Sump plug very tight.....

[dishman]

Thought it best to check this before opening a can of worms

Sump plug seems to be on very very tight. I naively assumed it would not be that bad. But the tools I had initially slipped on it.

I stopped trying immediately (to avoid shredding it) with my small tools/spanner and now have a very good socket set and long bar.

However, before I try, I suddenly considered the issue of it somehow being cross threaded. I have no reason to suspect it is other than being surprised by how tight it seems to be (it looks very tight to the pan and perhaps not quite flush but it is hard to say).

My question is, if it is cross threaded. It is just a case of I have to hope and try it, and if it is, new pan is needed regardless?

Thought it best to check before actually loosening it.

 

[Mottie]

Go to a garage that has an oil vacuum remover and get it sucked out. Many years ago, before oil vacuum draining was even a thing, I had a car come in for a service but the sump plug was araldited in, possibly because it had a stripped thread. After speaking to the owner, I took no chances, loosened the oil filter, put the oil drainer tray underneath and ran the engine until the oil stopped pìssing out. It didn’t take long. A bit of a messy job and I got most of the oil out but better than finding out there was no thread in the sump.

 

[Wayners]

I normally do my own oil change.
Twist oil filter a bit and sump plug and you are good to go.
I once fell for a bargain offer but it went wrong.
My sump plug was stuck when I dropped off car at local garage. Don't want to name it but think or racing cars.
Was a Sunday offer and sump plug rounded off when they tried to remove it, so I took car to my normal garage (twice the price) and admitted what happened which was embarrassing.
They were going to weld a nut on it, but before they did the guy put a jawed money wrench on it and nut came out easy he said.
Go figure!

If you want to try again. Use a 6 sided socket. Don't use a star socket as that only sits on the nut points and will round off.
Use a breaker bar out socket set or whatever you have to get some force too crack it open.

It you feel unhappy abandon and get garage to do it

 

[mikehammer69]

You said small tools

I would try it with the bar and correct socket

 

[Burnerman]

What vehicle do you have.......hopefully with a hexagon plug rather than Torx
John

 

[Tigercubrider]

Is the engine nice and hot?

 

[norseman]

If the thread in the sump fails it can be re-cut & a slightly oversize plug fitted.

I know this because it's recently been done to my car because it became impossible to tighten the plug enough to prevent engine oil weeping despite a new crushable washer being employed when the car was serviced.

 

[Mottie]

Don’t talk to me about sump plugs. The very last job I did in my workshop on the daughter in laws car!

Down the workshop today doing the DiL's car. Full service, rear wheel cylinders, drop links. What part of "I'm retired" don't these youngsters understand? It's cost me well over a ton in parts and I doubt if I'll see any of that!

Not for family it isn’t.
What a f*cking day I’ve had! Everything went fine until I went to put the sump plug in and noticed something hanging out of the sump. It was a helicoil inset that someone previously fitted. I couldn’t get it back in and I then noticed that the sump plug was chewed up.

View attachment 374343

I had nothing to get me out of trouble so I had to get a bus and a train home, Mrs Mottie picked me up from the station, I jumped on my bike and went up to my mates garage and borrowed an 18mm tap and a selection of plugs, biked back up to my workshop, tapped a new larger thread in the sump and fitted the new plug. Job done. Came home. Still got to go back now to pick my bike up.

Even that trip home was eventful. I missed the bus but I noticed it had stopped for some time further along the road at a stop with another bus behind it. When I got to it, some woman was arguing with the driver. Basically, the gist was: she wasn't paying, the bus was going to where she wanted to go anyway and the fare wasn’t going into the drivers pocket so why was he worrying about it. The driver of the bus behind got out and came up and asked her why she thought she didn’t have to pay - he asked her if she was special to which she replied, yeah, I’m special, I’m special, I’m special , you get me blud, I’m special. She then said "I'll knock you out, I’ll knock you out, I’ll knock you out, I’ll knock you out… The driver said the bus wasn’t going anywhere until she paid or got off. She just said "I don’t care, I’m not leaving, I’ll stand here all day if I have to, you WILL let me on". The driver of the bus behind told him to call the police. I asked if he could get his bus past and he said he could if I would direct him back (as he was almost touching the other bus) so I saw him back, jumped on board and along with half the passengers from the first bus, left that bus waiting for the police. The absolute cheek of some people in this country.

Anyway, to sum up, I had nearly a 10 hour day, spent over £130 of my own money (Mrs Mottie said to treat her to the parts) and worked for nothing.