mikey1

i recently did an oil change on a relatives vehicle (2003 Civic), they have always had the oil changed at a "jizzy lube" or an equivalent of that,

so its no surprise i found what i did,



when i loosened the drain plug it felt like normal torque, however i was unable to loosen the bolt with my fingers, i had to use my wrench almost the entire way (maybe 75% of the way)

same goes for tightening the bolt, i could only screw it in about 25% of the way with my fingers, after that i had to use my wrench the rest of the way,

this would indicate to me thread damage,

i managed to torque the bolt fine, but it seems like its just a matter of time before its completely stripped,

i inspected the drain plug closely, even used a magnifying glass and it looked fine, so i think its safe to assume the damage is in the oil pan,

my question is......

is there any way to repair this damage now, before the inevitable happens and the threads are completely stripped?

bsmiley

I'd probably find out the thread and run a tap through it, carefully of course. Then add some oil to get any metal shavings flushed out.

ezone

Oversized plug when it strips all the way out?

Aluminum pan, is there enough room for a Time-Sert install?

Use a rubber coated plug washer so it doesn't have to be torqued to 33 ft-lb?? A good one will seal at very low torque, just enough to squash the rubber. ...and can be reused many many times
I really like these:



After it's really stripped out good you can go to these:

mikey1

i realize there are options like this,

we used these all the time when i worked at jizzy

i was hoping to repair it before it gets to that point,

i was also thinking about installing one of those permanent drain plugs that you never have to remove, it just turns like a tap to drain the oil,

can't remember or find the link/webpage right now

thetut

http://fumotousa.com/?gclid=CI6ziIrpkskCFUyAaQod120Cog

ezone

Man, I'm always scared of anything catching the lever and opening the valve.
Snowdrift/ice, tree branches, anything that gets ran over

Stock 99

Ezone... do you rally drive/off road your car?

ezone

No, that's just in my driveway.
Out on the street I like to run over small children.

I can get a 5 foot snow drift in front of my garage door if the wind blows just wrong, and I've got 3 old oak trees out front (and some others) that occasionally drop big chunks of limbs when the winds howl. The rest of the time they constantly drop small branches. Every day there could be a surprise waiting in the driveway when I try to leave or come home LOL

mac25

...the plug or the pan? I'm guessing since you have 75rep that you mean the pan.

I would try a new plug first $5, then if that does not work re-thread the pan if there is to much damage to re-tap the pan.

mikey1

did you ever read anything i wrote?

or just the title?

thetut

That's what this part is for: http://fumotousa.com/parts.php?partnumber=96

ezone

^Oh that's cool.

mac25

Sorry Mikey I was probably skimming the last half of the post and didn't see "pan", just thought you were still talking about the plug, my bad.

mikey1

i might try this next time, anybody know off hand what size tap?

ezone

14x1.5