I changed my oil a few weeks ago, the second time i've done it myself, and yesterday when i had it up on the ramps i noticed a little bit of oil around the drain plug. I cleaned it off, and looked at it again today and there again is a tiny bit of oil around the drain plug. It hasn't leaked enough to drip onto the garage floor so it's not really a big deal, im just afraid i somehow stripped the threads on the plug, or oil pan. I didnt put it on very tight, i hand tightened it then tightened it the rest of the way with a wrench using just two fingers ( figured that would be close to 29lbs of torque). The first time i changed it i used the same washer that was on it, and it was fine. This time i got a new washer from autozone that didnt look the same, it was a little bigger, and the hole was bigger. Could i just have got the wrong washer and its not sealing all the way, or could i have possibly stripped the threads?

 

I don't think you stripped the threads. If you did, the bolt would not stay in and spin freely. A little ring of oil around the bolt is nothing to be concerned about. If it's dripping off of the bolt, then that's another story.

 

If you have a Harbor Freight (cheap Chinese tools) you can get a torque wrech for around $20.
How far did you turn it past finger tight?
If your wrench is 12 inches long ( a foot) pulling on the very end of it with 29 lbs of force is 29 ft-lbs.

 

yeah you gotta pull pretty damn hard to strip that bolt. if you did you would have felt it break through the receiving threads and begin spinning freely as mentioned above.

 

29 lbs is way more than 2 finger pull on the wrench- thats about 15 lbs

More like a solid pull till it stops, then a tap with a hammer past that
You dont want that plug falling out

 

I am sad to report that you probably did strip the drain plug. It happened to me as well a couple of years ago. I use to change oil myself on the TL and instead of using a torque wrench i would just do it by hand. The oil pan is made out of aluminum and the threads can not stand more than needed torque. I changed the oil and tightened it more than the needed torque, next time around when i was to change the oil i noticed oil around the drain plug and thought may be it was because i did not tighten the nut enough the last time around

I change the oil and put the drain plug back on the minute i tightened it the bolt came loose and just kept on rotating untill i pulled it out, in time to see the shredded threads right on the bolt . The next time you do the oil change you will just take the threads right out. The only remedy, or shall i say proper remedy, right now is to change the oil pan which was 100 or so when i bought it from the dealership.

Here is the thread I started a few years ago.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110787

 

That will happen to me on occasion. I just tighten it a little more and it stops...then next oil change I replace the crush washer.

No prob.

 

Did you replace the crush washer before putting the drain plug back in?

 

i replaced it, but like i said in my first post, the washer they gave me at autozone was bigger than the one that was on there.

 

Noobs....torque wrench to change the oil.

 

I just started changing my own oil when the car came off warranty. I went to the dealership to pick up some crush washers and saw that they were made of aluminum. In my old car, the oil pan washers were copper. The copper washers were softer and gave a better feel when wrenching it in. The aluminum washers are harder and gave less feedback. I gave it a tug to make sure everything was seated and all seems right. I can see where it is easy to strip the thread. You want to feel the slight crush of the washer seating with the plug.