Okay, so I don't normally drive to work, but I did today b/c I'm going to the beach afterwards. Well I got to work and parked on the street. I walked over to the passenger side to look at a new scratch that a roommate had put on my door (dammit).

Well as I'm looking at the door, I see this black liquid flowing from under the car. It was getting bigger, so I was like what in the hell?!? I reached down and looked under my car, and the oil was pouring out! I went around to get a better look and yup, the oil drain plug was missing! So all I could do was watch 4 1/2 quarts of Mobil 1 flow out

I was able to borrow a co-worker's truck, got over to NAPA and got an oversized plug and oil. Slapped that shit back on and we're good to go. But I'm curious how this happened? I know that my oil drain plug hole is getting a little stripped, but I'm curious how it just all of a sudden let go and fell out? I haven't had an oil change since last summer so its not like somebody didn't tighten it last week.

Either way I'm a lucky SOB. If I hadn't noticed that oil flow I probably would have just driven off after work and kissed my engine good-bye.

7/27/2007 1:43:15 PM

you would have heard it and there would have been a few lights to let you know that you had no oil pressure

7/27/2007 1:45:24 PM

What's it sound like. Mechanical clinking? I think I've heard it in another car.

Well at the very least I'd be requiring a tow of some kind, so I'm feeling pretty lucky.

7/27/2007 1:47:32 PM

depending on how far work is, you would have probably made it there... and maybe even back.

then..........

you would have been screwed after that.

some niggas playin a joke on you.

7/27/2007 1:52:42 PM

valves probably would have starting ticking and the oil light would have come on before you did any real damage. it's not hard to believe that it could have backed itself out if it was getting stripped.

7/27/2007 2:29:24 PM

Quote :

"I haven't had an oil change since last summer"

nobody is going to comment on this? doesn't oil start to break down over time?

7/27/2007 2:38:25 PM

not mobil, 1 it is a full synthetic

7/27/2007 2:45:57 PM

^^

nope i run mine 20-30k and bbr just goes until he needs an oil pump


-69

[Edited on July 27, 2007 at 6:01 PM. Reason : doh]

7/27/2007 6:01:27 PM

damn right.

pretty sure pat's car doesn't really get driven though since he lives in nyc, so a year on an oil change isn't a big deal. especially with mobil 1.

7/27/2007 6:36:52 PM

does anyone hate you? shit keeps happening to you.

i go about 10k btw changes using m1. that's about a year for me with mixed city driving. it only gets dark about 7-8k in.

7/28/2007 12:53:54 AM

25k for me with AMSOIL.

7/28/2007 2:09:29 AM

25k for me with DINO

7/28/2007 2:14:25 AM

I still change at 5K on Mobil 1, but then again a) I'm paranoid and b) Mine is almost all in-town stop-and-go short trip driving.

7/28/2007 2:07:52 PM

even with the amount i have to add every couple weeks, i still change my trucks around 3 or 4k to keep the shit out of the bottom of the pan. its a hard 3 or 4k though, im sure none of the original oil is in there by the time for a change, most of its dripped here and there on the driveway

7/28/2007 2:51:01 PM

Haha, damn that car is a piece of shit.

7/28/2007 4:44:11 PM

5k-7k on amsoil full synthetic for me

7/29/2007 4:54:48 PM

^^ well, it IS fifteen years old, with prob over a quarter-million miles on it, and God-only knows how many autocrosses.

7/29/2007 5:07:18 PM

^^ are you using the 7500 mile stuff or the 25k mile stuff?

7/30/2007 1:04:45 AM

Who's this Alias guy and why isn't he suspended yet.

Car did just fine this weekend, even with the drip. 80 miles out to Long Island and 80 back. I think I leaked about 1 quart onto my uncle's driveway

Could I stop the leak by putting some Loctite on the plug?

7/30/2007 1:09:20 PM

teflon tape?

7/30/2007 1:15:04 PM

or just a plastic washer to seal it

7/30/2007 1:42:35 PM

I've got a hard rubber washer on it right now. And it is pretty tight against the pan. I didn't torque the hell out of it, but I put a good amount of force into it.

7/30/2007 1:45:11 PM

you sure the pan isnt cracked? oversize plugs can do that

7/30/2007 1:47:04 PM

no actually I'm not sure at all about that. I don't have a proper jack right now, just the spare tire one. And I've always been told NOT to go under the car if its only held up by a jack.

7/30/2007 1:48:59 PM

^ haha, yea, i know.......knew a guy that did that one too many times

[Edited on July 30, 2007 at 1:56 PM. Reason : and fuck me, i have a horrible oil pan leak]

7/30/2007 1:53:24 PM

thats why you use the spare tire for a jackstand

7/30/2007 2:28:35 PM

or the sidewalk

7/30/2007 3:01:47 PM

Quote :

"you sure the pan isnt cracked? oversize plugs can do that"

That's why you go in a little bit, back out, clean, in a little bit more, back out, clean, etc. etc.

Break 'er in easy. I had one in my Teggy. Don't know my own strength (you know, like Bullwinkle), stripped the old one.

7/30/2007 4:43:08 PM

If it's cracked just fill the crack and the drain hole with JB Weld. Next year when you need to change the oil again you can just tap the JB Weld and put in a smaller bolt. [true story]

7/30/2007 4:54:41 PM

I took the car to the shop Monday and picked it up yesterday. My mechanic said that the rubber washer just wasn't sitting properly on the pan and thats why it was leaking. I explained to him that I'd put it on from next to the car and wasn't underneath looking closely when I did. He also put some silicon around the plug, but said the oil pan's fine. I also told him to slap some new wipers since its a bitch just getting around to the store to buy them.

He owed me from back in Nov so he didn't charge me anything.

YAY

8/8/2007 1:57:09 PM

Quote :

"YAY"

8/8/2007 2:02:10 PM

When/why did 69's comment about JB Weld not sticking to oily surfaces get removed from this thread?

JB Weld fixes everything.

8/8/2007 2:31:48 PM

^ someone mass deleted like 50 of my posts last week bearfaggot?

8/8/2007 11:20:42 PM

I like JB weld ummmmmmmm

8/8/2007 11:21:32 PM

I reckon biscuits and jb weld tastes pretty good to me.

8/9/2007 2:00:15 AM

^ stick ur mouth under there and tell us!

8/9/2007 2:01:13 AM

shouldnt have a rubber washer, should be aluminum

8/9/2007 6:51:42 PM

Wow....... all this big talk about knowing this and that about cars and you can't even tighten down your own drain plug?

Definately possible that it was sabotaged.......but highly unlikely. Then again, you do act like a fag on here.....so I am sure you have tons of friends.

8/9/2007 6:54:53 PM

lol

8/9/2007 6:57:36 PM

^^wtf, did you not see my comment that I tightened the plug from next to my car, not under it?

8/10/2007 6:41:51 AM