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Date:         Sun, 3 Jun 2001 17:01:08 +0200
Reply-To:     Jutta & Christian Knust <knust-net@GMX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jutta & Christian Knust <knust-net@GMX.NET>
Subject:      Jerk made oil plug 5/8 thread - I guess I´m screwed!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Well, I´m kinda ashamed although I didn´t mess it up.... I started to change the engine oil yesterday for the first time on my 2.1 l wasserboxer and I had wondered before why the oil plug had a four-sided head only and not a six sided (I think you call that six-point?). Well, the answer came when the oil plug came out to be an ordinary pipe end plug, with no rim or sealing ring or the like, but with some silicone attached.... I have no f...... idea who did this, but I am sure the PO had no idea either (he´s about 80 years old) but was screwed by some stupid "mechanic". Well, the not so "bad bad" part is that at least the jerk who did it had the decency to cut a new clean thread (helicoil would probably have been the better option) instead of wrenching the plug into the old thread with sheer force. However, they´ve been cutting a 5/8 thread and now I´m screwed. There are 5/8 oil plugs out there, but their heads don´t fit into this ring which is on the engine casing around the oil plug hole, therefore I could not tighten the plug.

I was planning to get a new engine from Boston Bob in late fall (I´ve been talking to him a couple of weeks ago and I must say I have rarely gotten more detailed and friendly advice) and I planned to use this one as an exchange - dunno whether Bob´s gonna accept this one now. Now, there´s the possibility to exchange the engine right now, but I´d rather not spend two weeks vacation to do this but rather do it on dark winter weekends. Therefore I´d like to plug the hole again and could obviously use that pipe plug again, which has probably been used for some years now and seems to hold the oil), but I do trust that someone here has a better idea what to do. Would it make any sense to use a tapered brass pipe end plug (the one used now is not tapered and AFAIK the original plugs are not tapered as well)? I would think it widens the thread with any use and makes it worse only, right?

Frustrated like I´ve rarely been before Chris

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