Oil change question

[2lungking]

Hello all I just purchased my 98 explorer sport a couple of months ago and I have done quite a bit of work to get it running good. My question is when i pull off the oil drain bolt what do I do if their is no plastic gasket. The bolt appears to be flush with the oil pan meaning possibly no gasket. i remember losing the gasket on my ranger and the bolt became kinda stripped right before I sold it. I already purchased one just in case.

 

[koda2000]

Hello all I just purchased my 98 explorer sport a couple of months ago and I have done quite a bit of work to get it running good. My question is when i pull off the oil drain bolt what do I do if their is no plastic gasket. The bolt appears to be flush with the oil pan meaning possibly no gasket. i remember losing the gasket on my ranger and the bolt became kinda stripped right before I sold it. I already purchased one just in case.

on my '97 Sport the "gasket" is kind of an o-ring that's part of the drain plug. if you had no kind of gasket the drain plug would be dripping oil.

 

[drdoom]

You should have some new gaskets on hand, although they can be reused, at some point they need replacing from time to time.

 

[SoNic67]

It might be the soft metal crush washer.

 

[2lungking]

the one I ordered is a hard white plastic one like my ranger used to have I think i know what you guys are talking about with the hard crushed one but like i said the bolt is flush with the pan ?

 

[drdoom]

I saw an aluminum crush washer on a Tacoma drain plug been reused so many times it was curled up so far had to use a thin wall to get it out lol

 

[rb142]

If it's not leaking, don't worry about it.

I've had cars with those white washers. Never replaced them and never leaked a drip. My previous Ranger had no washer at all, and never leaked a drip. My current Ranger has a ridge built into the head of the bolt (not a separate washer). It doesn't drip either. As long as you don't over-torque the bolt, it will do fine and not strip. If you leave it to the quick-change places, you will probably need repairs before long.

 

[chefduane]

Or, get a Fumoto Qwikvalve http://www.qwikvalve.com/fumoto-f106n-valve.html and never have to worry about pulling a drain plug again. Makes DIY oil changes a snap.

 

[koda2000]

while we're on the subject, why the heck do people tighten oil filters and drain plugs so tight? i've bought vehicles where the drain plugs are so tight that i've had to add a piece of pipe to my ratchet to loosen them and i've also had to just about destroy some oil filters to get them off.

 

[2lungking]

update

Ok I finally had a chance to do the oil change and the bolt had a rubber gasket inside a grove behind the head I just reused it because it was in good shape. Thanks for all the replies.