Crush Washers - where to buy?

I’m looking for a place to buy crush washers for my sump plug. Last time I had to do an oil change, Halfords didn’t have the ones I wanted in (manufacturer spec for a K3 SV650S is M12 x 16 x 2). After doing the rounds of Screwfix and local plumbing stores, I went to my local motorbike garage and bought a couple from them. I could always do that again but I don’t like that guilty feeling that I’m not bringing them my business. 

So the question is: 

(a) where do you buy your crush washers from?

(b) how legalistic do I have to be with the dimensions? I understand that the 16mm outer diameter and the 2mm depth both contribute to the performance and longevity of the washer through friction and pressure respectively. Has anyone got away with 1.25mm over 2mm? Am I much more likely to thread my sump with a 1.25mm? (1.25mm seems to be more common)

Thanks in advance, I did a search to see if this had been answered elsewhere but couldn’t find any matches. Please point me in their direction if I missed them,

SR

I bought a few from wemoto.com. It pays to get something else at the same time because of the delivery charge.

^^I can’t best that advice

Eurocar parts do them off the shelf. Not sure about their website but worth a call or even eBay and
Machine mart to name a few.

I went for wemoto.com, everything was pretty easy to find but you were right about the delivery!

Luckily I needed a new set of piston seals for my gixxer so that justified the shipping 

Thanks for the quick responses!

You don’t want a crush washers, you want flat soft copper washer, however, have already have plenty - anneal (soften) the old one. Heat it up until its proper red hot then sloosh it about in a bucket of cold water to cool and soften :wink:

Copper sump washers should be good to go for several sump plug re-fits, the trick being not to be monkey boy and over tighten the sump plug, 25 -30 Nm (20 lb ft ish of real money) should be more than enough with a freshly annealed sump plug washer.

Note too not all copper washers are fit for use as sump plug washers, some copper washers are just too hard for the job.


You don't want a crush washers, you want flat soft copper washer, however, have already have plenty - anneal (soften) the old one. Heat it up until its proper red hot then sloosh it about in a bucket of cold water to cool and soften ;-)
Copper sump washers should be good to go for several sump plug re-fits, the trick being not to be monkey boy and over tighten the sump plug, 25 -30 Nm (20 lb ft ish of real money) should be more than enough with a freshly annealed sump plug washer.
Note too not all copper washers are fit for use as sump plug washers, some copper washers are just too hard for the job.
National Treasure
Do you need to 'anneal' them every time you re-use them? If I invested in something with which I could weld, would that also do this job? 

You just need a blowtorch or gas camping stove anything that produces a good flame and a good thick pair of gloves and longish pliers or old coat hanger with a hook in the end to loosely wrap around the washer

or just buy a pack of washers. I’d wager a washer costs the same as the gas you’d use heating it up plus all the time of doing it.

I inspect mine for compaction as part and parcel of an oil change, if there’s no signs of compaction I deem them good to be re-used. In the past I’ve re-used sump plug washers up to 8 times or more but you need to be your own judge and make your own call on it. If there are signs of compaction either discard and replace or heat up to proper red hot with whatever means you have available to you, sloosh around in a bucket of cold water and hey presto you may have just put a Chilean copper miner on the dole queue!

I use a blow torch, a piece of hollowed out coal and a pair of 12" tongs. Nothing was purchased specifically to anneal copper washers its just what I have to hand.

 … " a piece of hollowed-out coal" …  

Sounds like something out of Harry Potter’s Dad’s workshop 

That coal heats itself and doesn’t require the blow torch