mvr

so long story short my oil pan bolt is cross threaded. it wont back out or go farther in, but it holds oil. only problem is im coming up on my next oil change, and i leave for the air force in two and a half weeks. the car will sit for about 5-8 months and then need to be drivin to where il be. i dont really want to re tap a hole and would rather just get a new pan. now is there any good aftermarket pans out there, or should i just get a new factory pan.

35thAnni99GT

i believe alot of aftermarket pans require you to have an aftermarket K-member for space also...

GodAmGT00

Are you sure it's the pan and not the plug?? I noticed my plug was cross threaded from when the dealership I got the car did the oil change.. The actual threading was fine though, so I bought a new plug and was done with it..



JT

BTW: Good choice on the branch..

undecided.steve

+1

Mine came like that as well.

The plug seems to have a very soft thread for some reason?

To get the old plug out, unscrew it until it starts to slip and then put a vise grip on it and pull OUT toward you, applying pressure as you turn SLOWLY at the same time.
Take your time and don't force anything.

The idea is to try and get one of the good threads to catch so you can continue removing the plug.

Get either a replacement at the dealer or an aftermarket plug and SLOWLY, BY HAND, screw it in and if you feel resistance back it out a little and try again and keep doing this until the plug is all the way in. The idea is to clean up the threads without having to use a tap.

If none of this works they sell repair kits for the hole or you can get an aftermarket pan.
If you go for the pan, just get one that is the same capacity as your original and it should match up fine.

It's the extra capcaity pans that sometimes have clearence problems.

Jbauer

i have a feeling ford makes the drain plug softer than the oil pan.
If a new plug doesn't work- i don't see why you'd go through the hassle of dropping that pan, instead of just buying a timsert (helicoil WILL let a little bit of oil seep out)

mvr

ok guys, we took it down to a trusted shop. they got the car up and had the plug off within 10minutes, so we went and got new oil/filter and plug and put er on. good as new. the old plug literaly has half the thread missing and the other half are all fugged up. after looking at the car jacked up, taking the pan out would not be fun. my dad does alot of buisness with that shop and he mentioned i was leaving in a few weeks, so the owner gave the labor to us on the house

now all i have to do is fix my drivers door weather stripping and the car will have zero issues with it and ready to be put in storage.

undecided.steve

That's exactly how my plug looked.
Half the thread was literally gone!

+1 to Jbauer I agree. Ford seems to make the plug soft, which is really the smart way to do it.
If something is going to strip, better the plug than the pan!