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1,294 Posts
Changing the oil today was pretty much a disaster. Since I have owned the car, I have done all my own maintenance, including changing the oil. I always followed the torque spec on the oil drain bolt due to the materials used in the pan. However, it seems this is not enough to prevent the threads from being stripped out. While tightening the bolt, not even close to the torque of 29 Ft/LBs, it just began to spin free. Every thread in the oil pan is stripped.
Wondering what happend, I pulled the bolt and inspected it and the threads. I was quite surprised to find that the stainless steel bolt threads directly into the aluminium/magnesium oil pan, and not into some kind of steel liner. I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone how fundamentally stupid this design is...
Now, the real problem is what to do:
1. Replace the pan
2. Retap the hole and use a larger bolt
Option #1 is what I like best, but I remember reading on the honda_hybrid list about a woman who went through this and found out that the pan was more then a little expensive.
Option #2 is completely acceptable, but I am unsure as to how much extra material there is to allow any machining...
I should mention that there is an option #3. The most logical course of action would have a machinest install a proper steel sleeve in the pan to prevent this from happening again...
The major problem here is time. It just happens to be a holiday Monday here in Canada, which means that the earliest I can talk to a dealer is tomorrow morning. It's looking more and more like I will have to bring the car to the dealer to have it repaired as I simply cannot take the time off of my job to mess around with this (the remove/reinstall procedure looks like it will take a day at least). Also, they will probably provide me with a loaner car, which solves my transportation issue...
Has anyone repaired an oil pan before? How did the problem with the woman on honda_hybrid turn out? I tried to search, but the Yahoo! groups search is less then useful. Anyone had this done at a dealer? Guesses on the cost of a pan?
Wondering what happend, I pulled the bolt and inspected it and the threads. I was quite surprised to find that the stainless steel bolt threads directly into the aluminium/magnesium oil pan, and not into some kind of steel liner. I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone how fundamentally stupid this design is...
Now, the real problem is what to do:
1. Replace the pan
2. Retap the hole and use a larger bolt
Option #1 is what I like best, but I remember reading on the honda_hybrid list about a woman who went through this and found out that the pan was more then a little expensive.
Option #2 is completely acceptable, but I am unsure as to how much extra material there is to allow any machining...
I should mention that there is an option #3. The most logical course of action would have a machinest install a proper steel sleeve in the pan to prevent this from happening again...
The major problem here is time. It just happens to be a holiday Monday here in Canada, which means that the earliest I can talk to a dealer is tomorrow morning. It's looking more and more like I will have to bring the car to the dealer to have it repaired as I simply cannot take the time off of my job to mess around with this (the remove/reinstall procedure looks like it will take a day at least). Also, they will probably provide me with a loaner car, which solves my transportation issue...
Has anyone repaired an oil pan before? How did the problem with the woman on honda_hybrid turn out? I tried to search, but the Yahoo! groups search is less then useful. Anyone had this done at a dealer? Guesses on the cost of a pan?