front heat exchanger rivet upgrade

[ridenhigh]

Sorry if this has been covered. I did a search in this XP forum and nothing comes up...

My 08 XP has 3,200km.
Put on S36 kit the other day and noticed only 1 rivet remained in the bottom of my front heat exchanger. The other rivets were still in place but with not heads so were doing nothing to hold exchanger in place.
I then drilled out the remaining rivet and punched the others out and collected them with a magnet from under the engine. Obviously they are not aluminium.

Well all I had on hand was aluminium rivets so I popped them in and 200km later only one remains...

Considering no room under the engine to install a bolt, what rivet would serve as a more permanent solution?
Also note that original rivet holes are now oval shaped.

I know this is a common issue as per other posts but I can't find any posts stating what fastener method stopped the problem from happening again.

Oversized rivets?
Stainless Steel?
Pull engine and bolt with nylocks?
Drill and tap machine screw with loctite?

Thanks all.

 

[ridenhigh]

Maybe I'm the only one with this problem?
Well I've found accufast in Edmonton and I think I'm going to try either Stavex rivets or Rivet Nuts.
Has anyone tried these on front heat exchangers or for making belly pans removable with bolts only?

 

[teeroy]

had the same thing happen to mine, I drilled out the loose rivets and replaced them with bolts on my '08.

 

[team-x]

I sheared all of mine off last year and just replaced them with standard aluminum ones. Might have to pull the skid plate and see if they are still there. No snow under the motor so I'm guessing they are there but then again now I have a skid plate there blocking the snow...

 

[ridenhigh]

Might be a good idea to tip it over and check. My standard aluminium rivets lasted one ride. I'm a little surprised to have had no feedback yet on successful fixes for this as it seemed to be a common issue. I'm going to try the rivet nuts on both the belly pan and heat exchanger.Hope that does the trick.

 

[ridenhigh]

had the same thing happen to mine, I drilled out the loose rivets and replaced them with bolts on my '08.

Are you talking about your belly pan or heat exchanger. I don't think you can use bolts on the heat exchanger without pulling the motor.

 

[CUSO]

Use the Stavex BS01 rivets and never look back. They hold up great. If you can, try to get a steel washer in behind.

Are you talking about your belly pan or heat exchanger. I don't think you can use bolts on the heat exchanger without pulling the motor.

 

[ridenhigh]

Thanks CUSO. I went to Accufast Inc in Edmonton to buy rivet nuts and explained the situation and they steered me to Stavex stainless 1/4" rivets. I won't have room for a backing rivet under the motor but I'm sure they will do the job. They showed me a sample of a Stavex rivet in a sheet of aluminium and it looked serious.

 

[CUSO]

Ya, they have some crazy stuff there. They know their fasteners. I wish they had a store on the northwest of the city.

Thanks CUSO. I went to Accufast Inc in Edmonton to buy rivet nuts and explained the situation and they steered me to Stavex stainless 1/4" rivets. I won't have room for a backing rivet under the motor but I'm sure they will do the job. They showed me a sample of a Stavex rivet in a sheet of aluminium and it looked serious.

 

[teeroy]

Are you talking about your belly pan or heat exchanger. I don't think you can use bolts on the heat exchanger without pulling the motor.

you can't get all of them, but the 2 outside ones you can reach. it never came loose since I put bolts in, so I would call it a fairly successful fix. the bolts stay tight, the rest of the replaced rivets will not loosen because there is no more movement. when I pulled the motor I did the other two with stainless panhead bolts and locknuts as well.

 

[CUSO]

Hint:

If you can take that cooler out while you can, you can easily change out that oil pump/throttle cable while you are at it.

 

[ridenhigh]

Great idea. I have not been able to visually inspect my oil cable and it concerns me that it is going to strand me or result in a stuck throttle. I guess I just need to pull the lower air box, remove some hose clamps and drill out some top rivets on the front heat exchanger. Once the exchanger is out I can access the oil cable from the track side?

 

[CUSO]

Yes, it's super easy access.. You can however, visually inspect the oilpump cable, There is a spot you can look through just in front of the chaincase I believe.. right near the bottom through the right module.

Get a light in there and squeeze the throttle.

Great idea. I have not been able to visually inspect my oil cable and it concerns me that it is going to strand me or result in a stuck throttle. I guess I just need to pull the lower air box, remove some hose clamps and drill out some top rivets on the front heat exchanger. Once the exchanger is out I can access the oil cable from the track side?