Advice fixing crack in screw housing in block (R6)

[thecdn]

My son had a low speed drop on his 07 R6 and cracked the crankcase cover on the right side of the bike. This must be a fairly common occurance as there are a number of aftermarket replacement pieces.

The bottom right screw housing on the interior of the engine block has two (one on each side) very small cracks. The cracks aren't on the exterior of the block but where the bolt gets screwed into.

On the advice of a neighbour, who is an auto mechanic with his own shop, I bought a longer bolt so that it could grab deeper in the socket. This almost worked as it was leak free for a day but now has a very small leak of oil coming through the screw hole.

My neighbour had suggested if the bolt itself didn't work we could put silicone in the hole to fill up the cracks. Another experienced biker who happened to be at my neighbours shops getting his car looked at suggested trying threadlock to fill up the channel.

Any thoughts on either of those two options? Yes, I know welding is the ultimate fix but I'm trying to work up to that by trying other methods first. If I tried either of those ideas, would it be sufficient to take out the screw and put in either the silicone or threadlock or will I have to drain the oil, remove the cover, clean and dry the area before applying anything?

I ask this here because it looks like my neighbour might have gone out of town and I'm not sure I'll be able to get hold of him. And we all know how patient (not!!) a 17 year old boy is waiting for his beautiful bike to be fixed.

Any ideas on this are appreciated.

[J-rod]

Your neighbor is correct. If the longer bolt slowed it down then you should be good to go with some sealer on the threads. I've used gasket sealer a couple times to do these type repairs and it has worked.

If it was me I wouldn't use threadlock and instead use a non hardening gasket sealer like permatex. Did you drain the oil when the longer bolt was used?? If not and oil didn't pour out then just remove the bolt and add your sealer in the hole and on the threads and it should be ok.

[thecdn]

Did you drain the oil when the longer bolt was used?? If not and oil didn't pour out then just remove the bolt and add your sealer in the hole and on the threads and it should be ok.

Now that I think of it, no, we didn't drain the oil, just removed the old bolt and put the new one in. Sounds like a plan, thanks.

[Fozzyber]

aviation gasket sealer by permatex, napa carries it.
http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/automotive_gasketing/gasket_sealants/auto_Permatex_Aviation_Form-A-Gasket_No_3_Sealant_a.htm

Good stuff, people use it to seal aircooled VW case halfs. (metal to metal)
Looks like brown tar.
I would shoot some carb cleaner in hole before trying to seal.

[thecdn]

My friend had some type of rtv silicone at his car shop (not sure if it was permatex or not) and we tried it and so far it's working. Will see how things go for the next couple of days. If this doesn't do it, will try one of the permatex products and probably get a new gasket as I'm not totally confident that I did a good job mounting it.

Thanks for all the ideas and advice here and I'll let you know how things hold up.

[Tollster]

You could also try liquid peratex teflon. I use it on all air fittings.