Shop tells my mom (92 Civic DX) that the threads for the oil drain plug are stripped and she needs a new pan for $400.

Any ideas for repair short of replacing the pan?

I've thought of two:
1) Have a shop weld a new bung where the current hole is
2) Get one of those adapters that screw in (which drain the oil by actuating a built in valve) and using JB Weld to secure it to the pan.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

tell the shop 99.5% of the time its the PLUG not the pan
the plug is made to strip
not the pan.

 

yeah and if it was the hehe bung....just go to a junkyard and grab and new oil pan for a couple of bucks and slap her on. Not hard at all to put a oil pan on, you just need some rtv silicon and your half way there. Thing thing you said about jbwelding the oil valve on there sounds reasonable too.

 

if it is ur drain and not the plug...they got universal drain plugs that are like rubber corks. u shove it up in there.... twist the lil **** thingy and it expands the rubber to secure it into the drain. i cant explain it great but they sell em at kragen with all the other drain plugs. about three bucks.

 

oh and 400$ is BULLSHIT
i can get a used one for like 20-40$
**** i have a d series oil pan for sale right now.

 

its easy to change the oil pan. just got to the junk yard as said above and DIY

 

another thing you can do is get a oversized drain plug, they are cheap, oil pans are easy to find cheap

 

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...+BLOCK-OIL+PAN

thats new from honda, a used one should be no more than twenty bucks , just get a new gasket and slap it on , but be careful not to over torque those oil pan bolts, they are much more sensitive than the drain plug


[Modified by 92hybridhhatch, 1:37 PM 3/3/2003]


[Modified by 92hybridhhatch, 1:37 PM 3/3/2003]

 

Sounds like a stupid and shady shop. $400 my a$$. Tell them to shove it, get a used pan and DIY.

 

Somebody else mentioned over sized ... thats what I have, Bout a year a go I was chanigng my oil .... noticed the plug just kept spinning when I tried to put it back in .. Long story short ... Mechanic Got me an over sized one workes fine ! or you could get a moroso one

EDIT: Arnt they the ones that were working on the car when it got striped ? they broke it they fix it !


[Modified by Stryker908, 3:59 PM 3/3/2003]

 

That's what I'm saying! Shady shop....

Heck, if they did mess it up...I would go with a BRAND SPANKING NEW PAN from HONDA! heh heh

 

According to the shop, stripped oil pan threads are a common thing on the early 90's Civics (funny, my '85 CRX hasn't had that issue...) Sounds like crap to me. If you guys say it isn't a common problem, I'll go back and give him a bit more grief about it.
It currently has one of the rubber plugs in it, and now that just spins when trying to take it out. Haven't tried to force it out yet as I want to make sure I have something to seal that sucker up.
The $400 was $200 for Honda pan and $200 for labor. A used pan runs $75 bucks here in Silicon Valley. I can do the pan thing, it just seems ridiculous to swap the whole pan for some stripped threads. You don't replace the head when you strip a bolt in there, do you?!
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

retapr it IF its the bung... or weld like u had the idea..

 

200 bucks for labor?!?!?!?! their nuts, sounds like a shop thats trying to come up from you and your mom....just git the car back and do it yourself, git a used pan then slap it on....dont do bussiness with those damn idiots...best of luck

 

One other thought is you could put a "heater Coil" in there .. thats what we tried 1st on mine ... but My pan has a ding in the bottom of it from shipping (b16) and it wouldnt thread straight ... so I just went with a 19mm Plug and it works fine .......

One reason people strip out their Oil plugs is cuz when you chainge the oil your suposed to change the washer too ... its a crush washer ..extra soft so that it will make a tight seal if you dont change it every time you just keep screwing the plug in deeper and deeper till you just end up striping it out Just my .02

 

Stryker, you're talking about a helicoil, yes? Wasn't sure if that solution would work given the few # of threads in the pan.

 

As an end to the story, found an oil pan for a more reasonable price ($40 vs. $75 for the next lowest) and installed it on Friday. As you folks said, it wasn't a big deal.
QUESTION: I torqued the oil pan bolts to the spec of 10ft-lbs, but that seemed to really deform the oil pan gasket. Since I used sealer as well I assume it will seal fine, but even 10ft-lbs seemed snug. Taking the bolts out, it felt as if many of them were hardly more than hand tight. Then again, it also had a bit of leakage around the pan...