Oil in Airbox- is this a common problem?

[whisperquiet]

Can’t understand why they didn’t go with clips, cams, or at least machined screws for something that comes off this much. The other problem with electric screwdrivers is if you don’t start it by hand; you end up making new threads each time, weakening the hole. Maybe this is why they used ten!

I remove the air box lid every 24000 miles for an air filter change. The drain is removed with needle nose pliers with the fuel tank up every so often to drain it and a rag is placed under the drain to catch any oil drool. I use a JIS screwdriver for screw removal/install and have never stripped a thread on the five S10s owned over the last 12 years. The only two that are hard to access are at the rear of the air box.

 

[elricfate]

Can’t understand why they didn’t go with clips, cams, or at least machined screws for something that comes off this much. The other problem with electric screwdrivers is if you don’t start it by hand; you end up making new threads each time, weakening the hole. Maybe this is why they used ten!

To be fair, the plastic itself is the point. It retains without slippage and there's no additional machining required to use it, and it only takes a semi-coarse thread to find bite. It's 100% a hand tighten, and stop at resistance not gorilla turning, experience. It sucks that you learned the hard way though. :|

But yea, the fix is less durable, but is easily replaceable, hot glue (quicker) or RTV that is properly cured (more durable). Doesn't take a huge glob, just enough to fill in a little bit of space in the cavity.

 

[Jlq1969]

What I have to admit about the design of the airbox is that the intake of the box seems to be sucking in hot air from the engine... but when you drive at low speed, the temperature sensor barely shows a couple of degrees above the temperature of the environment….and when you drive at medium/high speed…the intake temperature is practically that of the environment…..obviously there was a design study, which would not correspond to the logic of the place where the intake of the box is located…..