Front upper fairing screws spinning???

Hey guys,
I'm trying to remove the headlight assembly from the upper front fairing. Everything is coming off except for the 2 upper screws. They spin along with the two washers and nothing else. I reference the manual and it doesn't say anything special about these 2 screws? The diagram shows them coming out straight just like every other retaining screw. There is no retaining place behind them that I can see.

What the deal here? What am I missing?

 

I'd be willing to bet that someone over tightened the screws at some point and stripped the threads out of the plastic. Try pulling/pushing rearward on the headlight bucket while turning them out. That should get them out and then you'll have to figure our a method to rebuild the hole so the screws will bite again when you reassemble it.

 

I was afraid of that!! But why would Honda not install a back plate to avoid stripping the plastic??

 

I've not removed those ones specifically on the 6th gen but what I think is causing your problem is that Honda usually use a threaded brass insert that pushes into the hole as an 'interference fit'. What then happens is the screw and insert corrode together, the bond between screw and insert is stronger than the grip of the insert on the plastic and the whole thing turns when you try to remove it. I had to pull the screws out with the inserts still attached and they were so corroded I had to saw through them to get the heads off. Hopefully yours won't be that bad. Good luck!

 

Uhmm!! Before I bought this bike it sat in a garage for probably several months, maybe years?? The bike had only 3600 miles when I got it. I did notice how the nuts holding the fairing to the frame made a snap sound when I broke the torque. I really don't think anybody has gone in there until now. I have a feeling with the amount of humidity in Florida that they def are corroded inside?

 

As said above, there are friction held brass inserts. I had to pull at least one of those out a couple years ago when I had my plastics painted. I was able to remove the screw afterwards and epoxy the brass insert back in its place. Put a drop of teflon type lubricant on tbose screws before you replace them. I find this reduces the corrosion instances. I use a lubricant called TriFlow. Get the dropper not the spray can. Too expensive for the waste involved with spray cans.

 

Thank you for all your help guys. As stated above you have to pull them out and then use epoxy or some other adhesive strong enough to keep them from spinning.

 

I'm sure I don't need to tell you this but what the hell. I'm going to anyways. Someone else down the line may read this post too. Besides, I need to keep my post numbers up.

I would not use an adhesive or glue. That may cause a big headache if you have to go through this again later. Epoxy should basically make a new lining on the hole in the plastic and you would be able to follow the same route if you have this problem again. Read the label on the epoxy and get the right stuff. I now, men don't normally read instructions, but on the occasion that I do, I discover amazing things.

Don't forget to put a little lube on those threads before you put them back in. Brake Never Seize may work as well if not even a bit better.

 

Yah! I agree with you & I realized later from an incident I had a while ago with a car dash, that I shouldn't had used any hardened type adhesive.

I did worst!! I had to fix a small crack in the fairing that occurred while pulling the right headlight. I mixed some jb weld & fixed the crack. I had some left & I thought about it for a second & what the heck, tried it. They are in there forever now & if they move the whole thing will snap off.