Stripped Lower Oil Drain Plug

[jmb049]

Hello all,

My wife and I purchased a used 2004 Touareg with 39k miles on it from my local Toyota Dealer on 10/07. My wife found this site and since the Touareg is her car she wanted to know as much information as possible. My wife suggested that we post this information for all to view and maybe help.

We have been into our local VW dealer for 40k service and now for 50k service. At our 40k service she was told that the drain plug had been torqued harder then should be but that everything appeard ok.

Skip forward to our 50k service this week....

My wife was told that there was a problem with the lower oil pan. When they took off the plug 2 threads came out with it. She was told that they had been looking for a tap to re-thread the hole, but they were unable to find a tap the size of the drain plug. The service guy said that he went back to the car and threaded the plug into the hold but the plug won't tighten to finger tight. He said that it's loose and that he thinks it will fall out.

My wife called me and I had to contact the dealer. They pretty much gave me the same story and I suggested that I might look for the tap. I have been looking this week for something that might work but don't really know what to say since I'm not tap/die metric size savy.

The dealer gave us another option to replace the oil pan again and I asked how much would it cost. I was told 2400.oo They said that it would take 17hrs to pull the motor up, drop the front axle and drop the subframe.
All this for a stripped oil pan.

Can't a helicoil be placed into the hole...? I was told the hole size is 23.75 outside diameter and thread is 24 x 1.5 whatever that means. The oil pan is aluminumn

I have located a product from locktite called a thread repair kit designed for oil pans and other automotive uses. Will this work?????

My neighbor suggested why not just tap the hole to a standard size from metric?
Will this work???

Thanks everyone.

[nickm]

I've helicoiled aluminum oilpans on motorcycles in the past and have had good success with that. Try another shop.

[jmb049]

Thanks Nickm...

I thought about the helicoil was a good idea but the dealer said no, since they can't find a coil that size.

[matthew@f]

yep not rocket science, any good shop or engineer shop should be able to drill and tap it to another nominal size, be it metric or imperial... not even a time consuming job in the right hands...

if it is finger tight then it will not fall out, just take it elsewhere...

[James_Hatton]

A stealer stripper my Treg's sump plug at its 105k service, and I had to wait an extra day for them to have some engineering company helicoil it. But it seems fine! I also had the thread for the pulley on the crank on my MINI helicoiled, and that worked fine too.

I'd recommend just getting it helicoiled!

James

[matthew@f]

"helicoil" is in fact stronger than the original !

[jmb049]

Originally Posted by matthew@f

"helicoil" is in fact stronger than the original !

Hi,

Just a quick update.... I've spoken to numerous places so far about this.....

I was at NAPA today and they sell a type of universal plug with a toggle bolt attached that looks like it would work in a worst case scenario.

This morning I spoke with the dealer who told me that he had left a message with Helicoil and that he would follow up in a little bit. I hung up and called them myself. I spoke a male in customer service and he ended up sending me to a tech. It ended up being the same tech my dealer had spoke to. She had just returned from lunch and was going to tell the dealer that they didn't have what was needed.

This tech then had the idea to perform a search and see if anyone had requested the same size. A result came back saying Helicoil had made the required items once. She gave me the part numbers and told me to contact a distributer since she didn't know how much the special order items would cost.

A few minutes later my dealer calls, tells me that they had located part numbers and that they were going to contact some distributors. I told him that I had just spoken to the tech and he said that she had made mention that someone else was just looking for the same size. I told him that his dealership could corner the market if this would work. He agreed and said he would be in touch.

I wonder if the dealer is going to try and charge me for them to buy the tools they need???

I wonder why VW doesn't make a fix for this???

[matthew@f]

sounds like an expensive path you are going down for a relatively cheap heli coil.. find a good engineering workshop and they will just do the job to some slightly larger size without all this fuss. what experience has your dealer guys got with fitting helicoils? how are they going to manage the swarf created by the tap drill? an engineering shop will have all this well sorted and the job will not end in tears. also there other other brands, not just helicoil.

the tools required are simply the correct drill size for the tap hole and a spanner to fit the heilcoil which often comes with a basic single size coil kit.. maybe $40 to 100 for the lot..

[Vegas Matt]

I may be very mis-informed, but I was under the impression that HeliCoils are only to be used to secure things together for long-term use, not for something that will be repeatedly installed and removed. At least that's what I was told on a dirtbike engine's oil filter cover a while back.

I'd check with a machine shop about just having the thing tapped out and a new bolt fitted. As Matthew@F pointed out, I'm sure they've got some way to deal with the metal shavings, and I'd trust a reputable shop much more to do it than the dealer. (Although, if the dealer repaired it and the fit hit the shan, you could go back on the dealer for repair if things go bad)

Matt

[jmb049]

Well spoke to the dealer and was told that it would take approx. 12 weeks for the tools to be manufactured.

It seems like everyone thinks that the helicoil is a normal size. Strange how it can't be found here in Southern California. The drain plug is 24mm which is a very large size and not readily available.

I have a lead from a friend for a good machine shop here in town so we'll see about that tommorrow.

I have given the ok by the dealer to place a universal plug inside the pan to get the car out. I'll get the car back either tommorrow or wednesday. The dealer is not willing to guarantee that this plug will hold or that it will not leak and I will need to sign a release as to such.