oil drain bolt 'spins'
#1
oil drain bolt 'spins'
The good news first... I got my new struts and MM C&C plates installed, and as it turns out, I was almost dead on with the alignment.
And the lead in to the bad news... I absolutely needed new tires; they were beyond the wear bar indicators and almost to the point of being bald. Well, after doing the struts and C&C plates, I went in to get my new tires and an alignment. That part went fine. But while there, decided to get my oil changed too, as it was time for that also. They get the car on the rack, and a little bit later the service manager comes to me and asks me to come with him as he has never seen this before. To make a long story short, the drain bolt just spins; doesn't loosen, doesn't tighten. At least oil wasn't leaking either.
Being Sunday, neither he nor I wanted to mess with it and then get into a situation that couldn't be fixed today. He and/or his tech said it could be a couple of things, but most likely would involve dropping the pan which is a time consuming event on these mustangs.
And the lead in to the bad news... I absolutely needed new tires; they were beyond the wear bar indicators and almost to the point of being bald. Well, after doing the struts and C&C plates, I went in to get my new tires and an alignment. That part went fine. But while there, decided to get my oil changed too, as it was time for that also. They get the car on the rack, and a little bit later the service manager comes to me and asks me to come with him as he has never seen this before. To make a long story short, the drain bolt just spins; doesn't loosen, doesn't tighten. At least oil wasn't leaking either.
Being Sunday, neither he nor I wanted to mess with it and then get into a situation that couldn't be fixed today. He and/or his tech said it could be a couple of things, but most likely would involve dropping the pan which is a time consuming event on these mustangs.
#2
Either the bolt threads where damaged or cross threaded, or the threads in the pan are shot. Prob going to need to remove the oil pan which is never fun with the pickup tube. Probably happened cause some one had to be king kong and crank the bolt to tight and popped it.
#3
Good luck if you are doing it yourself I believe the motor has to be lifted to provide clearance for pan to come down. I believe that it is just a nut welded to the inside of the oil pan. There may be a possibility that it can be re welded in place but am not 100%. That is why it will spin but not come loose.
#7
Nope, in fact in 60 years of wrenching engines I have never seen one that was (not OEM anyway)--it does seem to be something that people (especially many quick-lube "mechanics") seem to love to crank the **** out of.
The torque spec is only 10 lb-ft; about 1/16th turn from finger tight...
The torque spec is only 10 lb-ft; about 1/16th turn from finger tight...
#8
Your gonna have to first remove the original oil plug some how so I assume the pan would have to be removed if it is doing nothing but turning. I don't think your gonna be able to put a oversized self tapping plug in there with the existing one still there as mentioned by another user. U have to drop the pan and weld that nut on the back side that plug threads into then remove it or hold it with a wrench or something and remove it that way. I'm sure someone just over tightened it and when you got an oil change before I'm sure the guy used quite a bit of force when removing this current time it and broke the nut free. I think they are just spot welded from factory. I will take a ride over to my storage later and double check.
#9
It would suck if you have to raise the engine up to drop the pan. Any chance you could drill thrugh the plug (braced with a wrench to keep from spinning) and then insert a bolt extractor to remove the threaded shaft? I used one many years ago to remove a bolt whose head had been wrenched off.
Then if that works you can use the oversized self tapping plug.
Last edited by Vertigo_GT; 05-04-2013 at 02:34 PM. Reason: sp