Oil Drain Bolt Repair

Every now and then, you will find a mechanic who thinks the oil drain bolt should be tightened with an impact gun. It's unfortunate when a customer comes in for a simple oil change and ends up walking out of the dealership with a bill for over $200. Usually a customer will never even know the drain bolt is damaged until the next visit to the garage, it makes the mechanic working on the car, look like a bad mechanic. I will show you how to repair an oil drain bolt and the oil pan threads properly; I will also show you an example of what to do when you're in a tight spot.

An oil pan is made from either stamped steel or aluminum, both metals are subjected to abuse if the oil drain bolt is over tightened or cross threaded. If you are in a tight spot and you don't have time to repair the treads in the oil pan, you could install an oil pan rubber drain plug, the rubber plug is used as a temporary fix, and it's not meant to be a permanent fix. There are several different styles; you just need to choose the correct one for your application. Once the rubber plug is installed, be sure to tug on it and push it to make sure it is installed correctly, also run the engine until it reaches normal operating temperature,(when the engine cooling fan cycles twice) and check for leaks.

I highly recommend option 2, it gives you piece of mind and it's permanent. Using a helicoil is one option when repairing threads and the repair is extremely strong and everlasting, I have used helicoil to repair head bolts without regret. The helicoil is a hardened steel thread insert and they come in many different sizes and thread pitch.

The second option for repairing oil pan drain bolt threads is to use a drain bolt repair kit made by Time-Sert. Time-Sert is by far the leader in oil drain pan repair, the kit comes with everything you need to produce a professional repair the will last for the life of the car, as long as nobody screws it up again. A Time-Sert insert is similar to the helicioil but is specially designed to repair damaged oil pans, the kit also come with new oil drain bolts and sealing washers, this is a plus, and there is no need to try matching up thread pitch or fine the right diameter bolt to fit the pan after the repair.

If you are repairing aluminum oil pan drain bolt threads, no problem, Time-Sert works extremely well during this application and the repair looks like it came from the factory. I have had to make at least 50 repairs on oil pans during my automotive career, and Time-Sert has been the best oil pan drain bolt repair kit on the market that I have used. The Time-Sert kit s a bit expensive but it doesn't compare to the cost of replacing the oil pan or having to replace the complete engine because you lost all the engine oil.

The cost of replacing an aluminum oil pan can easily exceed $500 for parts and labor, you need to remove the sub frame on some vehicles to remove the oil pan and that alone can get costly. Using a Time-Sert repair kit will take about 30 minutes from start to finish with professional results.

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