivers.



--Mark
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Unless they have socket heads I'd stay away from them. While doing some reading on different screw head types I found that the Phillips head was designed as a "self evacuating" head to avoid over torquing. The problem is when you need more torque to get them out the design causes the screwdriver to come out of the cavity instead of take the screw out.
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Wonder when the industry is going to go to TORX type screws? The 2nd derivation of TORX came out about 2 years ago.
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Many, Many Years ago (like around 1977) I was rebuilding a carb on the engine and lost a float valve down the intake of a Chevy Vega. I didn't know where it went until I started the engine (I had lots of extra parts :rolleyes: ) . My first thoughts were "OH SH%T!" :22yikes:

I was about to pull the head when I got the idea of putting a pencil magnet into the spark plug hole. It came right out! :eek::

That trick doesn't look like it would work here, but I'm glad you didn't have to try it! :rolleyes:
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

:bump

I, too, have just been ...ah... screwed by my airbox. Got the snorkels and six of the retainer screws off no problem. The other two are stripped, and the impact driver didn't help a bit. I'm debating grabbing a set of Ezy-Outs versus just drilling the damned things.

:censored

Fortunately, I still have the option of reassembling the whole mess and tackling it later, after I order replacement screws and a set of JIS screwdrivers.



--Mark


Mark,

I have removed many of these stripped screws. I recommend trying this!

Take a small chisel and put a sharp point on it. Line it up with the x in the stripped screw. Tap it fairly hard a couple of time in each direction of the x.
Place your best phillips screw driver in the x and tap it a couple of times. The screw MAY come right out. It has every time for me.

I also make a set of replacement screws with the spacers bonded on. They use an allen head and are much easier to work with.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showpost.php?p=343170&postcount=17

Good luck.


Thanks Tom
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Take a small chisel and put a sharp point on it...

Thanks for the tip. I was considering chiseling a slot into the screw and going at it with a flat-bladed screwdriver.

I also make a set of replacement screws with the spacers bonded on. They use an allen head and are much easier to work with.

Now that is the right solution to the problem. As soon as your web site is unb0rked (it can't talk to the database behind it), I'm ordering a set. (I take it they're metric?)

Shame, too, because I just ordered a full set of Honda replacements from Tim.

--Mark
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

I had the same problem in attempting to remove the airbox to install the throttle piece for the Audiovox. I ended up taking off the upper fuel tank, trying a long phillips, and still had to drill two screws out with an 1/8 inch reverse drill and finally extract the things with an ease-out. This fix would have saved me the cost of the two dead screws and the cost of a new fuel connector hose and the two clamps that go on it, as well as hefty postage fees. Good Show!
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

WD-40 is your friend folks.

I have drilled one of this buggers out on another persons bike, but since then I have never had an issue.

First, you need a good screwdriver. Snap On makes an excellent #2 tip Click here that properly inserted will take out 75% of the tightened screws. If you have an issue you can use a wrench as a lever, at the base of the handle.

If that does not work, spray a little WD40 in the hole, wait about 3 minutes and try again.

But hey, that's just me.
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Airbox screws are out, courtesy of the Craftsman model 52151 screw and bolt remover set. Took me less time to extract the screws than it did to extract the set from the packaging and read the directions.

Four stars.
Highly recommended!
Great eBay-er!
A++++++++++++

Wait... What? :confused:

--Mark
 
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Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

I recently stripped two of mine. I took a very small, sharp cold chisel and lightly tapped the head at a slight angle and they came loose with no problem. The tapping is the secret I think. I didn't feel like replacing them so I just cut a slot with my hacksaw and I will source some new screws later, with an allen key head. You Yanks have to give up on those damn phillips screws. Steve.
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

Steve,

It's not us Yanks that have to give up on the phillips screws, it's the Japanese.

I saw a set of the Turbo City replacement allen head screws and they look good. I wish they had been available when I had my issue. It sure would have saved me some headaches.
 
Re: ST1300 (Air Box) Base Funnel Screws - Fix

I'll drink to that. :capwin:
 
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