Grr, what a nice surprise today. I go to change the oil in my car for the first time since I've had the car. I put my socket on the drain plug, and the first thing I notice is that its not tight at all. The weight of the wrench handle falling towards the ground was enough to turn the bolt. I thought "Whoa, that was pretty loose. I'm lucky it didnt all leak out!". I go to start removing it, and after awhile I realize that i'm not getting anywhere. The drain plug spins freely in the oil pan and will not come out! Who knows how long the oil has been in there! What can I do??! I'm freaking out now, I dont want to drive the car now that I know the drain plug is loose like that.

 

sounds like it might be cross threaded...or maybe...not even sure if this exists...it has a push in plug. like the filler cap on a valve cover...

 

Well if definitely not one of those. The plug not only rotates around freely in both directions, but it has some play perpendicular to the shaft of the plug. And now that I have been messing with it oil is starting to leak from it, I can see the wet and shiny if I look in between the bolt head and the pan.

GRRR Today started out great. No work, off school at 12, was gonna do an oil change and go out for some datalogging and PROM tuning. So much for that.

I've tried putting a flat head screw driver between the bolt head and the pan to give it a little "push" outward so maybe the threads will catch as I unscrew it with a socket. No luck so far. You think its the bolt, or forbid, the pan?

 

hmmm....I wouldn't want to mess with any cutting or drilling in that area. you don't want any crap in there. maybe if it is cross threaded you can take some pliers and pull on it while turning, might get it back on track. outside of that all I can think of is replacing the oil pan.

 

all i can suggest is to use the screwdrive like you were and keep prying on the head of the plug as you try to loosen it. on a stripped hole is sheetmetal, this has always worked for me.

i cant imagine that someone else had the pan off before and use a bolt and a nut as the drain plug that would be weird, but that doesn't explaine why when you pry on it and turn the wrench it doesnt loosen any.... probably a stupid question ...but are you turning the plug counterclockwise?

 

Its no use. The plug is NOT coming out. What are my options? The oil is not hot, but warm as the engine has been off for a couple hours and it is currently dripping out at a brisk rate of 1 drop every 20 minutes or so. I'm afraid to run the car, I'm afraid to drive the car.

Looks like I need to start looking into a new oil pan, as well as a way to remove an oil pan filled with 5 qts of oil. Without jacking up the motor. %#@*%*#!!!

 

you could use a hydraulic jack to get the car up enough to work and get the pan off. and if you're pulling that one off and not looking to use it again then you could drill into it to get the oil out...

 

Car is already up on ramps. It looks like I can get the pan out without unbolting the engine and moving it at all. I'm just not sure how far down my crank goes and if it will interfere with removing the pan.

 

I think you'll be good.

 

I'm sure you have a flat prybar with a 90 degree bend on one end or can borrow one. you can duct tape the bent end to keep the marring down to a minimum, use it to apply gentle yet constant outward pressure on the nuts washer side while you unscrew the bolt. The bolt is thoroughly stripped and all the threads have been mashed and pushed toward the bolts end, effectively forming a little wedge. Applying firm pressure will finish the job and pull the wedge of thread off the bolt end which will then come out with the oil. Most likely you are looking at using one of those quick change retro bolts, a bolt within a bolt. You'll probably be retapping the original hole.

Good Luck.

 

Its stripped....

You need to drain the oil, of course, so drill a hole or use a punch..

You Cannot remove the oil pan without jacking the engine up. Thanks to the oil pump and front mains. Its really not that hard.. just two bolts and keeping an eye on the distributor cap and firewall..

You SHOULD Replace the Oil pump with something like Hi-Flow.. Since your in that area..

Ive been There Done that.. any questions, Im online from 5-9pm except tomarrow, I'll be at the dragstrip. PM with any questions, i have pictures if you need any..

 

Wow,since you have to remove the oil pan,I thought it was harder than was let to believe.It took me removing the distributer in my 86 iroc and jacking the engine till it hits the body to remove.I hope this helps,as I have no success any other way.

 

I GOT THE DRAIN PLUG OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All I did was take my socket wrench and put it over the bolt and push the handle INWARD, TOWARDS the bolt itself and then unscrewed it! The sideways force on the threads caused them to cut new threads in (I basically crossthreaded on purpose) and took it out. There was a tiny bit of metal shaving on the magnet, I assume this is normal? I'm gonna head down to Autozone and try and get one of those bolts within a bolt things, hopefully it works.

Also, should I worry about shavings resulting from re-cutting the pan threads? Even though I'm running synthetic can I pour a quart of dino juice through the motor to "flush out" any thing that may be harmful?

 

You should be able to find ½-20 standard, single-, and double oversized drain plugs. Get one of each. They are self-tapping. Thread in the standard plug but don't tighten it. Remove the standard plug, and thread in the single oversize. Run it in and tighten it gently. If it seems to hold, use that plug. If it seems weak, install the double-oversize plug and pray that it holds.

 

Sheesh. What a day. Heres the recap and what I did:

I discovered that the cap was stripped and tried for many hours to get it undone.

Gave up and decided to pull the pan.

Decided to try once more, and succeeded.

I got the plug out by puting the socket over it, and pushing the handle of the socket toward the plug, essentially intentionally crossthreading it so it would bite the pan and back out. It worked and the oil drained.

Once the oil was out I screwed in a direct replacement cap. It cleaned up the threads a little bit and I discovered that the threads in the pan were not as bad as I initially thought. I did not have to drill or re-tap anything.

I took a wire bottlebrush and further cleaned up the pan threads.

Aware of the possibility of metal shavings getting into my block, I then took a powerful magnet and put it in the hole and captured some little fragments. I then poured a quart of dino juice through the block with the plug out holding the powerful magnet at the drain plug. This captured some more fragment at first but as I got towards the end of the quart there was nothing. This gave me peace of mind.

I then went ahead and filled it up with my synthetic and started it up. a few seconds of zero oil pressure got my heart pounding but as soon as the needle jumped up it was a sigh of relief. I'm going to change the oil and filter again in a week or so, unless somebody recommends otherwise.

I hope I didnt destroy my motor, only time will tell I guess.

Do you think i'll be OK based on this procedure?






This is why you change your OWN OIL!

Just imagine where all the metal is now! (Hopefully in the old filter that is in my garage!!)

 

You might already know this, but do you make sure to fill your oil filter with oil before installing it, so that you have oil pressure right away on the first startup after an oil change?

 

That makes sense.. I never thought of that.. I'll remember that for ever!

 

Any metal liberated by your removing the oil drain plug was probably flushed out of the pan with the draining oil. Anything large enough to do any real damage will either get caught in the filter or won't get through the pickup screen. If the oil pump hasn't locked up already (on startup) any remaining contamination would be in the filter. Rather than changing the oil in a week, wait a thousand miles or so and change the filter, then top off the sump.

Try pre-filling the filter on a Buick engine, or a Chevy V6, or an inline 4, 5, or 6 cylinder. It can't be done unless you roll the car on its side or turn it upside-down. It's not a bad idea, but it isn't necessary.

 

You are right. On some cars, the position of the filter means that if you fill it up with oil, some of that is going to spill out upon installation. I still try to get some in there anyway. It takes a while for the element to soak up the oil, so I'd rather get that process out of the way with the filter off the car than with the engine wanting oil and having to wait for the filter to saturate and fill.

Thankfully on our thirdgens, you can get that filter full to the brim and not lose a drop on installation!

 

Depends on how cold it is. Remember the bypass is in the filter housing. If it's cold enough, a very large percentage of oil bypasses the filter.

My machinest gave me a chart once of GM bypass valve part #'s and the rated temps they fully close at.

-- Joe

 

It depends more on the pressure differential across the filter than on temperature.

 

I tried all the things mention here above and below. The only thing I didn't try was the flat pry bar..worked like a charm...Thanks, that made my life easier..