I decided it was time for an oil change, the first one since buying my car. So i bring it into the school shop and put it up on the lift and go to take out the drain plug with a socket and it doesnt budge. So i get out the impact and give it a try and again it doesnt budge. At this point the head of the drain plug is begining to round off. So i got out some vice grips and put them on a tight as possible gave the plug a good pull and all it did was sit there so i gave it some hits with the hammer, still no movement. The next step was too bring out the air chisel and still not a movement. With no other options i decide to drill a hole in the center and try to use an easy out and even it would not work. so my final option was to drill out the plug untill i just touched the threads and finally it came out, after three hours.
So it appears the previous owner decided to tighten this drain plug too the extreme.

 

soo would that imply that it may have never had an oil change if it was that hard to take the bolt off?

 

 

More then likely a hack-job mechanic who used an impact gun to tighten it.

 

I suppose you could try heating the bolt with a torch...though i don't know how advisable it is to put a torch to the oil pan.

 

hehehe...been there done that.....watch out for your eyebrows!

 

You just didn't use a big enough impact wrench.

Actually, my trick for drain plugs I can't remove involves a wrench & a jack. Put a wrench on the drain plug, put a jack under the other end of the wrench, and jack up. Make sure you're turning it the right way (left way?) or there will be much pain when you realize you've just torqued it to 500 ft/lbs. The force of a hydraulic floor jack at the end of 6" of wrench, combined with the weight of a car... it should pop it free nicely.

-=Russ=-

 

u'd think the drain bolt threads would strip with all that force

 

That's pretty damn stuck, usually even if they've been hit with an impact they're not THAT much of a pain. Maybe an impact coupled with never being removed for who knows how long?

 

It must have been siezed or something... that is a pretty extreme example of a stuck plug. What is the torque spec on those things, like 20ft/lbs?

 

It seems the guy who had it before me tightened it way to much.probably almost too the point when the plug shears off. because the rim of the plug was compressed and fell off when i got the remains of the plug out.

 

Thats just like the people that think you need to tighten the filter that tight or it will fall off.

 

i would never use an impact gun on a drain plug, your asking to round off the blot.
what king of socket did you use with the impact gun?
always use a 6 point socket and a breakerbar
congrats on the extraction

 

yea i know what you mean. everyone needs to understand that an oil filter wrench is for removing oil filters not puting them on

 

I tried using a breaker bar with a six point then i went too the impact then when it rounded off i went to the large vicegrip with bar slid over it for leverage. Then when that didnt work i gave it some heat and tried. Then i went too a air hammer with a chisel . then i drilled a whole in the center and used an easy out and finally i just driled it out at a slight angle to catch the last few threads and release the pressure and it came out. I was so happy this guy didnt get too the oil filter it came off easy.

 

maybe u just needed more "*****"