I've been getting some oil leakage from the engine oil drain bolt. I use a new washer everytime. I make sure the flat side of the washer is against the oil pan, is this correct?

What can I do to stop it?

 

is your oil pan dented there or are your threads stripped out? Sounds like you may need a new oil pan.

 

my friend had this happen to him. he had stripped the oul pan threads when he did his oil change, and he had to buy a new pan. did you do anything with the drain bolt right before you noticed the leak? are you tightening any more than hand tight? you're not supposed to make those bolt too tight.

 

If you want to be exact, torque the drain plug to 31 ft lbs and see if it goes any tighter. I had the same problem and was only tightening with two fingers on the wrench...I torqued the bolt and got about 2 half turns out of it almost. No leakage since.

 

Does the flat side of the washer go against the pan?

Maybe a nylon washer would work better?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MechEng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Does the flat side of the washer go against the pan?

Maybe a nylon washer would work better?</TD></TR></TABLE>

1) It really shouldn't matter. I use old washers and never get any leaks.

2) I'd re-thread + new, larger drain bolt or just deal w/ a little drip.

 

its probably from overtightening like said above

 

I don't think a new washer will make a difference. I use the same bolt and washer everytime, never had a problem.

try rethreading it.

 

you could re-thread the oil pan. but the inside of the pan has re-enforcements around the drain bolt. try not to widen the hole too much for this reason.

 

This may sound kinda wierd, but how about trying an rubber O ring....Just thought I'd throw this in there

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by silverlude15 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you can either get a new drain pan or rethread your pan with a larger size nut AND then get a new drain pan. either way, you're going to need a new drain pan if you're torqueing it at around 31 ft lbs.

As a worker of jiffy lube, i'm under tons of cars every day and i see the leaky oil plugs. it's always from improper threading. btw, most honda's with aluminum pans are torqued at 23 ft lbs. our preludes use the aluminum pans.</TD></TR></TABLE>

All hondas take 31 ft lbs homie.

I also worked at Jiffy Lube and its a ******* joke... The only people I worked with were low-life people who didn't give a rats *** about how good of job they did. Even the managers were rigging fuel filters with RTV so they wouldn't leak and other stupid **** of the same nature. I even transfered stores to the best rated store in their franchise and it was the same ******* thing.

31 ft lbs is what Honda is doing bud. 23 ft lbs my ***. All the express service techs have pre-set torque wrenches for everything with Hondas name on them for a reason.

Every honda drain plug, once broke loose, should be able to come out with the ease of your fingers. Unless the washer is stuck to the pan, if the plug comes out rough at all (with the washer attatched): the threads in the pan could possibly need cleaned with a same size tap, a new drain plug will also sometimes work if the threads are worn. If the threads are visibly messed up, retap your oil pan with an oversize drain plug kit.

Just torque it to 31 ft lbs and see if that solves your problem first.

 

Ok I'll try a torque wrench and your right the bolt should be torqued
to 33lbft or 45Nm

 

if it is stripped, just heli-coil it and use a new plug.

 

I would recommened cleaning the treads on the pan with the same sized tap then use a new washer and torque to 31 ft lbs. Ohh you could also try and use some teflon tape on the drain bolt threads (that usually works pretty good).

 

Ill second everyone. When I first bought my lude someone uber tightened the plug and fukd the threads up Then a new oil pan was the first part I had to buy instead of sumthin more fun.

 

What is the size of the oil drain bolt anyways?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by silverlude15 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">our preludes use the aluminum pans.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry bud, we have steel pans too, up to 1996..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MechEng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe a nylon washer would work better?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I had the same problem on my 93 Si. I don't remember which, but either my washer or my plug had a small "knick" in it which was letting the oil drip out. I replaced the washer with (or maybe just added—I don't remember) a nylon washer and it fixed it.

 

dont rethread it if you're going to pay someone to do it. another 50 dollars will get you a new oil pan.

 

I would not say all Honda's are 33ft-lbs on the drain bolt. Mine is only about 19ft/lbs (from helm inc shop manual) porb. cuz I have the newer aluminum pan in my car.

anyway, if it's just a small leak maybe try some Teflon tape on the bolt.