Sump plug hole thread stripped
Discussion
Feeling rather foolish as I somehow managed to completely mash up the thread on my oil sump drain of the Cerb 4.5. I put in it by hand and was using a torque wrench to correct setting but it just kept turning!
Has anyone had first hand experience of tapping a larger hole to put a larger plug in with the sump in situ?
I assume I would have to drill before re-tapping but I'm not convinced there is enough space to get a drill square with the face...
There are about 4 threads left intact at the far end where the current plug does not reach, but even with a longer threaded plug I would not be confident with that few threads holding it in place.
Are there any other options to rethreading it like welding on a new piece with a new plug in it?
If anyone else has been stupid/unfortunate enough to do the same and engineered a long term solution without removing the sump please let me know!
Has anyone had first hand experience of tapping a larger hole to put a larger plug in with the sump in situ?
I assume I would have to drill before re-tapping but I'm not convinced there is enough space to get a drill square with the face...
There are about 4 threads left intact at the far end where the current plug does not reach, but even with a longer threaded plug I would not be confident with that few threads holding it in place.
Are there any other options to rethreading it like welding on a new piece with a new plug in it?
If anyone else has been stupid/unfortunate enough to do the same and engineered a long term solution without removing the sump please let me know!
Funnily enough I was reading this topic earlier today, for a different reason, and it has an example of re-coiling the sump plug and replacing it
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=158...
HTH
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=158...
HTH
Try this...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=134...
I have the drill and tap, but unfortunately I won't be able to lay my hands on them for a week.
Simple job, the aluminium is VERY soft.
I don't torque the sump bolt, just fit a new crush washer and sealant to the threads and 'nip' up.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=134...
I have the drill and tap, but unfortunately I won't be able to lay my hands on them for a week.
Simple job, the aluminium is VERY soft.
I don't torque the sump bolt, just fit a new crush washer and sealant to the threads and 'nip' up.
Thanks for the speedy responses guys. You make it sound really easy Supateg which is a great relief, but how did you get access to drill it square? Was there room to do it with an electric drill or did you do it by hand with a short bit with a t-bar at the end?
Since writing the post I've also been looking at the Time-sert solutions. Very expensive tho. Is that just OTT and not necessary?
Its an exceedingly kind offer of yours Supateg re the drill and tap. I don't need the car urgently so may take you up on it and can organise the postage from and back to you.
Since writing the post I've also been looking at the Time-sert solutions. Very expensive tho. Is that just OTT and not necessary?
Its an exceedingly kind offer of yours Supateg re the drill and tap. I don't need the car urgently so may take you up on it and can organise the postage from and back to you.
The drill does a neat job of clearing the remaining threads out which are towards the back of the hole anyway, in effect it self centres so little effort is needed. I think I used the t bar from the tap holder.
I used a socket or tube to keep the tap at 90 degrees while it started, using tapping fluid. I was surprised how soft the casing is an how easy it tapped. Been fine for three years. Got a magnetic sump bolt off eBay.
Send a PM re postage, more than happy to help.
I used a socket or tube to keep the tap at 90 degrees while it started, using tapping fluid. I was surprised how soft the casing is an how easy it tapped. Been fine for three years. Got a magnetic sump bolt off eBay.
Send a PM re postage, more than happy to help.
You don't need to drill it, the aluminium is so soft. I just re-tapped mine with an M18 X 1.25 tap and bought an after market sump plug. Lots of grease on the tap to pick up the swarf and away you go. As previously stated you will be best off sealing the thread with something, I use PTFE tape and it works a treat, this is better than risking over tightening and re-stripping the threads again. Good luck!
Thanks to all that assisted me with this, with ideas, experience and advice.
I'm pleased to report back that all is well. I did not have enough room to get a drill bit in to bore out the hole before re-tapping it to an 18mm thread, but as some people here said the aluminium is so soft it went in easily with the tap into the previously mangled thread.
I smothered the tap with grease to catch the offcuts but putting in some oil into the filler to flush bits out of the bottom of the pan was a good top tip by someone as quite a few other bits came out with the oil.
From now on I will just be nipping up the new 18mm sump plug only as much as it needs not to leak.
I'm pleased to report back that all is well. I did not have enough room to get a drill bit in to bore out the hole before re-tapping it to an 18mm thread, but as some people here said the aluminium is so soft it went in easily with the tap into the previously mangled thread.
I smothered the tap with grease to catch the offcuts but putting in some oil into the filler to flush bits out of the bottom of the pan was a good top tip by someone as quite a few other bits came out with the oil.
From now on I will just be nipping up the new 18mm sump plug only as much as it needs not to leak.
I know this is a thread resurrection but I was searching for people's experiences of PTFE tape instead of crush washers and this thread came up.
Anyway, just in case anyone else has an issue with stripped sump plug threads, I bought a shed which had that issue, so I thoroughly cleaned the remaining threads after draining the oil and araldited the plug back in. A fast, permanent bodge for pence and not a drip was dropped from that day on, until the next owner did an oil change, probably.
(when I say shed, I mean shed, not shed)
Anyway, just in case anyone else has an issue with stripped sump plug threads, I bought a shed which had that issue, so I thoroughly cleaned the remaining threads after draining the oil and araldited the plug back in. A fast, permanent bodge for pence and not a drip was dropped from that day on, until the next owner did an oil change, probably.
(when I say shed, I mean shed, not shed)
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