rounded the oil drain plug

[sleepybird09]

so i rounded off my oil drain plug. i used my 10mm socket and it went on just fine. but it was on there so tight and i tried my hardest but it rounded off. i blame the cheap socket i had. and i guess the tech must of used an air tool on it. (lol)

i found a tool to extract it, guess i will have to order a new plug. non of the local auto parts store had any.:blankface:

ill see if i can fix this tomorrow.

 

[RMinNJ]

Dealer torqued mine on..I measured 50 ft lbs..it's supposed to be 11.

 

[sonic daddy]

We had to deal with a rounded off oil drain plug thanks to a Wall Mart oil change.

 

[Natesriv]

Get vice grips!!! Put on the widest part of bolt up
near pan.... It'll work.

 

[mightysonic]

I had this same issue when I went to change the oil a few thousand miles after I purchased my sonic. I gave up as I didn't want to completely f-up the oil plug so I took it to a local dealer. Explained that the dealer that sold me the car clearly over-tightened my oil plug and tried to get this chevy dealer just replace the oil plug. They decided to go ahead and replace the oil free of charge and only charge me for the drain plug, came to about $25 and change. Probably still made money! I made sure when I got home that I could get the plug loose with basic hand tools.

I've been changing oil in all my previous cars for about 10 years and I have never torqued the plug. As long as it is hand-tight, it's not going anywhere. I think the selling dealer were thinking that if we over-tighten it, the buyer will have no choice but to come back for oil service.

 

[Natesriv]

That plug is a POS! 15 ft/lb max torque... I bought a new one for my next change. I'll never let the dealer change my again (they had to for a oil pan leak)


Who da fa would make a drain plug out of soft metal and 10mm?

 

[Papasonic]

If a quality 6 point socket is used, and the plug isn't over torqued, the OEM drain plug will outlast the vehicle. I believe the theory behind the small 10mm head on the drain plug is that the hex will either round off or break off, instead of stripping the threads in the oil pan. Thus the drain plug is a sacrificial component. Because the sealing component of the drain plug is an O-ring, excessive torque isn't necessary.

 

[Thesd45]

That plug is a POS! 15 ft/lb max torque...

Cast into the bottom of my oil pan (2014 1.4T) it says 14 N*m with an arrow to even tell you the direction to turn it. 14 N*m is actually only 10.3 ft*lbs (or more correctly lb*ft) of torque.

 

[sleepybird09]

got my plug on wensday. ordered it from amazon $9. ill take it off tomorrow. i tried using vice grips but it was just stripping the bolt even more. decided it was best i left it there and use a proper tool for taking it off.

i was also thinking the same when i got down there i couldn't believe it was a 10mm.

after realizing the dealer had overtighten that i decided to check my wheels and sure enough it was so tight no way i would of been able to change my tire out on the road. i had to get me a metal pipe to get leverage and use alot of strenght to get the bolts loose.

that had actually happened to me once before. i had gotten a flat in the winter in my kia forte, i went to change my tire and could not get the tire off. so i just drove back 20miles on a completely flat tire. luckily it was ice/snowy so everyone was driving slow.

i dont think tire places use tq wrenches on wheels?

 

[RMinNJ]

I found my tire place always uses correct torque. My dealer is the worst..no attention to detail...high volume..they tried to tell me something was wrong with my socket when I told them I could t get the plug off..they had done all oil changes..I actually showed them a picture of my torque wrench at 40 ft lbs and the bolt not moving...nope we didn't do that..your wrench must be wrong...

 

[sleepybird09]

Get vice grips!!! Put on the widest part of bolt up
near pan.... It'll work.

tired this, no luck. this thing is on there seriously tight. even use another vise grip to close the vise grip on widest part of the bolt and it would eventually just start to strip it.

i tried using a rounded off plug tool made by the same ppl that make visegrips and still no luck. it went on right but again the plug is so tight that it eventually just stripped it.

not sure what else to do. guess drop the pan? seems like an absolute pain not to mention messy. guess it be similar to changing the transmission oil in a gm automatic car.

maybe heat it up? somehow? i tried letting the car run until it was the oil pan was hot and using vice grips and no go.

this sucks.

 

[Papasonic]

Suggestions on the Removal of a Stripped-Out Transfer Case Fill Plug - Page 2 - Dodge Diesel - Diesel Truck Resource Forums

Here is one way to remove the damaged plug if you have a few tools at your disposal! If you have a cutoff tool, you can remove the damaged hex portion of the plug; then drill the plug to accept a large diameter extractor tool. Even if you were to remove the oil pan, you still would have to use a similar method to remove the damaged plug. (Hint) Get the largest diameter extractor that will fit without compromising the threads.

 

[Natesriv]

vice grips... they work...before removing, have a new one purchased...

 

[Papasonic]

vice grips... they work...before removing, have a new one purchased...

I agree, the tool/method you suggest would be my first choice; but for some reason the OP claims that didn't work. A strong grip and correct placement and adjustment of the vise-grip tool is what is needed to have success with your method.

The extractor is a last resort option!

 

[sleepybird09]

well problem with that method was that as i started to turn on it the teeth on the vice grips would start to dig into the plug metal. (its really soft). i used another vice grips & pliers to close the vice grips i had on the plug, thats how tight i had it on there. any tighter and ill probably brake the vice grips.

but ill give it another go, ill grab me an even bigger pliers to close the vice grips. also theres not much room for the vice grips to bite on too. but should be enough. ill try again this weekend. im at that point where i dont care if the vice grps explode or if the plug gets crushed.

i really dont want to extract it, i have only been able to extract 2 bolts successfully (clean) in the past. but they also took me an hour or so. and in a much more comfortable position. (at work). and i dont have a drill.

as far as removing the oil pan, i was just going to order a new one. or find a used one.

i was also surprised the vice grip method dint work. it has worked perfectly in the past on other projects. but i dont know i think the plug is soft compared to the other bolts i have used vice grips on.

 

[RMinNJ]

I'm amazed how tight these places can get the plug on there... my torque wrench was at 50 ft lbs when my plug stripped. I think the tech that did this must have used the tire air gun..normally about 80+ ft lbs to put it on. I think my dealer's techs are in such a rush that an oil change and tire rotation means use the same air gun for all.

 

[sleepybird09]

Just to update this. I finally was able to get it off today. By using a 10in pipe wrench from lowes. I tried just about every other method except getting a torch to heat it up.

Pipe wrench got it off in about 2min. I was thinking it would be the same as vice grips but they work different and way better at it then I would have ever thought.

So if someone is in this situation give a pipe wrench a try. It was a little hard to get it to grip properly but ones it got the grip in it was on there tight. Thanks everyone for all the advice and help. Really appreciate it.

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

I over tightened mine so I just had my grandpa pull out this special socket which then just required a lot of force. After that it was just a matter of using a different drain plug. This one is made out of steel and is way bigger.

 

[SooperSonic]

I ran into this issue a few years ago and used the vice-grip removal method. I bought a new one that uses a torx bit instead of the 10mm and has been wonderful. Food for thought: 10ft/lbs of torque is a little over hand-tight so anyone using air tools to tighten is risking stripping the threads of the oil pan.

 

[Natesriv]

LPT...tell whomever is doing your oil change... DON'T USE AN AIR WRENCH ON MY CAR...but maybe not yell it