Which way do I unscrew the drain plug?
 

Ok, long story short my bolt is stripped and I cant get it off. Now all of the sudden people are having me second guess which way I should be turning the bolt to get it off.


So once and for all, which way do I unscrew it? 1 or 2 for an 88 TII? The car is facing the way in the pic and the bolt head is sticking out on the closest side to you.



http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/Synr/Bolt.jpg

Righty tighty, lefty loosey...

Clockwise to tighten, IOW...

Anti-clockwise.

This is how I help my son remember:

Use your RIGHT hand.
Point your THUMB in the direction you want the bolt or nut to go.
Curl your FINGERS.
Your fingers will point in the direction you need to rotate the fitting.

This rule is also helpful for me when I get all twisted around and upside down trying to get to a fastener.

counter clockwise (pic. 1)
since its stripped out, you'll probably need a new oil pan, fee free to pm me ;)

All I can say is WOW!

"Which way do I unscrew the drain plug?"



:rofl: :dunce:

Hey, it happens to the best of us... not to the point of strippage, but happens nontheless.

See, I was doing it right. But then some ESL bastard at Kragen kept telling me "No" and that whole RIghty Tighty - Lefty Loosey deal (even though I was telling him "Facing the car, bottom of the nut towards the back).

In any case, in doing it correctly (like I did in the first place) I stripped the head of the nut because last oil change I torqued it on so tightly. I stipped it a little when trying to get it off with my torque wrench and then I got Vice Grips, clamped down on the nut as hard as I could, used my hands and foot to twist it off, but I just further stripped the nut to a round shape.


What can I do to get it off now?

Best thread EVAR. Righty tightly lefty loosey like almost everything in the world.

you don't need a new pan.

you just need a new bolt.

if its really stripped, just go to your local hard ware store and get craftsman bolt-out. they are spiral taps. it'll take it right out.

edit: here's a pic

http://media.popularmechanics.com/im...lg_bolt-lg.jpg

go to sears and buy a bolt out kit.. Or if you have a welder, you can weld a socket on to it :) I weld extra sockets onto drain plugs, so all I need to do normal maintance work is a 1/2 in ratchet

not a very brilliant idea if the plug is attached to the car.

can you say "boom"

Pry or lift up (outward) on it as you attempt to loosen it, in the hopes that it will "jump" the bad threads and grab the good threads (if there are any left).

Hey, so called "professional" A&P mechanics sometimes can't figure out which direction to safety-wire a bolt, so don't feel bad :)

One more way. You can dremal it into a square and keep going till you get it right for a wrench or cresant.

aznpoopy - post is the correct way to do it.

We all can say evry now and then as your twisting and turning under the car you get it backwords. Atleast without a ratchet :-) Oh yea thows revers threads can get you lol

Hey, I've got a '72 Dodge van and the lug nuts on the driver's side are left hand thread! My Studebaker was the same way. Now to go find me some LH thread locking lug nuts so no one steals my mad tight 8.75x16.5 radials! :rlaugh:

If you're draining the oil in the southern hemisphere, it's the other way around.

this definitely needs ARCHIVED! SO HELPFUL!

You need to learn how to correctly abuse a pair of vise grips. Put them on as tight as you can with the "trigger" side of the vise grips facing the direction the plug needs to go ("trigger on the right). Make the vise grips so tight that it hurts (or you have to use channel locks) to close them. Then smartly rap the left side of the vise grips with a hammer. The combination of torque and impact from the hammer blows should break the plug free.

If that doesn't work, THEN go to Sears and get the removal set.

LMAO

Dido
 

DIDO

This thread is an excellent example of us members abusing for thread count and really in effect jam up server capacity. I would gladly enjoy seeing the mods cut even my dumb WOW comment off and close the thread after the post with the craftsman easyouts (i believe about (1/2 way down page one). I am betting that 3 or 4 guys will flame me just prolonging this thread.

Maybe we really need a thread count penalty for some of the crap that makes it in the tech forum - 25 post penalty for every dumb arse comment??? I would be happy to take the first penalty to help the mods clean this crap up.

Man, this is what we call.... a bad day.

How hard did you actually have to turn that drain plug before it strippeD?

Maybe if your lucky....and mazda was thinking.....

The metal in the bung on the oil pan is stronger than the bolt threads....and the bolt threads are fraged...not the bung in the oil pan.
James

it wouldn't combust.

I hope this thread is a joke. :rlaugh:

i agree w/ brian... I A: hope this thread is a joke and B: say that Oil of all things wont combist... hell ive seen a guy through a lit cig. into a 5gal. bucket of gasoline. i ran but it went out! SO TRY THAT AT HOME... Disclamer.... i didnt say that...
aaron
what next how to paint the valve cover gasket on a 12at. hahha