Oil pan drain plug stripped

Ed Saniewski

Ed Saniewski

Well-known member
I was changing the oil and greasing my roadster for the trip to French Lick, and as I was tightening the drain plug it just didn't feel right. Sure enough I could not snug up the plug and it kept turning. I will drop the pan tonight, but how do I remove the old plug treads? Any instructions would be appreciated, thanks Ed Saniewski.
 
If the plug looks like it still has the threads then tap the backing plate on the inside the stamped steel oil pan that was welded into the pan 80+ years ago to the next size up and fit a new plug?

But first just chase the threads with a tap. Just for poops and grins.
This probably will not work.

Or buy the kit with the pan tang and plug. Cut it out, weld in the new one.

Or wire weld the hole shut, drill, and tap that. "There are no short cuts"

Or look for a new/used pan.
Or somebody sells an enlarged self tapping drain plug. I would NOT recommend that.


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Hi Ed, Pain in the butt, isn't it? I think Snyder's has a drain plug kit that includes a new boss to be welded to the oil pan. You'll want to obtain one of these, grind off carefully the old boss, prep the surface, and then weld the new threaded boss into place. Good luck with the project!
 
Auto parts stores used to carry an oversize plug with self tapping threads for just such a repair. You can screw it into place without dropping the pan.

A number of years ago I was on a Model A tour when one our members could not start his car at the hotel one morning. He, along with several other members, removed the distributor and took it apart. While they were doing that the head warped at the #8 stud where they had unhooked the pop-out cable. Water ran down into the pan. After the distributor was installed and the #8 torqued back down the owner went to an auto parts store and bought some oil and a drain pan and changed the oil. In the process he stripped out the drain plug. He went back to the parts store and bought an oversize self tapping drain plug.

The moral to the story is never mess with head bolt torque when you are out on the road.

Tom Endy
 
First make sure it is stripped.The boss can spin around in the solder and feel like it is stripped.I know guys that have resoldered them back in place,but I never had any luck with it.I probably never got them clean enough.I have melted out the old solder before and brazed them,and for the last 20 years or so,welded them.If it really is stripped,chances are pretty good you can back it out.If the boss is spinning it will just go round and round.I did one a couple of years ago that started as an oil change.First the boss spun.I took down the pan and welded it.There was anti-freeze in the pan,the head gasket was old steel and rotted.Then I saw a half dozen teeth were missing on the timing gear.Then I found the tangs on the two piece pulley were different sizes and were floating around.When I took off the radiator to remove the pulley I found a broken U bolt.Then a broken motor mount.The customer said,you ain't changing my oil again.He really was happy it was all found when on the lift instead of the road.
 
Had the same problem. Got the replacement kit from one of the suppliers. The instructions said the old boss was soldered in, but I heated that sucker red hot and it did not come out. It was welded in. Had to drill out the drain hole in the boss to fit the new one. It was a large size drill, I forget which size. The welding shop did not have the right size, and the bill included their cost for the new drill, which I did not get to keep!!! The welding shop also had some kid weld in the new piece, and to make it look neat the dummy ground off the flat boss in a rounded shape to match the pan curve. Looked good alright, but there was no flat spot for the drain plug washer. Had to file it a bit to get a flat spot. Make sure the welder has the right size drill and does not grind off the flat on the new boss. A relatively simple job took a week and cost much more than it should have. Hope this helps you avoid some of the problems I had.
 
The quick fix is to gob lots of silicone on the drain plug and reinstall it until it feels tight. Put more silicone around the plug so it won't come loose. let set until the silicone drys. Refill oil and go to French Lick. You can remove the pan to do a proper fix when you get home.
 
Try POR 15 two part epoxy. Once it sets up you can drill and tap it. Mix somemore and put it around the plug. It will get you out and back and then either make a proper repair or get a new pan. A POR 15 patch on a gas tank will still cure while the fuel is running out. I've used it on motorcycle gas tanks many times with good results.
 
Another quick fix "Band Aid" style would be to buy a Boiler plug. What this is basically, a rubber cork shape like plug with a screw running through it, a washer on one side and wing nut on the other. When you tighten the wing nut the rubber plug expands. This is only to get you to your outing and back without major work. When you're back home, fix it right.
 
You know I had forgotten all about the boiler plug. That might be a handy item to have in your traveling tool box. Save the day for me one time when a 67 mustang I had blew a freeze plug.Just happened a friend of mine suggested I try one. Stuck one in the hole tighten it up and went on for about a month or so before I could pull the motor a fix it right like replacing all the freeze plugs. Richard/Ca
 
glenn in camino said:
The quick fix is to gob lots of silicone on the drain plug and reinstall it until it feels tight. Put more silicone around the plug so it won't come loose. let set until the silicone drys. Refill oil and go to French Lick. You can remove the pan to do a proper fix when you get home.
Click to expand...

For silicone to bond, everything must be absolutely dry, clean and free of and grease or oil. If there is any oil present, the silicone will not bond to the surface and oil will leak between the silicone and the surface you are trying to seal.

Also, I do not like to get any silicone up into the engine as it can find its way into the oil system and stop up stuff. I have gotten into several engines where the builder used a lot of silicone and it got into the oil system and caused major problems.

Temporarily install a oversized plug or a boiler plug and then pull the pan and fix it right when you have time. Epoxy may also work for a short term fix but be sure everything is as clean as possable.

That is my opinion.

Chris
 
I pulled the pan this morning and the problem was the plug striped. I was able to use an arbor press and a wrench to get it out, but now I have to order a tap to clean out the threads and install a new plug. I am hoping that will do it, I will fill the bottom of the pan with kerosene to check the seal before I put the pan back up. Thanks to every one for the help, Ed Saniewski
 
Richard in Calf gave me an idea...a 'Tee Handle' expanding rubber plug from West Marine, like in the bottom hole of your fishing skiff.

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