Oil Pan Drain Plug Hole Coiled Out. ( Pics )

[Dano!]

Hello everyone,
I think i really messed it up this time.

I looked around and couldn't find any information about this happening to another member. nothing fitting this at least. i just wanted to put that forward.

I did an oil change a few days ago and noticed that i was leaking a considerable amount of oil. when i checked it out last night ( it was dark ) i saw i was leaking from the plug, it was not seated all the way. so i cranked it down a bit. i moved the truck over to make sure it would not leak in the same spot.
When i came home from work today i looked again and sure enough there was a lot of oil on the deck. i crawled under there again and took a closer look in the light. and there was a piece of metal sticking out in between the oil pan and the plug.

I took my other vehicle and picked up some more motor oil. i thought nothing of anything other than some debris was stuck.

When i got around to doing the oil change it was dark again as you can see in the pics. Apparently i super stripped the oil plug when i reinstalled it.

i got the plug out and the metal piece was just hanging there, i grabbed it with the vise grip and pulled..

I have another plug and it wont fit. (from parts engine)

Is the coil coming out of there the thread from the drain plug hole. or was it sheered off the plug when i cranked it in? am i screwed? its too late to go to a parts store, and i have a train to catch tomorrow morning.

i don't know what to say really. i got to hear another speech from the wife "Every time you go do something that will 'take 10 minutes' it ends up taking two weeks"

 

[swshawaii]

Appears the threads had been previously damaged and repaired with a Heli-Coil.
If you are not the original owner that's probably what happened. Not a difficult fix
providing you have the proper thread tapping tool and the correct parts. Good luck.

http://www.google.com/search?q=heli...&ei=NyISUJftBa7rigLD8oGwAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEYQsAQ

 

[AlexSport'00]

Ok, sorta on topic, my oil drain plug is stuck on my oil pan (apparently it's somehow formed onto the threads since the pan is aluminum and old), and I was wondering if I took it to a machine shop if they could do something like the helicoil thing rather than having to do a whole engine pull to replace the pan. Thanks

 

[Dano!]

i work with heli coils at work. i suspected this was the case (that there was a heli coil in there) i just never seen it used in automotive applications.

its real easy to instal heli coils and it looks like you can buy all the tool / heli coil you need to do it yourself.

it pretty much is a coil that fits into the jacked up threads of the oil pan and at the same time creates new threads for another bolt. you can get everything you need for less than 30 dollars. i plan on doing this tomorrow morning if i get the time. if not it will be on Sunday.

 

[2Petes]

Looks like the helicoil moved out with the plug during the oil change, as an alternative check out Napa and other parts stores. They have various oversize self tapping plus size drain plugs.

 

[scucci]

For those who don't have the owners manual, you can download the owners manual in pdf form at the following link:
Dead Link Removed

 

[ranger7ltr]

Just change the oil pan...

It would appear that you have a 2wd Explorer you can drop the oil pan without doing anything but unbolt the oil pan, the starter and 2 alignment bolts from the back of the block...
You can even use the same oil pan gasket if you are careful...

Ok, sorta on topic, my oil drain plug is stuck on my oil pan (apparently it's somehow formed onto the threads since the pan is aluminum and old), and I was wondering if I took it to a machine shop if they could do something like the helicoil thing rather than having to do a whole engine pull to replace the pan. Thanks

 

[Dano!]

What i ended up doing was purchasing a tap kit from autozone, its for spark plugs but it comes with new helicoils. Used the tap to widen and rethread the hole and put red locktight on the coil. Screwed in the coil and let it set. Now i can use a bigger oil plug to seal it up. It works.

 

[RicketyExplorer]

I went to a oil change shop and they said mine is starting to go bad, it's cause the threads are aluminum. You can tap and die the pan it's steel and replace the drain plug with a oversize one, they told me at the shop that this is common on all fords.