Tightening Oil Sump Drain plug. (how tight is too tight??!)

Help2

Novice DIY-er here,

Wondering how tight the oil sump drain plug needs to be??

Today i tightened mine with a ratchet/socket piece...

I tightened it clockwise while there wasnt alot of resistance... then the resistance got stronger and i tightened it a bit more...when it wouldnt go any further easily i stopped... it probably would of tightened further if i tried hard enough but i didnt...

Just wondering cause i heard damage can be caused if it is tightened too much.. cheers.

analfabets

doylerandrew wrote: »

Novice DIY-er here,

Wondering how tight the oil sump drain plug needs to be??

Today i tightened mine with a ratchet/socket piece...

I tightened it clockwise while there wasnt alot of resistance... then the resistance got stronger and i tightened it a bit more...when it wouldnt go any further easily i stopped... it probably would of tightened further if i tried hard enough but i didnt...

Just wondering cause i heard damage can be caused if it is tightened too much.. cheers.

Damage can be caused. Do you have torque wrench?

Nforce

Never over tighten...there's a risk of stripping the threads. Always use a new copper washer too.

Help2

analfabets wrote: »

Damage can be caused. Do you have torque wrench?

No i dont...

Voodoomelon

Then there's little anyone here can tell you with the use of a keyboard. Simply turn it as much as it takes to feel the copper washer compress and then stop.

bryaner

1/2 inch or 3/8 drive ratchet?

You'll get a lot more pull with the 1/2 inch, pretty unlikely to be able to do damage with the 3/8..

Tefral

It should just be "Hand" tight. In otherwords, tighten into the washer and then without applying force tighten.

spiggotpaddy

cronin_j wrote: »

It should just be "Hand" tight. In otherwords, tighten into the washer and then without applying force tighten.

are you cereal? hand tight no. it has to be nipped up with a tool.

Help2

Nforce wrote: »

Never over tighten...there's a risk of stripping the threads. Always use a new copper washer too.

Yeah i used a new copper washer. The old one was bent and was causing a leak.

Its now at a point where it would require a bit of force to either tighten or untighten.

You reckon i should untighten it a bit?

Drain plug beforehand


2011-09-14 11.15.25 by help212, on Flickr

Old washer and New washer


2011-09-14 11.28.23 by help212, on Flickr

Afterwards


2011-09-14 11.35.40 by help212, on Flickr

spiggotpaddy

if its not leaking, its grand.

BrianD3

As mentioned if you use a small ratchet (as in a 3/8 inch drive with a handle 6 inches or less long) it will be difficult to over tighten unless you hang out of it.

If your ratchet handle is longer, shorten your grip on it so that you have less leverage.

bryaner

Hang on do you not have another thread open on this already?

Thought you got sorted.

mickdw

BrianD3 wrote: »

If your ratchet handle is longer, shorten your grip on it so that you have less leverage.

I think thats the best advice that can be given over the net if no torque wrench is available. Tighten as much as you can with a shorter grip.

crosstownk

Torque wrench is the only man if you're unsure.

That copper washer in the first photos look like it's either too large or was over tightened. The third photo looks OK.

It does need to be nipped but don't 'swing' out of whatever wrench you are using to tighten it. It doesn't need anything like the torque required when tightening a wheel nut/bolt.

bryaner

Just don't use your **** arm, sorted..:D

Help2

bryaner wrote: »

1/2 inch or 3/8 drive ratchet?

You'll get a lot more pull with the 1/2 inch, pretty unlikely to be able to do damage with the 3/8..

Im clueless so dont know what size ratchet.. i used the larger one out of the old mans set. On the right in the photo. im guessing its a 1/2 inch one.


2011-09-14 21.12.33 by help212, on Flickr

Help2

bryaner wrote: »

Hang on do you not have another thread open on this already?

Thought you got sorted.

Yeah i did, just wondering if ive tightened it too much tho.

bryaner

doylerandrew wrote: »

Im clueless so dont know what size ratchet.. i used the larger one out of the old mans set. On the right in the photo. im guessing its a 1/2 inch one.


2011-09-14 21.12.33 by help212, on Flickr

The smaller one is the 3/8 drive that would be the one to use , as said in an earlier post don't hang out of it and shorten your grip a bit all should be good..

bryaner

doylerandrew wrote: »

Yeah i did, just wondering if ive tightened it too much tho.

You'd know if you tightened too much as it would just go round and round, fill her up with oil and keep an eye, should be sound..

aston

Tighten it until its loose..then you know you've gone too far..

Help2

bryaner wrote: »

The smaller one is the 3/8 drive that would be the one to use , as said in an earlier post don't hang out of it and shorten your grip a bit all should be good..

Grand.. so ill loosen it and tighten it as ya said with the 3/8.. cheers.

bryaner

doylerandrew wrote: »

Grand.. so ill loosen it and tighten it as ya said with the 3/8.. cheers.

Noooo leave it as is now it should be dead on, if it's not broke don't fix it..

spiggotpaddy

leeeavve it alone.

peasant

Cleaning a few drops of oil off the driveway (because it wasn't tight enough) is a lot cheaper an simpler than re-threading your sump or having to fit a new sump because you tore the screw and thread out of it with brute force and ingnorance. (easily done, especially if its cast iron or aluminium alloy)

So, if in doubt ...tighten it a bit less ..you can always give it another quarter turn if it leaks/sweats.

Help2

peasant wrote: »

Cleaning a few drops of oil off the driveway (because it wasn't tight enough) is a lot cheaper an simpler than re-threading your sump or having to fit a new sump because you tore the screw and thread out of it with brute force and ingnorance. (easily done, especially if its cast iron or aluminium alloy)

So, if in doubt ...tighten it a bit less ..you can always give it another quarter turn if it leaks/sweats.

Cheers, well i didnt really use brute force, just as much as i could with one hand without a huge amount of force,... untill the resistance kind of hit a wall and would have required maybe brute force to tighten further.

Tefral

spiggotpaddy wrote: »

are you cereal? hand tight no. it has to be nipped up with a tool.

Im sorry what?

Yes I said hand tight, it was advice passed down to me by my mechanic father, it hasnt let him down in 45 years as a mechanic and it hasnt let me down in 10+ years of me servicing my own cars.. same goes for oil filter and sparkplugs..

cronin_j

cronin_j wrote: »

Im sorry what?

Yes I said hand tight, it was advice passed down to me by my mechanic father, it hasnt let him down in 45 years as a mechanic and it hasnt let me down in 10+ years of me servicing my own cars.. same goes for oil filter and sparkplugs..

I think he thinks you were suggesting to tighten the sump plug literally by hand, as in no socket no wrench
We all knew what you meant though.

Tefral

RoverJames wrote: »

I think he thinks you were suggesting to tighten the sump plug literally by hand, as in no socket no wrench
We all knew what you meant though.

Oh right ha ha ha, well thats completely different..

I lol'd!

corkcomp

anyone who doesnt know how much to tighten a sump plug probably shouldnt have it open in the first place. like other people said it sounds like its fine now, dont go loosening it again as you will need a new copper washer

lomb

I tighten them very little. Basically you dont want it coming loose and destroying the engine in a few seconds, of course you dont want to strip the threads. Basically I find theres very little leverage possible under a car. So I just use a normal spanner and tighten it with that till I cant tighten any more(wouldnt be tight as no leverage is possible), then I give it a tap with a hammer so the spanner moves another inch or two. Had no leaks and no stripped sumps this way and never changed any sump washers either.

corktina

its not critical as all it does is fill a hole...just tight enough for it not leak.(and if you tighten it too much like I must have done on one of my cars, you'll need to drop the sump to weld the captive nut back on (or suck the oil out of the dipstick as I do:D )

nogoodnamesleft

I recon the Op should purchase a decent torque wrench and set that to the specific torque set by the manufacturer for the sump plug. It eliminates "its too tight or too loose scenarios"

Vw sump plugs (for my car anyways [passat]) is 30NM.

spiggotpaddy

cronin_j wrote: »

Im sorry what?

Yes I said hand tight, it was advice passed down to me by my mechanic father, it hasnt let him down in 45 years as a mechanic and it hasnt let me down in 10+ years of me servicing my own cars.. same goes for oil filter and sparkplugs..

ok then, you said hand tight but you did'nt actually mean hand tight you meant
hand tight. glad you cleared that up.
were you born with a seven sixteenth on the end of your podger?