25 replies to this topic

[murtle]

Was thinking i would do a oil and filter change on murtle however the oil sump drain plug just spins and spins and spins and spins. So im guessing its f**ked, probably over tightened it. So what do i do now? and how much am i looking at
ta

[mini25]

so the thread is gone, ur looking at a a helicoil i believe, not sure on prices, but sum1 will be along shortly

[murtle]

i need to get the bolt out aswell as its still in there:(

[Jay81]

might not be possible but could you not go very carefull and drill a small hole into the plug and insert a self tapping screw and hope you can unsrew that way if its not too tight
as for the thread you can buy some kind of paste from your local motor factors that rebuilds the thread dont how good it is though

[Big_Adam]

Pair of grips and a bit of tugging and the bolt should come out.

edit

twist and tug.

Edited by Big_Adam, 24 February 2007 - 03:26 PM.

[murtle]

twist and tug seems a bit difficult atm as its quite stiff to turn but it just spins, what i am considering doing is to keep tightening it to well and truely f**k it so should them come out easier but still considering this. Might look into gettin a garage to do it. Also been looking at helicoil kits and minispares do a self tapping drain plug which is lots cheaper and looks more simple than the helicoil because the last thing i want to do is f**k the whole sump

[Retro_10s]

two choices once the plug's out.

1. A helicoil kit (rebuilds the thread basically)
2. Tap a larger bolt into it.

The second choice is slightly cheaper. Would Cost around £100 to get it helicoiled....

[pogie]

The same happened to the drain plug on my Mini. The first time I serviced the car I realised the threads in the box were stripped when I couldn't tighten the plug up, but luckily it came out quite easily. Rather than take the engine and box out of the car for a helicoil, I got a tapered plug from Minispares which works fine. I also wrap some plumbers PTFE tape around the threads of the tapered plug before putting it in to make sure it doesn't leak.

A word of caution if you decide on the tapered plug. Because the thread is tapered, tightening it up too much can crack the gearbox casing. When tightening the plug up you don't need to screw head of the plug all the way to the face of the gearbox. It’s hard to describe, but you will “feel” when the plug is in tight enough. If you did try to get the head of the plug all the way home you would probably crack the gearbox casing.

HTH

Edited by pogie, 24 February 2007 - 04:13 PM.

[murtle]

cheers pogie i was looking for someone who had used the minispares tapered plug, as it looks cheaper and easier really, i understand it when you mean not to over tighten it as shoving somethin in a small hole that is tooo big will cause a nice big crack. hehe.
I just stuck on gettin the bolt out now ideas...?

[pogie]

cheers pogie i was looking for someone who had used the minispares tapered plug, as it looks cheaper and easier really, i understand it when you mean not to over tighten it as shoving somethin in a small hole that is tooo big will cause a nice big crack. hehe.
I just stuck on gettin the bolt out now ideas...?

Mine just unscrewed so I was lucky. You need to get some sort of pulling force on the plug as you unscrew it, I'm not sure you have enough space but maybe try getting a pair of mole-grips on the plug and pull on them as you unscrew. You could also try gently easing a small screwdriver between the head of the plug and the gearbox casing and use it as a lever as you undo it.

Sorry I can't be more help, but good luck.

[supersonic]

cheers pogie i was looking for someone who had used the minispares tapered plug, as it looks cheaper and easier really, i understand it when you mean not to over tighten it as shoving somethin in a small hole that is tooo big will cause a nice big crack. hehe.
I just stuck on gettin the bolt out now ideas...?

Mine just unscrewed so I was lucky. You need to get some sort of pulling force on the plug as you unscrew it, I'm not sure you have enough space but maybe try getting a pair of mole-grips on the plug and pull on them as you unscrew. You could also try gently easing a small screwdriver between the head of the plug and the gearbox casing and use it as a lever as you undo it.

Sorry I can't be more help, but good luck.

i'm planning on doing an oil and filter change on my mini this weekend. is their a sump plug washer? if so what size is it and where can i get one from. thanks.

tim

[murtle]

There is one on it but they usually ok to reuse, if not try minispares or minisport they bound to have them

[Big_Adam]

Aye, their copper washers. Not like a nylon thing washer

[Retro_10s]

My local motorfactors sell the washers, but i upgraded mine in the end...

I used a Mondea sump washer (think it was mondeo) as well as being made of copper as per the mini item...it has a rubber ring on it that helps create a very good seal...

[Sprocket]

Quick fix as said above, use a taper plug and PTFE tape

Edited by Mini Sprocket, 24 February 2007 - 11:42 PM.