Leaky drain plug.

[alex11]

Hello everyone. hope you guys can help me. my 2005 x5 4.4i got a leaky drain plug, the plug just keeps turning and never tightens. I think guys at valvoline stripped the oil pan threads. I got an aftermarket plug, went to change the oil and the plug never fit right even though it was same size and thread. So i am back to my old leaky plug for now. Does anyone know what it takes to replace an oil pan? is it just as easy as removing brush guard and taking off the oil pan? as avg as removing axles and removing the oil pan or as bad as removing entire subframe? normally i would jack the car up and take a look but i just moved to another state and dont have all my tools with me. Any info will be very helpful. it'll help me decide if i should get valvoline to pay for repairs by a shop or just do it myself to make life easier and resolve this quicker.

[wpoll]

One of these repair kits might be simpler: -

Oil Drain Plug Repair Kit, M18 x 1.5P at National Tool Warehouse

9 CIRCLE® 61061-1815 - M18 x 1.5P Oil Drain Plug Repair Kit

I've also had some success with these: -

R23 - SMART-O - Oil - Drain - Plug - sump - plug - M18x1.5 mm | Oil Drain Plug | Drain Plug | Sump Plug

[alex11]

That smart-o is what i got to try and it didnt fit right at all. Now that i saw that tap kit i'm going to guess it has already been tapped since the hole was just tad bigger than the smart-o i got. I didnt buy the car new so i am not sure what all has been done to it by previous owner. i could just push the smart-o plug in half way before i had to actually turn it.
I have never seen drain hole repair kit, think it'd be possible to go next size up and re-tap it again? Or should i just get this size and see if i can correct the threads?

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by alex11

I have never seen drain hole repair kit, think it'd be possible to go next size up and re-tap it again? Or should i just get this size and see if i can correct the threads?

Hard to say without knowing what the drain hole size now is - OEM was M18 x 1.5mm but it sounds as if yours is now somewhat larger.

On my daughters VW Golf Mk.4 (alloy sump - striped hole) I have used PTFE plumbers tape on a new drain plug - not ideal but it's survived about 20,000km of driving without a single drip. Changed the tape when I changed the oil (every 10,000kms). I will make a better repair next time I change the oil though - I don't like "bodge -jobs".

If you are unsure of the current size, it seems a good bet that you can go up to M20 x 1.5 - there's lots of kits and plugs for this.

Use lots of grease on the tap and flush the pan with a 1/4 pint of oil after you re-tap the hole, then fit the new drain plug. Job done.

[alex11]

I will try that. thank you.

[Joshdub]

I used a timesert on my stripped drain plug for my E30. That was about 5 years ago. The timesert has backed out once due to a shop over torquing the drain plug during an oil change and I easily replaced it. Only recently (yesterday) did I notice the replacement has begun leaking.

[David.X5]

Good luck getting a quickie lube shop to pay for such a thing

The 05 4.4 has a two piece oil pan. The lower part is super easy to replace and includes the drain plug. Upper part - huge PITA.

But will set you back $300 or so. Look on eBay...

[Ricky Bobby]

Seems to be 2 people in this thread with stripped drain plug issues when it was done at a valvoline or shop - maybe thats a clue to change your own oil and not deal with the headache

I had my first drain pan stripped a month after I got my license, took my car to a local indy shop because I "didnt have the time" - well they called me and told me the pan was stripped, must have been that way before they changed the oil - I said thats impossible I just changed the oil last year and always torque the plug with a torque wrench - They said well either its gonna drip and leak slowly or you can bring us the new pan ($250) and we'll only charge you half the labor to replace it

Long story short I've been changing my oil ever since

[bcredliner]

I would bite the bullet and replace the oil pan. It is not a very difficult job. While there is risk a used pan will not be flat it has to be quite bad that proper order of torquing won't seal it up.

[Joshdub]

Yup RB right after buying my E30 I went to a quick lube place to get fresh oil (had 250 mile drive home and didn't have when the last oil change was documented. The next time I went to change the oil (first time for me) the drain plug threads were completely stripped. It just spun and spun. That was shitty.