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Date:         Sun, 3 May 2015 20:24:07 -0600
Reply-To:     zmaninco@YAHOO.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Zoran Mladen <zmaninco@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Oil drain plug problems-Help!
Comments: To: Eric Caron <ecaron1@COMCAST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <01091BCC-7886-431C-9D84-6B37404A4E69@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

It sounds like you have a 3/8 pipe plug in there. I have used them before to replace a stripped plug. They work well because it is a pipe thread and hence cannot ever strip again.

For folks yet hat do not understand...a pipe thread is tapered. So when you tighten it, it is tightening in the thread...not on the thread shoulder. Hence that plug is only a thread

Z

Sent from my iPad

> On May 3, 2015, at 19:45, Eric Caron <ecaron1@COMCAST.NET> wrote: > > OH man, > > these bugs are one of my worries. I like changing my own oil but i’m always afraid I’ll mess up one of these fragile bugs. > > I bought a lovely 84 Westi years ago and when I got it home I found the oil plug was missing and a rubber stopper thingy was stuck in their. My mechanic used a spark plug with a welded bolt head on it to replace it. Worked for the three or so years I had the van. I think it was a common solution for air-cooled busses. > > Dealing with that plug is partly why my van is over due for it’s oil change. > the other reason is that my Walmart is out of Mobile 1 15/50 in the 4 quart bottle. the price is best there by a lot so I’m determined to get it from them! I read this tip from Dennis and he was right! Only reason I’ve been in that store in a year. > > > Eric Caron > 85 GL auto westfalia. > > > >> On May 3, 2015, at 9:09 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM> wrote: >> >> It’s just not my weekend for getting anything done. Went to do the first >> oil change on my son’s ’87 and found it has an 8mm hex key (Allen wrench) >> plug that now has a round hole instead of a six sided hole. Is this >> somebody’s idea of a bad joke? I do not see this type of plug for sale on >> any of our vendor’s sites. >> >> >> >> Which brings me to another point, my 1.9’s plug is the conventional bolt, >> but it says “14 1.25” on the top. It’s been rounded off and filed to fit a >> 13mm socket, but the replacement plug I ordered from Van Café is not the >> same thread pitch, it’s coarser. Hmm. >> >> >> >> My options for the ’87 as I see them are: >> >> >> >> 1. Buy a big enough screw extractor to back it out, which may require >> drilling the hole all the way through and draining the oil over my drill >> >> 2. Take it somewhere and have them deal with it >> >> 3. Sell the van for $25,000 and look for another one >> >> >> >> My 1.9’s have all had a normal plug with a hex bolt head, as did the 2.1 I >> put into my ’84 years ago. >> >> >> >> This can’t be the correct plug, can it?? >> >> >> >> Stuart >> >> >> >>


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