Oil Drain Plug Problem

I recently changed the oil in my 308. Now I find I have a leak at the drain plug. I did install a new washer but it drips and seems to be getting worst. The oil has less than a 100 miles on it. I hate to dump all the oil so thinking about pulling the plug and some way to hold back the bulk of oil, and quickly replace the plug with a new washer. The drain hole is bigger than my thumb, so wondering what I could use as a stopper...........or is this idea just nuts?

 

I say go for it. Maybe lose a qt(L) in the process... unless you aren't fast enough to swap them out.

I did it once and was fortunate not to lose a bunch.

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Is the cost of new oil worse than the probability of an oil bath and clean up?

 

Stick a cork in it. Step back ,clean up ,take a breath and get the new washer and plug ready. Have fun. Mike

 

Just let it go in a clean container if you gotta reuse the oil

 

Either aneal the old washer or use a new one

 

How did you plug the drain hole?

 

My finger. Had a new plug and washer in my other hand.

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Did you use a torque wrench? I know that wouldn't be common but maybe it just needs to be re-torqued?

 

Yes I gave it a little tightening...........but there was a sound and I was afraid I would strip it. It is in very tight!!!! What would the torque setting be?

 

Might be stripped this time .Accumulation of previous very nearly over torquing.

Use a cork and as said prepare a clean receptacle incase you end up draining it all out .

My tech advised me this , with my new to me but Ferrari dealer - previously oil changed .He ended up dropping the sump plate ( oil pan ) and sending it away for re threading and if I remember correctly they fitted a slight over sized plug .
Went up a couple of mm ?

A dam nuisance this stripping aluminium threads by gorillas with out of calibration torque wrenches ?

I just nip up by feel and a bit more , a tiny bit more .New copper ring every time .

The new bung is 2 x deeper so I guess they welded up the inside / added thickness- dunno ??

They were scheduled to change the suspension bushes , all of them which they did .While doing that a lot of cold starts + choke and they suggested at the end an oil change as they thought the oil was “ choked “ with fuel = diluted .

I agreed .They race prep BMW s proper engineers not parts throw on merchants , they has a M5 engine in bits for new pistons , that kinda shop .Perfectly familiar with bush replacement jobs , after all Ferraris are basic really .

They did not bill me for it ( the oil bung work ) very apologetic, I felt sorry for them as the car occupied a ramp for a week of so as the pan was fixed .

 

You might get some different experiences doing the quick exchange because different models have different drain plug sizes. Nothing wrong with draining the oil into a clean drain pan(s) and then carefully putting most of it back into the engine IMO (leaving the last dregs in the drain pan). Since you've had a problem, just doing the same thing again might not give a different result. I prefer putting a thin coat of Loctite PST (I use 592 but any grade would probably be OK) on both sides of a new Cu washer on those oil system drain plugs that are continuously wetted by gravity -- JMO.

 

A better approach would be to buy a new drain plug and washer. Then when you remove the old drain plug, you can immediately install the new one and minimize the loss of oil from the sump. You can probably top off the oil with less than a quart using this approach.

 

Can you use vacuum to keep the oll in place ?? Closing breatherhoses and others....put the car on jackstand on 1 side so the oil gets cumulated on the other side inside the carter. Some ideas....

 

Just drain the oil into a clean container and refill the car using the same oil.

If it's leaking, you need to inspect the threads and see what's going on; I never use a torque wrench on oil plugs, only by feel.

Ray

 

Short cuts always lead to double bs.

 

Yes, get a clean drain container and drain out all the oil. This way you can carefully check the the threads in the sump as well as on the drain plug and the condition of the sealing washer. It will also allow you to reinsert and tighten the drain plug without having any oil in the engine to make certain the the threads are not damaged. Once you are satisfied that the plug fits correctly and can be properly torqued, install it with a new crush washer and pour the drained oil back into the engine using a funnel with a mesh filter in its spout to ensure that anything that could have fallen into the drained oil gets removed from it.

 

Also, are you using a copper sealing washer or aluminum? Aluminum is softer and usually a bit more forgiving of imperfect sealing surfaces.

Ray

 

Thanks all.............ordering a new plug and washers.

 

Get yourself an oil drain pan like this style here:

https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-87034-Green-Oil-Drain/dp/B0797MF37S/

Make sure it's some color like green or yellow, not black. It's easy to clean it with gasoline and monitor how dirty or clean the oil is (as well as the pan itself). Makes draining the oil and then refilling the motor using the same oil a snap. I usually pour the oil back into a 2nd bottle and then pour that back into the motor.

They sell this same pan at AutoZone also.

Ray

 

FWIW when I changed over to Aluminum washers on all 5 plugs. Less torque needed. No leaks.

 

Thats interesting.
I am finding all ''new'' copper washers still need annealing.
so do you think ali washers are softer ?
Obviously i guess

 

I found Aluminum Crush washers on eBay. My Mercedes mechanic told me about them. Very happy with the choice.

 

I consider myself to be frugal. However, there is no way I would be willing to get an arm full of oil or a mess to clean up to save $50.00 on oil or to reuse oil that may be contaminated.

 

So.............as a last effort two days ago I loosened up the drain plug about a quarter turn, and then snugged it up again.
48 hours and no dripping.