Oil drain plug

A friend with a 'domestic' truck - one year old. (don't want to feed
the trolls here)
He has used one of those quick lube places and is suddenly informed
that the female threads for the oil drain plug are stripped. This is
the only place he has gone and he has his receipts - and he wants it
fixed for free.

How likely is this to occur say with the six cyl. Sienna? (Assuming
proper tools and training are never employed - anywhere.)

I had a notion that the male plug was made of a softer metal than the
oil pan - or that the threads were hardened.

How is this sort of thing generally fixed?
Rethreading with a die and a larger plug?
Use of an insert?
Replace the entire pan and plug?
$ involved?

regards,
joe

An oversized self-tapping plug is the usual fix for this. There are a
couple of inexpensive rubber oil drain plugs. I'd be more comfortable
using the over-sized plug.

It's a fairly quick and cheap solution -- well except for the labor.
What, 30 minutes or so at $60-70 per hour....??

Removing the pan and replacing it is usually pretty pricey, mostly
because a lot of other components need to be pulled first.

Repair shops have insurance to cover bonehead moves by their mechanics,
but like most people, a lot of them don't like to admit to their
mistakes and they can and will stonewall you from what I have heard.
Then your only recourse is to take them to court or just pay for the
repair yourself.

That's why I:

1) Use a Fumoto drain valve so I don't have to keep removing and
replacing the plug.

2) Do it myself.

On Mon, 01 May 2006 18:06:10 GMT, joe <nospam@invalid.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>A friend with a 'domestic' truck - one year old. (don't want to feed
>the trolls here)
>He has used one of those quick lube places and is suddenly informed
>that the female threads for the oil drain plug are stripped. This is
>the only place he has gone and he has his receipts - and he wants it
>fixed for free.
>
>How likely is this to occur say with the six cyl. Sienna? (Assuming
>proper tools and training are never employed - anywhere.)
>
>I had a notion that the male plug was made of a softer metal than the
>oil pan - or that the threads were hardened.
>
>How is this sort of thing generally fixed?
>Rethreading with a die and a larger plug?
>Use of an insert?
>Replace the entire pan and plug?
>$ involved?
>
>regards,
>joe[/color]
Before you do anything, pull the plug and determine whether the
threads on the plug are stripped or if it the pan itself. BTDT on a
Ford van. All it took was a new standard plug. If it is the pan, as
another poster suggested, the oversize self-tapping replacement plug
is the way to go. BTDT too.

On Mon, 01 May 2006 20:53:15 -0400, NickySantoro
<NickySantoro@optonline.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Mon, 01 May 2006 18:06:10 GMT, joe <nospam@invalid.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>A friend with a 'domestic' truck - one year old. (don't want to feed
>>the trolls here)
>>He has used one of those quick lube places and is suddenly informed
>>that the female threads for the oil drain plug are stripped. This is
>>the only place he has gone and he has his receipts - and he wants it
>>fixed for free.
>>
>>How likely is this to occur say with the six cyl. Sienna? (Assuming
>>proper tools and training are never employed - anywhere.)
>>
>>I had a notion that the male plug was made of a softer metal than the
>>oil pan - or that the threads were hardened.
>>
>>How is this sort of thing generally fixed?
>>Rethreading with a die and a larger plug?
>>Use of an insert?
>>Replace the entire pan and plug?
>>$ involved?
>>
>>regards,
>>joe[/color]
>Before you do anything, pull the plug and determine whether the
>threads on the plug are stripped or if it the pan itself. BTDT on a
>Ford van. All it took was a new standard plug. If it is the pan, as
>another poster suggested, the oversize self-tapping replacement plug
>is the way to go. BTDT too.[/color]

Per my friend - he observed that the Armenian grease monkey was
turning the plug wildly and claiming that there was a nut on the
inside of the oil pan that had come loose. It was a GM truck.
They had then put in a temporary rubber plug.

j

joe wrote:
[color=blue]
> A friend with a 'domestic' truck - one year old. (don't want to feed
> the trolls here)
> He has used one of those quick lube places and is suddenly informed
> that the female threads for the oil drain plug are stripped. This is
> the only place he has gone and he has his receipts - and he wants it
> fixed for free.
>
> How likely is this to occur say with the six cyl. Sienna? (Assuming
> proper tools and training are never employed - anywhere.)
>
> I had a notion that the male plug was made of a softer metal than the
> oil pan - or that the threads were hardened.
>
> How is this sort of thing generally fixed?
> Rethreading with a die and a larger plug?
> Use of an insert?
> Replace the entire pan and plug?
> $ involved?
>
> regards,
> joe
>[/color]
I've heard too many stories about these quicky oil change places
damaging the plugs/pans and even engines. This is just one more reason
to do it yourself or let the OEM do it.

J

Many years ago I had an oil change at a "quick oil change" place (might
have been a Jiffy Lube). They couldn't loosen the plug with an
incorrect tool and rounded the hex right off. Then they tried a vise
grip and made it worse. I finally had to take it to another one of
their places where they had welding equipment. They welded a nut onto
the plug and then were able to get it out. I think the plug had been
over tightened at the same (original) place. I now use the dealer for
oil changes (and ignore all their suggestions for additional work).


---MIKE---[color=blue][color=green]
>>In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
>> (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')[/color][/color]