jagboy

Is it safe to use a electric impact gun on an oil/transmission drain bolt to loosen it and then remove by hand? I googled it and cant find a definite answer. I know your not suppose to tighten using an impact...

wrestrepo

do it by hand....they are not so tight you need to use a "machine".
What I do is after putting the wrench on the bolt, I apply a bit of torque with my right hand, and if it doesn't loosen with that I start "tapping" that hand with the left one, while keep applying torque.

russianDude

Buy torque wrench, $30 or so, its very useful for a lot of bolts in a car. The drain bold should be torqued to 29 lb-ft. When you use torque wrench, you dont have to guess. One more thing you get from DIY oil change, you can be sure no one will use it at the dealer.

wrestrepo

Torque wrench will work to tighten, not to remove. And who re-uses oil at the dealer? how to you know that is not re-used when you do it yourself? unless you are dumping it down the drain, you are bringing it to a place where they will "dispose of it" for you....

russianDude

I said "you can be sure no one will use it at the dealer.", and by "use it" I mean torque wrench.
No dealers user it on drain plugs.

wrestrepo

My bad, I thought (obviously) that you were talking about oil....reading too fast I guess

737 Jock

Good advice ^.

The chattering of impact guns can round the flats. Follow wrestrepo's guidance and keep torque on the bolt in one direction.

The threads/washer may be a bit galled (cold-welded) so it will make a crack sound when it breaks free, but you really should be able to do this by hand.

When you reinstall it, put a little Permatex High Temp Thread Sealant on the threads (be careful not to over-torque when using sealant). Next removal will be much easier.

+1. Impact guns are for the shop's convenience at the expense of your car. DIY and use a torque-wrench or a sensitive arm and good judgement.

jagboy

I normally do get it off with a breaker bar and some leverage. But when I do my oil change I often have to do it for my parents cars also, and it gets exhausting after the second car, thats why I thought a impact gun would be handy.

My dads has a CRV and unlike the rdx which has the bolt on a somewhat flat vertical surface , the bolt on the CRV is on angle and my wrench keep slipping off any suggestions?

737 Jock

Check Black Pearl's outstanding photo essay on CR-V Owner's Club.

DIYs don't get much better than his: Black Pearl's Rear Differential Fluid Change

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

if anything it will make it harder to remove next time



and i work at a shop, and i know for sure as hell i don't use an impact on drain bolts

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

are you using the box end of the wrench?

could the wrench be worn out (too much slop in it, or a cheap wrench which is not a good fit to begin with)?

or even could the plug be kinda rounded off on the edges, and could use a new drain plug? (iirc only a couple of $ dollars even at the dealer, so like 2-3 or something extremely low)

737 Jock

Permatex High Temperature Thread Sealant:

Source: permatex.com/_Permatex_High_Temperature_Thread_Sealant