Oil drain plug stuck stripped bolt

[seth247]

be careful with the welding technique.

thats a pan full of stuff you dont want to burn. tell them to only weld a bit at a time, i mean like spot weld here, then cool er down, then spot weld here, then cool er down, that kind of thing.

its the best way to weld thin metal that cant stand the heat so it should be safer and keep you from burning any oil.

 

[TheJackal]

My dad has a set of these Craftsman Bolt-Out things. He's missing some but the one I needed was in there.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00952166000P

Worked for me but the bolt wasn't cross-threaded, it was just rounded off. If it's in there this good, you may end up stripping the pan threads no matter what you do. I used the bolt-outs a few times until I eventually got around to getting a new drain plug.

I did go to a quick-lube place once that I trust and they put a new plug on for me and free of charge. It was a brass one tho, and I changed it because the Ford one appears to be soft and for a good reason--you'll tear up the bolt before the pan.

 

[corkey]

i was doing an oil change a while ago, and it was a pita, so , , i put a socket on the bolt, and welded it there,, in a vise, not the pan, , now i have no problems,,

 

[parad1mg]

file = PITA
do you have a 4" electric grinder?

i have one.. two to be honest with you but i dont have a long enough extension cord to reach the car all the way down the parking lot

 

[parad1mg]

i have the irwin set bolt extractors that are like the craftsman set and it just rounded the bolt more..

wait, how do you precisely do the chisel thing again?

i'm just going to have dinner with the family and start filing the bolt.. i'll post pics of it later too..

 

[2000LXS]

I'm looking online there are lots of people talking about doing it but not a lot of pics.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm197/bwh998/DSC07460.jpg

 

[parad1mg]

was that made by the chisel method?

 

[rookieshooter]

If the hammer chisel thing does not work. Then you might try the already suggested using a high speed grinder and cutting a groove wide enough for the largest screwdriver or even the chisel end of a tire iron. Then put the vise grips on the screwdriver at a 90 degree and turn. But right befor you turn it, add some heat around the bolt. This will enlarge the bolt hole and then just turn it out. Only problem is that if the side of the bolt brakes off where you cut it .....?

 

[rookieshooter]

The way I used to use the hammer chisel thing was to hit the bolt on the side so it turns counter clockwise. The chisel kinda diggs in and won't slip. But might want to see what the original poster has to say.

 

[parad1mg]

here's my lovely headache

lol.. it looks like something went to gnaw on it..

 

[2000LXS]

Looks to me like you would want to hit the outer washer part of the bolt careful not to hit the pan you will get a lot more leverage that way. Hit the edge in (make a indentation) to give yourself a good place to hit the bolt lose (sideways) you can due that in a few places. I see why you are having problems thats alot of surface area for a little bolt.

 

[solitary ogre]

i had similar problem with the fill plug on my bll's mitsubishi 5spd. so i took it off with a big pipe wrench after grinding flat spots on it with a 1/16 cut of blade in the angle grinder, then welded a nut on top of it after it was off.

 

[parad1mg]

i dont have a chisel so off to home depot again tomorrow morning..

good thing the returns counter is a little lax on items that are being returned

will a narrow (almsot the same width as a normal flathead screwdriver) chisel be better than a wider one?

 

[2000LXS]

I would get one a little wider a little than a flathead. Thats funny my wife works returns at home depot and goes crazy with the things that get returned but the company is all about customer satisfaction lucky for us.

 

[Cobraguy]

be careful with the welding technique.

thats a pan full of stuff you dont want to burn. tell them to only weld a bit at a time, i mean like spot weld here, then cool er down, then spot weld here, then cool er down, that kind of thing.

its the best way to weld thin metal that cant stand the heat so it should be safer and keep you from burning any oil.

You don't weld to the pan...just the nut. Shouldn't be an issue unless someone really gets carried away.

You can try the chisel method...and I like Jamie's idea of grinding flat spots. But that is a perfect candidate for a welded nut. That also appears to be an aluminum pan. I would want to save that if I could.

 

[410Fortune]

grinder + 30 seconds = two flat sides = cresent wrench and done

thats the first thing I would try, then pull out the welder

that one is a mess! and I should talk! I spent about 3 hours fighting a frozen broken bolt stud in an exhaust manifold last week, I gave up after breaking about 8 drill bits
I tried the flat spots, even with a 4' breaker it wouldnt budge
I then cut the stud flat at the manifold, center punched it and drilled a pilot hole all the way through it
then a little bigger, then bigger, problem is when I got to the medium bits one broke off in there and galled it up, now all of them just break! I had another manifold in storage so I just went for a drive instead LOL need a drill press for this one.....then tap new threads, usually I can drill close enough to jsut have to chase the remaining threads, this manifold kicked my butt

 

[DeRocha]

I know you already tried vice grips, but for future reference the one below is designed to grip nuts/bolts on the corners to give rock solid contact on 3 sides..

 

[410Fortune]

oh man those are nice nice!! grind 3 sides flat then with those suckers

 

[parad1mg]

I know you already tried vice grips, but for future reference the one below is designed to grip nuts/bolts on the corners to give rock solid contact on 3 sides..

nice, i'll keep that in mind.. unfortunately the home depot close to me doesnt really carry a lot of tools.. more on just general home maintennance..

 

[parad1mg]

grinder + 30 seconds = two flat sides = cresent wrench and done

thats the first thing I would try, then pull out the welder

that one is a mess! and I should talk! I spent about 3 hours fighting a frozen broken bolt stud in an exhaust manifold last week, I gave up after breaking about 8 drill bits
I tried the flat spots, even with a 4' breaker it wouldnt budge
I then cut the stud flat at the manifold, center punched it and drilled a pilot hole all the way through it
then a little bigger, then bigger, problem is when I got to the medium bits one broke off in there and galled it up, now all of them just break! I had another manifold in storage so I just went for a drive instead LOL need a drill press for this one.....then tap new threads, usually I can drill close enough to jsut have to chase the remaining threads, this manifold kicked my butt

i've been fighting this darn bolt for more than 3 days now :shifty_ey