Sump thread hassle
Discussion
TLDR: exercise caution when working on friends' cars and you don't know the history of them!
Long version:
I do all my own routine servicing at home and have done for many years, learning along the way as you do.
A friend of mine said his Dacia Duster was due a routine oil and filters change and as it's about 11 years old and he doesn't care about it having a stamped service history, I said he could bring it round to mine and I would do it for him to save some money.
I bought the parts he would need, he paid me for it and turned up this morning. I expected it would take a couple of hours tops.
What a stupid design, is all I can say. Ridiculous location for the air filter (changed on later models I believe) with upside down screws and you have to remove the whole thing to get to the oil filter. Thankfully the oil filter came off rather easily, which is more than I can say for the sump plug.
Whoever worked on it last overtightened it by some considerable way. I had to use a breaker bar to get it off and after the oil drained and I tried to replace the plug I noticed the thread was damaged and the plug would not reinsert.
We popped to the local Dacia dealer (just down the road) to get a new sump plug to see if that would make the difference only to find they don't stock them. It could be ordered in, but they don't keep any in the dealership.
Then I thought I'd be cheeky and ring the RAC (even though it's not a breakdown, but I thought I might get lucky) because at this point I thought we'd be looking at getting the vehicle recovered but thought maybe a proper mechanic would have an idea what to do.
RAC chap turned up, agreed the thread was damaged and said although the sump plug was OK, it would probably be a good idea to get a new one. He managed to get the plug in. Not sure if there's a knack to it, but it wouldn't take for love nor money when I tried!
Anyway, plain sailing after that. Torqued up properly this time instead of 1 million Nm, refilled with oil and everything buttoned up and the car ran nicely after that.
Took most of the day from start to finish. Good learning experience, but that's the first and last time I do his car.
Long version:
I do all my own routine servicing at home and have done for many years, learning along the way as you do.
A friend of mine said his Dacia Duster was due a routine oil and filters change and as it's about 11 years old and he doesn't care about it having a stamped service history, I said he could bring it round to mine and I would do it for him to save some money.
I bought the parts he would need, he paid me for it and turned up this morning. I expected it would take a couple of hours tops.
What a stupid design, is all I can say. Ridiculous location for the air filter (changed on later models I believe) with upside down screws and you have to remove the whole thing to get to the oil filter. Thankfully the oil filter came off rather easily, which is more than I can say for the sump plug.
Whoever worked on it last overtightened it by some considerable way. I had to use a breaker bar to get it off and after the oil drained and I tried to replace the plug I noticed the thread was damaged and the plug would not reinsert.
We popped to the local Dacia dealer (just down the road) to get a new sump plug to see if that would make the difference only to find they don't stock them. It could be ordered in, but they don't keep any in the dealership.
Then I thought I'd be cheeky and ring the RAC (even though it's not a breakdown, but I thought I might get lucky) because at this point I thought we'd be looking at getting the vehicle recovered but thought maybe a proper mechanic would have an idea what to do.
RAC chap turned up, agreed the thread was damaged and said although the sump plug was OK, it would probably be a good idea to get a new one. He managed to get the plug in. Not sure if there's a knack to it, but it wouldn't take for love nor money when I tried!
Anyway, plain sailing after that. Torqued up properly this time instead of 1 million Nm, refilled with oil and everything buttoned up and the car ran nicely after that.
Took most of the day from start to finish. Good learning experience, but that's the first and last time I do his car.
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