[ubi_wampum]

I just bought a certified used insight. I went to get the 1st oil change @ valvoline & as they took out the drain plug the female threads came out also. Honda will not cover it! Can the threads be re-tapped? :evil:

 

[Rick]

It's not really a perfect fix, but what your looking for would be a helicoil kit. It would consist of a drill bit, a wire thread and a tap. I've used them before on motorcycles that had their oil pans stripped out. You should however remove the oil pan to do this so you don't end up with any metal pieces inside the engine.

I can recall several cases of this happening with Insight's. The oil pan is made of magnesium so it's fairly soft. You may consider doing your own oil changes in the future if possible. You could insure you don't overtighten the bolt. I personally go to the extend to use the torque wrench on mine. You might also want to consider a new oil pan. It'd be a couple hundred bucks, but is more of a permanent fix than a helicoil kit. I would first presue Honda if it's a Honda Certified car.

BTW, unless you brought your own Valvoline is not going to have the proper oil anyhow.

 

[cakley]

A super cheap fix-- JB Weld :!: Place in on the plug and stick in it. Once in place you'll never be able to undo the plug.


The HeliCore kits are the most common fix. For spark plugs and oil plugs.

Once you get it fixed take a look at a Pella 6000 oil extractor system.

 

[gobuchul74]

Go to Autozone, Kragen, what-have-you and find an oil plug with slightly larger diameter threads. Then re-tap the hole (very carefully) to the new, larger, size. I dont think the drain pan would be nearly thick enough to put a heli-coil kit in there, and JB Weld is way over-rated (I would expect the plug to fall out before the next oil change).

The only cons I see to re-tapping with a larger plug, is that the dealer might try using the wrong sized wrench on it, but I expect even a dealer technician could figure that one out. It beats replacing the oil pan, and I'd trust it far more than JB weld.