Oil drain plug rusted in and stripped

I ended up paying for an hour labor at CW to get it out. They drilled a hole in the plug with a vacuum to get all of the shavings. They then extracted it. That stinks but I didn't want to take a chance of making the situation worse. Hopefully this will never happen again.

they are good.

and when you replace it, use a Fumoto Valve

I have them on the motorhome, both cars, and the Country Clipper zero turn lawn mower. One of the best investments I've ever made!

12 point sockets are useful in some situations but a 6 point will prevent rounding off for the majority of projects.

I am thinking I should get rid of all my 12 pt. sockets.

If you can access it and if the plug is metal not aluminum you can weld a new nut right on top of te striped plug and then use a 6 point socket to back it out. I have used this trick on many striped and rusted bolts and its always worked.

I'd weld a nut to the plug, a square or a large hex one, if a hex one then use a 6 point wrench. The heat from welding should loosen it.
And taking the pan off is a must to prevent having a fire.

Dusty

SaltiDawg wrote:
64thunderbolt,

No hassle, just a question.. If condensate builds up due to not allowing temperature to reach operating temp, would not the condensate be found at the top of the oil sump, not at the low point or drain?

It's likely my terminology problem, but I would have thought that drilling a pilot hole in the drain and using an "easy-out" would have been the path I followed.

TIA

The water will be @ the bottom. Have you ever had a head gasket leak? Pull the dipstick and the choc milk will be on the tip of the stick. Oil is lighter than water because water is more dense & there's more molecules of water in a gal than a gal of oil.

If it's corroded bad enough to round off the plug I doubt an easy out will get it done. Rather than make a bad situation worse or spending lots of cash I would extract as much as possible and call it good until you want to spend the money. Just remember when you run it every so often run it till it gets good and warmed up. Just my thoughts.

BTW the threads are corroded due to condensation and disimilar metals. Alum pan & steel plug. There's probably not enough condensation in there to hurt the eng.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I have a car where the drain plug seizes every single time. The first time I went to change the oil I rounded off the head, and after trying all sorts of things, got it out a few weeks later. Since then (about 10 years ago) I have a rule to never ever loosen an oil plug with anything other than a 6-point wrench. Have never rounded one off with a 6-pointer.

Holy cow!!! I'm living déjà vu!!!! This happened to my brother in law too!!!! He brought his RV to my place and I ended up mig welding a bolt on top of the bolt he made "round" (just like you did).

I welded a 1/2" nut to his "nub" then I used a 3/4" socket driver set and it came out. He bought a new drain plug and had it present for the "operation."

Find a good welder and have him tack on a nut, then go from there. It works. Over the years, I've done this stuff before for all sorts of broken bolt and nuts on engines.

Google "how to remove a broken nut/bolt with a welder." You'll see that it's a common technique and one of the best, with a skilled welder.