How "screwed" am I, literally.

[nfpgasmask]

So, I went to Kragen and bought a magnetic oil pan plug with nylon gasket.

Got home, unscrewed the old plug and OMFG! How in the h3ll did I do this:



The threads on the old plug were basically completely flat!!!

After the oil drained out, I cleaned up around the drain hole and then jacked up the front end, and shined a flashlight into the hole. I could see a little piece of stripped metal around the inner threads which I pulled out with some needle nose pliers. Behold:



I waited a little while until the pan and oil cooled a little, and then I stuck my finger up the hole and the threads of the pan felt fine. So I then screwed in the new plug. It went in smooth and easy, and I did thread it in and out a couple times, using the magnetic tip to extract a few more tiny metal shavings from the pan threads.

After this thorough job, I closed everything up, and then changed the oil filter and refilled with fresh oil.

NO LEAKING!!!!

So, in the end, somehow I must have cross threaded the plug in last time I changed my oil and not just buggered up a little, but completely destroyed the original plug. Lucky for me, the threads on the inside of the pan did not suffer and significant damage, and my VX isn't bleeding anymore.

Whew. I'm happy now. Thanks everyone for all your help and knowledge.

Bart

[Ldub]

Said it before & I'll say it again...I just LOVE a happy ending!

Well done Bart, also, nice photography!

[etlsport]

what size plug did u get.. is there just a 22mm oil pan plug on the shelf? id like to find one of those since im constantly worried about metal in my oil... although i guess w/ an aluminum engine a magnet wouldnt do much good...

anyway glad it worked out for u!

[IndianaVX]

good job bart.....well, not on threading the origonal bolt in, but ...glad you got it fixed!!
and might i add....GREAT PICS!! *self* ((i cant hijack barts thread to find out what camera was used....yeah david, dont do that, i must not hijack, i must not hijack, let him bask in the joy of fixing his oil lead sucessfully))

job well done......

[nfpgasmask]

Thanks guys! I love a happy ending too. Whew. I was really worried about this for the last couple nights.

Etl: The size of the plug is M14 1.5.

Indiana: I have a few cameras, but for these shots I just used my little point and shoot Canon Powershot A620 with the macro (flower) enabled. I also have a decent lighting setup in my garage which helps, and I put the plugs on an old black leather glove for contrast.

So, how worried about the tiny little metal shavings should I be? I mean, I pulled out that big nasty one, and a bunch of really tiny pieces on the magnet, and changed my filter, so hopefully I will be ok.... ???

I just can't believe I did this. I must have started the plug in wrong last time I changed the oil and somehow didn't notice the resistance as I mashed it in there. I will say this though, I was in a hurry last time I changed the oil so in this case, I suppose haste once again made waste...

Bart

[Ldub]

So, how worried about the tiny little metal shavings should I be?

Bart

You're new friend, the magnetic drain plug, should be more than happy to earn it's keep.

[nfpgasmask]

Thanks for the reassurance Dubster...

Bart

You're new friend, the magnetic drain plug, should be more than happy to earn it's keep.

[VehiGAZ]

Ah, high-five!!

etlsport raised a good point - the magnetic plug won't pick up aluminum shavings, so if you are concerned about additional shavings in your oil (and you probably should be), change your oil & filter a couple more times in the next 1000 miles.

tom4bren & psychos - so do you still disagree with me about the threads being important to sealing the drain plug? What happened to Bart was what I was getting at - if you've messed up your threads so the plug doesn't stop tightening, it can't hold the gasket tightly enough to form a seal.

Yay!!! Mystery solved!!

[tom4bren]

VehiGAZ,

"...if you've messed up your threads so the plug doesn't stop tightening, it can't hold the gasket tightly enough to form a seal."

I hate when I'm wrong (I thought I was once - but that was a mistake) ... glad I wasn't here. In your own words you verified what I said. The threads don't make the seal, they compress the gasket that makes the seal. By the very nature of how threads engage, they can not make a seal unless suplimented with something like teflon tape.

Trust me, I've learned that lesson the hard way with MANY failed plumbing repairs.

Besides - who (even Bart) could have messed up the threads that badly???? Oh yes, that was me when I was installing Tone's seat extenders (my fault not Tone's).

[tom4bren]

Glad to hear the quick fix worked. Even more than a happy ending, I love when it's cheap & easy.