Drain plug leaks

[90lxcoupe]

how much slop is on the bolt if you tighten it halfway and try and move it around?

on my canton pan it will maybe give a small drop here and there, but it sounds like the threads are way out of tolerance on the oil pan. They do sell oversized drain plugs too.

 

[LarsD]

how much slop is on the bolt if you tighten it halfway and try and move it around?

on my canton pan it will maybe give a small drop here and there, but it sounds like the threads are way out of tolerance on the oil pan. They do sell oversized drain plugs too.

Surprisingly tight. Wouldn't surprise me if the threads in the pan were actually messed up though.

 

[The_Dude]

why not just go to the auto parts store and get a rubber washer gasket in the help section for drain plugs?

These work really well.

 

[Boosted92LX]

I'm surprised you're having that much trouble. Teflon washers usually do the trick. If you do use silicone, use ultra black under the hexhead. Be carefull on the threads- I actually have had oilpumps lock up from stray chunks of silicone that got away. It doesn't take much to do it,trust me. Be sure to degrease the surfaces with brakeclean or something that will flash off and leave it dry.


IF none of that works, there's an old millwright's trick. Go to the hardware store and get some lead fusewire. Wrap it around the under the head of the plug and it'll crush forming a seal. It's softer than copper and usually does the trick.

 

[LarsD]

I'm surprised you're having that much trouble. Teflon washers usually do the trick. If you do use silicone, use ultra black under the hexhead. Be carefull on the threads- I actually have had oilpumps lock up from stray chunks of silicone that got away. It doesn't take much to do it,trust me. Be sure to degrease the surfaces with brakeclean or something that will flash off and leave it dry.


IF none of that works, there's an old millwright's trick. Go to the hardware store and get some lead fusewire. Wrap it around the under the head of the plug and it'll crush forming a seal. It's softer than copper and usually does the trick.

I figure if I get to the point of using silicone, I was just going to make a slight bead under the head. I didn't want to use it on the threads, I don't want any of that stuff in my oil pan. Hopefully the o-ring washers will fix it, I'm going to get some this weekend and try them out.

 

[LarsD]

Just wanted to let you guys know, the rubber o-ring center'd brass gasket looks to have fixed my leak. Gonna have to buy a ton of them to keep on hand I guess.

 

[Mintsick]

Well that's good news, I've got a persistent very minimal seep on my rear end cover drain plug...unfortunately I wouldn't be able to use a gasket like this on it.