so the idiot who did my last oil change stripped the plug so now once i get it off, i cant get it back on. appearantly the honda/acura oil pans are alluminum and tend to strip out if you tighten it too much.
anyone know of a special lighter oil pan? or a better oil pan in general.
much appreciated!!

 

Don't think it gets much lighter than the OEM oilpan.. unless you had a titanium pan custom made. Although IDK how titanium would stand up to the oil/heat. I'd be searching junkyards for an OEM.

 

I agree OEM is your best bet. Make the mechanic pay for it, not hard to remember righty tighty lefty loosey. No reason why this should have happened.
The pan is a pain to get off so labor is going to be high if you bring it somewhere else.
You could re tread it but, you have to flush it out good with new oil if done on the car.

 

You can get a Time-Sert drain plug repair kit for around $125 shipped and, since the insert is steel, you won't have to worry about someone stripping the threads again. The insert can be installed while the pan is on the car. The Time-Sert site has tips for keeping metal shavings out of the pan.

It's not cheap, but certainly easier and less expensive than replacing the entire pan: TIME-SERT M14 X 1.50 Metric Drain Plug Kit #1415C For Honda & Acura aluminum oil pans

 

I agree with Hi Speed, the pan is a real pain in the ass to get off and on. There are bolts in places that weren't designed to be put on with the engine in the subframe. Putting it back on is also fun as it only snakes in one way around the subframe. Not impossible and if you have a lift, it would be much much easier. I did it on my back.

I'd go with DanL's suggestion.

 

thanks guys. much appreciated. i would get them to pay for it but i threw away the oil sticker they put on my car (penzoil)

 

how do i get them to pay for it?? i need an oil change soon too. i dont have my oil change sticker anymore because why would i keep it? oh i guess if they strip the freakin drain... help!

 

Good luck proving it. You can try to ask them to fix it, but don't count on it. If they don't agree, it's probably not worth the hassle arguing with them.

It's a $4 part:

Click here for Acura oil drain plug

Get an easy out and remove it yourself. Replace it with a new one (and new crush washer).

Recommendation: If you don't change the oil yourself, make sure the techs use a torque wrench to tighten the drain plug. Speak to the tech in person and politely remind him/her the correct torque setting is 29 ft/lbs.

 

It's not a $4 part....the threads in the pan almost always strip before those of the actual drain plug.

 

yea the threads in the pan stripped. becuz of the weak alluminum. just wondered if anyone else has tackled this problem. would def save me a few hundred for something so stupid.

 

they have a receipt in their system, go see the MANAGER/Owner and show the pics or whatever you have

they are well aware of the problem- they dont keep the right tools on site and the `techs` who work under the car are like baggage handlers in training

They yank on a 2 foot long wrench to make sure the drain plug wont fall out!!
and not understand the elements in play

Same guys will set your tires at max pressure--because thats what the tire says pressure is supposed to be~

 

it will require a new oil pan and a bit of work to get at it
dropping subframe etc--try the problems threads for help
I know its happened to others recently

 

Worst part is I just changed my oil for the first time the other day. I needed a breaker bar to get the plug out and it was done last time at a dealership prior to me owning it. When I went to put the plug back in, it kept binding like it was crossthreaded so I was like "WTF?". Well I look in the threads and a few of them were falling off thanks to some monkey over tightening the poor aluminum pan. Had to pick all the little pieces out of the threads before I could put it back on. Luckily only a very small amount had fallen off... just goes to show that even Honda/Acura dealers hire monkeys.

 

Same thing happened to my '91 Accord (mind you actually in 91). It was my first DIY oil change. Even in those days, it was about a $400 repair.

 

I stirpped out the threads in my pan last week. Had to replace it. Did it Friday. Dropped the J pipe, removed the torque converter access cover and pulled the oil pan bolts. I think there were 14. Of course one of them was frozen into the block and broke. Luckily the pan is aluminum and will not flex so one missing bolt wont hurt anything. A little extra gray RTV around that hole fixed right up. No problems yet...

 

Could you re-thread the pan and use a bolt one or two millimiters wider?

 

I had this problem before and i was too lazy and didnt want to buy a pan so i looked around the shop and found a universal rubber drain plug that looks something like this

 

Its been 3 years now since i put this universal plug in and still not leaking.

 

Ahhhh..... Sorry, thought you meant the bolt head.

So if the threads are stripped, what's holding the bolt (and oil) in right now? Are you driving the car in this condition?

Oil pan is $88 and it's a bit of a bitch to replace.

And one thread is enough, don't need two of them...

 

Simplest way is to re-thread the pan. The problem with stripped threads or re-threading is small pieces of the aluminum threading getting into the pan and drawn into the oil galleries.

This is one of the primary reasons to do you own oil changes, or if you can't or won't, find a quality and trustworthy shop to do it for you.

 

Perhaps this may help:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/ez-drain-704203/

 

So the answer you got on the other section didn't answer your question?

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=781371

 

no.. it stripped because you trusted your ride to bunch of monkeys who torque the shit out of the bolt. I wouldn't be surprised if they took an impact wrench to it.

Helicoil and be done with it. Chase out the threads as far as you can, tap in a new thread and spin a helicoil in.. done in 30 mins. Make sure you grease the tap to pick up the shavings.

 

threads merged.

 

i bought the car with the threads like this. i do change my own oil.

 

I had similar over torque issue at the dealership. I was having some warranty work performed and had them change the oil at the same time. Never again.

 

Doesn't seem like it from your previous posts. Also if you helicoil it.. make sure you get the one that locks the coil from unseating like these:

 

?????????

 

You should get the bolt in there the best you can and take it to a dealer for an oil change, that way the monkeys will think they stripped it, then they're held liable

 

As DanL said, helicoil it. IMO, any aluminum thread that gets removed and replaced regularly should be helicoiled. Aluminum just does not do well as a thread material especially when you tighten and loosen it all the time.

I helicoil everything. As soon as I get a new set of aluminum heads, the first step is helicoiling everything.

As to the first post in this thread, the oil pan is actually pretty rigid and it is actually a part of the engine in that it strengthens the bottom end. It's not like the old sheet metal pans that just held oil. Ours is a structural piece of the engine. I wouldn't try and lighten it.

 

Ive had this happen to me once. I was changing my oil and when I removed the plug it pulled out the threads. Ive always T.Q the plug and changed the gasket but these things can still happen. The best solution other than replacing the oil pan.. buy yourself a "One oversize self taper drain plug" They make them for every vehicle, you must say your year, make & model.

It's simple to install, and ends up being a reg. drain plug. It makes new threads, only thing is you have to be dead on center. It would look something like this

 

I hate to discourage anyone but those types of plugs are leak prone and are notorious for loosening. They can also crack the pan of overtorqued.

Really, helicoil is very easy to do. Use a bottoming drill bit so you don't get shavings in the pan and from there it's normal procedure.