Oil Pump Plug Leaking

C

COOTER

Senior Member
So, I have a leak at that threaded hole on the block that is used to hold the oil pump in when removing the pan. When I got the car it had a brass fitting that leaked. I bought the correct plug and it leaks more. I tried teflon tape and permatex on both the brass plug and the correct steel plug. Leaks like a civ, regardless.
Any suggestions on stopping this leak with out removing the engine and drilling/tapping? I'm about to fill the whole with JB Weld! :mad:
 
Try a small pipe plug. It is a tapered hole. This may be the case of you've already done this. I'm just spit balling to see if anything sticks. Good Luck. Jeff
 
Brass is softer than the cast iron engine block, so I suspect someone had screwed in a bolt first, ruining the pipe threads. A brass fitting was a post-stupid mistake attempt to correct the problem caused by the bolt. But the pipe threads in the block were already ruined. If you have access to pipe thread taps, try re-cutting the threads in the block. The incorrect bolt, followed by the brass fitting, may have changed the threads to the point that a good tap might give you enough usable threads to seat the plug. The deeper you can go with the plug, the better (unless it bottoms out against the oil pump, which is not a good thing). After re-threading the engine block hole, coat the plug with a good goop, as previously recommended, and screw it in as far as you can. But until you can get that plug to grab engine block threads, simply gluing the plug in place will not work. The pressure at the this spot in the oil pump is amazing. It will squirt oil halfway across your garage floor with the engine running! Simply gluing it in place and expecting that poor little plug to resist such pressure over the long haul is wishful thinking.
Marshall
 
By the way, use a pipe thread tap with a flat tip, not pointed! It will go deeper into the hole before encountering the oil pump. This will give you more threads to work with.
Marshall
 
As the previous post says it is a tapered hole . Sometimes the hole is damaged by someone screwing in a regular bolt to hold the oil pump in ,this hole was not designed for this purpose IMHO . If you cannot find a suitable tapered pipe plug and all other remedies fail drop the pan and oil pump and taper tap and die to the next size up . When you replace the pan hold the oil pump in postion by a long cable tie threaded through the two adjacent oil pan bolt holes in the block and pass it round behind the oil pump "stalk" and pull tight this will hold the pump in place . When you have the pan in position and a few bolts holding it up clip the tie and pull it clear . Works like a charm and you wont disturb you taper plug fix .

John in dark cold wet rainy where is my beer Suffolk County England .
 
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