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Drain plug glued to the oil pan - how should I approach?

fatcatbestcat

Professional Hack
Joined
Oct 1, 2019
Location
Mississauga, ON (Canada)
It's me again, with my problem child 144. Seriously, the problems never end.

Anyway, I went to drain the oil from the B20, and I couldn't get it to move at all. I was reaching in with a long wrench from inside a wheel well (can't really jack up the car enough to get underneath), so I reached in with a camera to see if the bolt was totally gacked.

DSC00944.JPG


Correct me if I'm wrong here, but this looks like it's been siliconed to the pan.

Any ideas on how to get this off?
 
I would say, figure out how to jack the thing up enough to get under and scratch at the unknown "stuff" - see if it's softer, like silicone, or hard like epoxy. If you're lucky it's just silicone added by someone who couldn't get it to seal or was missing the washer...

If you're unlucky someone has J-B welded it on there.

A good angle and a longer lever (breaker bar) would be my first attempt. Gasoline or brake cleaner may work to help loosen silicone. Unfortunately epoxy is pretty chemical resistant so heat would be the only available step up for that. Keep an extinguisher handy. Either way expect the threads to be munged up, you may have to re-tap to a larger drain plug size.

Worst case you will need a new pan but I think that's unlikely.
 
Soak the area in denatured alcohol or paint thinner to try to soften it up.

Heat it with a heat gun (not an open flame).

Use a stout ratchet wrench with the same number of points on the wrench as on the bolt head: using a cheater / breaker bar then remove it.
 
That bolt looks big enough that even a good epoxy job shouldn't be able to withstand a good twist with a 6 point.
 
Leverage is going to be key in all this. Hopefully you find a way to raise the car safely so that you can crawl underneath it and use a long breaker bar.

That thing has been fighting you tooth and nail!
 
Get a 6 point wrench securely on it then give it a solid whack. It should break free.
 
I use a 6 point socket, 1/2" drive if you have it, and a long pipe on the socket wrench or breaker bar. A jack handle works well, I usually only need the upper half of the handle. It will not hurt anything if it is silicone, rtv, or just over tightened. I just did that today on a 240. Do get a new copper sealing washer, and maybe a new magnetic drain plug, that stuff is cheap.
 
Your photo is kind of blurry but it sure looks to me like a aluminum washer. Can you borrow/rent a bigger jack and jack stands? Who changed the oil last time? Worst case, maybe you use a Mityvac this time.
 
aluminum washer
I think you're right. The points on the hex look like they're digging into it the same way they do on my 940 drain bolt washer.
fatcat, it's probably just in there really tight. Try using a mirror to make sure the socket is squarely on the bolt, and turn the wrench while holding it as straight as you can. If it still doesn't move, continue pushing counterclockwise and smack the end of the wrench with a mallet. If it still doesn't want to move, you should make sure that the bolt wasn't attached using a welder.
 
The bolt head is already too stripped for me to actually get it off. A wrench + hammer just resulted in the wrench falling off.

I do have a temporary (knowing me, permanent) stopgap solution though!

Bought one of those cheap vacuum oil drain pumps, and threw the intake hose down the dipstick tube. Which then got stuck and broke off inside the tube.

I'm now able to drain through the distributor slot on the block, but I need to figure out how to remove the broken hose from the dipstick tube, since I imagine it'll just turn into a massive oil geyser if not addressed.

EDIT:
DSC00951.JPG
 
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Since the pan's bolt head is too stripped for a ratchet wrench, that leaves you with Vise Grips.

Not nearly as good, but try them, and of course you'll need a bigger hammer.
 
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