Gasket, or copper crush washer? Did you torque the bolt to the right spec?

 

Part 0830-017 "Gasket, drain plug"

The bolt doesn't get tight. Right as it starts feeling like its getting tight, it "slips" and gets real loose again. Hopefully that makes sense.

 

That's an aluminum crush washer, and it sounds like the drain plug threads that grip when you tighten it using a crush washer are worn, but when you didn't use the crush washer, different threads on the plug are in play and the plug tightens up properly.

A new drain plug will probably fix your problem, but perhaps not permanently. I think the oil pan is aluminum on most if not all Wildcats, and those threads would be softer than the drain plug and more likely to be worn or damaged than the threads on the plug. It wouldn't be a big surprise if the threads in the pan ultimately got to the point where even a new drain plug would not hold tight.

On an X, that sump is a relatively small part and not prohibitively expensive to replace. I'm not that familiar with the other Wildcats.

One additional thought: I would be very cautious about over-tightening the drain plug and causing more damage, but I've also seen stuff on our X come loose that shouldn't have, due to vibration. I think the Trail/Sport and XX have less vibration, but that's only a semi-educated guess based on their engine types and firing sequence (the X fires doesn't fire at 180 degrees of rotation).

 

Thank you. I had a gut feeling i should just buy a new plug as well when i got the crush washers. Oh well, what's another week and a half without riding anyway, right?

 

CountryCat's shipping charges have been quite reasonable when I've used them. I'll bet you can get a plug shipped USPS Priority Mail at a very good price.

 

Wrap it up with teflon tape til it holds.

 

Teflon tape often shreds. Several layers would almost definitely shred. Where are those pieces of tape going to wind up? A good possibility is on the oil filter inlet screen.

 

A buddy of mine just had the same issue on his Polaris 570 quad. There is no way for the plug to strip on an aluminum housing - the threads in the housing are weaker by a huge magnitude.

I run into this occasionally in my machine shop, someone gets crazy with torquing a steel bolt into an aluminum part and tears the threads out. The nice thing about a helicoil or timesert is they are steel so the mating parts won't be able to wear each other out nearly as quickly.

I ended up helping him put in a "time-sert" thread insert. We tapped the hole for the insert with the oil pan still attached to the machine, then flushed the motor with oil thoroughly to ensure no aluminum chips remained inside the crank. Coating the tap in grease kinda helps the chips stick rather than pushing into the engine. Use a proper tap wrench and make sure the threads are straight. Install the insert with red loctite. We bought a torque wrench for him to keep in his garage so we don't have any more issues. We have had the machine out 3 times now for extended rides and have no leaks or issues. Annoying to fix but if you take your time and make sure everything is clean and square and follow all the directions you'll have it fixed up in 30-45 minutes.

 

Find an oversize drain plug.

 

That's a much better idea than a thread repair kit.

Any thread repair that continues to use a drain plug with straight threads requires the tap to be nearly perfectly aligned in order for the crush washer to seal. If the wall thickness of the oil pan is thick enough, you could use a pipe plug. The tapered threads do the sealing - no washer.