Date:         Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:00:49 -0800
Reply-To:     Brian Jarvinen <brianvwagain@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Brian Jarvinen <brianvwagain@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: What do I need?
In-Reply-To:  <d51.193efe65.347aed09@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

--- JordanVw@AOL.COM wrote:

> drain plug. (ps, the drain plug
> is screwed into the bottom of the engine case..if
> you strip the threads,
> youve got bit problems these is no such thing as
> "replacing the oil pan").

actually it can turn out to be not too terrible.
I stripped mine on the 30th or so oil change
(247K miles when the odometer broke)
I was doing; I had the wrench on the plug,
forgot what I was doing momentarily and
pushed the wrench the wrong way. Unfortunately,
the plug moved! I knew immediately the
threads would probably be stripped.
And I think this is not too hard to do with
an aluminum alloy pan?

It was a dismal few hours of thinking
about this situation. I went to my friendly
local oil change place and they hooked
me up with a new plug-in-plug. It is a
little bigger than the original; you screw
it into the pan and it cuts new threads
on the way in. Inside the plug is another
bolt that you use to drain the oil. It
takes a little longer but it works fine.

I had another scare when a mechanic
who was rebuilding some shift arm /
linkage parts for me went ahead and
changed the oil too. (Oil only had
1000 miles on it and I didn't ask him
to do this). Anyhow I think he tightened
that little bolt down with an air wrench
or something because there was no way
I could turn it. (And there is not a lot of
space in this area with this new dual
plug). I finally went back to the shop
that sold me the plug-in-plug and
asked for their help. They tried
for a while and finally said the only
solution is to take out the big plug.
I was worried I wouldn't be able
to thread it into the pan again, and
it does now have a very slight
leak right there.

So far, somewhat good. I've changed
the oil a couple times since then.
I hope the plug holds together.
Otherwise, it's finally time to put
in that other engine I have.

So, be careful putting a wrench
on that drain plug. The 'pan' is
not as strong as you might think.


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