My oil pan drain plug is hard to turn with a socket or box wrench, the sides of the hex end are worn to where you need pliers to start loosening it.
Are Pinto oil pan drain plugs interchangeable with plugs from other models of Ford cars?
Good question. My guess would be some but not most. As any one who has worked on ford car and trucks can tell you, Ford has usually changed about every nut and bolt they could between model years. Cant tell you why but try and work on a 289. You would think a 289 water pump is a 289 water pump etc ( certainly not like a 350 Chevy)
Some are the same, others aren't.
In re an oil pan drain plug, if yours is getting sloppy on the outside, but still makes a good seal with the original threads of your oil pan, take it out and go the the nearest auto parts store, as they usually have a good assortment available and should have little trouble matching what you have now.
If you aren't in the habit of using a crushable, throwaway type compressible gasket on the drain plug, at least wrap the threads with several turns of Teflon tape each time when you reinstall it. That way you won't have to crank the new plug in so hard that it gets rounded off, while attempting to make it seal. (Plus it will be much easier to get it off next time.) Most oil pan drain plugs need relatively low torque to actually seal effectively, but for some unknown reason few people will take the time to learn the proper torque adjustment for this lowly part, so it consequently almost invariably gets tightened waaaaay too tight and will eventually strip the threads from the oil pan.
If you have a high mileage vehicle and/or the oil pan threads are getting sloppy, there are several types of oversizes plugs available for different applications, but if the original threads are still good, try to keep them that way.
The official (factory) Ford Pinto Shop Manual for my 1971 2000cc engine lists the plug as being a 14mm x 1.5 thread pitch, with an installed torque as 15-20 pounds/ft and lot of the other Fords that I've worked on over the years use 15-25 pounds/ft as a specification, but I wouldn't necessarily assume that the 1600cc, 2300cc, or 2800cc engines use the same plug or torque. Bottom line is, if it's a bit too loose, it may possibly leak, but if it's too tight, it may strip out.
Other than that, ANY TIME that you're in the market for a replacement oil pan drain plug, no matter what the vehicle happens to be, you might want to do yourself a big favor and get a MAGNETIC drain pan plug instead of the OEM type while you're at it. They might cost a bit more, but will hold onto any of the microscopic ferrous (iron/steel) metal particles that get close to them, which somehow never get caught by the oil filter. Big ones too. Then when you change the oil you can wipe them off of the plug instead of wondering where in the engine they would have ended up.
Thanks for the info, mine still seals well, threads seem fine, and aside from the rounded edges on the hex head, it works well.
But I don't like using a pliers to get it loosened, so I'll be getting a replacement.
Re: teflon tape: would some of it get inside the oil pan itself?
Sounds like a great idea, though.
If you're careful, no tape should stay in the engine.
If you don't use a sealing washer and/or use teflon tape:
Wrap ONLY a couple of turns of the tape around the bolt starting at the head end. Make sure that the tape is tight by slightly stretching it as you apply it, so that it goes down into the root of the threads. Wrap in the same direction as the threads, so that it won't unwind when you screw the bolt in. Wrap it in such a way that it does NOT go all the way to the end of the threaded portion of the bolt. When you remove the bolt the next time, unwind all of the the old tape off of the bolt before applying more.
In my honest opinion.
Go ahead and buy a new bolt and crush washer. They are not gonna cost you an arm and leg, just a finger or two lol.
And Goodolboy up there is right, spend a lil extra and get a magnetic one. Trust me you will be amazed at what comes out.
Ive seen one get pulled out of a engine and I was like :o Holy smokes! in my opinion its worth it.
Good timing on this post.I just finished fabbing a new plug on the wagon.I'm just about ready for the first start up in 7 years.I drove it over my service pit to drain the oil when i noticed that the plug had hi temp silicone on it ???I said to myself.
Self, could the plug be stripped out.So i put a wrench on it and it spun super easy.So i spun it out and to my dismay it wasn't screwed into anything just glued on????????????
I said :wow:It appears that sometime in the past they must have hit something while driving down the road .Or they jacked up the engine and put a small crease by the drain plug.
I don't know how but the nut that is spot welded to the plate on the inside of the oil pan got knocked off.Leaving nothing to bolt to.I sat down took a cold drink and decided to pull off the pan.Sure enough there it was the missing nut .I didn't have the correct bolt like the original .So i got a 1/2 nut and washer welded them together then welded them to the inside of the pan.That puppy ain't ever coming off again.Ill find out tomorrow morning if its going to work out it got a little late to be wrenching tonight.
P.S. before i came down for the night i noticed that my steering coupler was all messed up.Ill put that in another post.I have already highjacked this one enough :) Mike
im,
You triggered a memory with the loose nut story.
I remember many years ago when someone that I knew at the time overtightened their drain pan plug so much that they broke the tack welded nut loose from the pan, and then had to take the oil pan off to drain the oil the next time, because they couldn't break the bolt loose from the nut afterwards.
In case anyone who reads this doesn't already know, if you accidentally strip the threads on your oil pan and for one reason or another DON'T want to take the oil pan off, or are somewhere without proper tools or don't have time to do it immediately, not only are there oversized, steel, thread cutting oil pan plugs available, there is also available a push in style, expandable rubber plug that can be used once the thread area is filed smooth.
The plug is hollow with a thick shoulder, and you stretch it over a pointed insertion tool to which it locks, then it is inserted and you unlock it from the insertion tool, whereupon it expands so that it is then a larger diameter than the hole, on the INSIDE of the oil pan, and leaves the thick shoulder on the outside of the pan, making an effective seal by squeezing the pan between the 2.
Interestingly (as I can personally testify), these rubber type plugs can last for years, although they're mainly intended for emergency use, so if you come across an application where the oil pan is a major hassle to remove, and/or the pan plug is a weird size that is virtually unobtainable, it can sometimes be worth doing. I used to keep a few of these rubber type plugs of different sizes in my tool box in the old days when I used to drag race. Some racers also used to use them in the drain holes for their differentials and transmissions to help speed changes.