November 22, 200520 yr Anyone have some techniques for loosening a stubborn oil drain plug? The damn thing won't budge. I swear I was hanging by my wrench underneath the car. No power tools or breaker bar at my disposal... Thanks!
November 22, 200520 yr Tap the end of the plug, like you were driving a nail, not full blows, but some love taps, and then try and tighten it, but not a lot, then it should let go and free up.
November 22, 200520 yr Author Tap the end of the plug, like you were driving a nail, not full blows, but some love taps, and then try and tighten it, but not a lot, then it should let go and free up. Hmm... I'll try that. Thanks
November 22, 200520 yr If you have a combination wrench, you can put the box end on the bolt. Then use another box wrench and slip it over the open end of the wrench. That will allow you to approximately double your torque on the wrench. Alternately, you can use a cheater bar. It's just a length of pipe that will slip over your wrench handle and allow you to apply more leverage. I have several different lengths. It works best if your wrenches have a good warranty.
November 22, 200520 yr a $5 1/2" drive 12" breaker bar and a 3' long piece of 1x1 box steel will coherce pretty much any bolt out with little effort on your part.
November 22, 200520 yr does your subaru have a skid plate ,if so remove it first ,much easier to gey to plug, i found that out
November 22, 200520 yr umm yeah...cheeter bar.... = lots and lots of pain.... i broke a 1" drive breaker bar using a cheeter bar... landed 15 feet away.... decided it was time for a lunch break after that.... suppose a smalll one on a car bolt isn't a bad idea tho... good luck.... dan
November 22, 200520 yr I had to take out one that had been super tightened and rounded off by a quickie oil change place. Used a pipe wrench, but you will have to get a new plug afterwards. Do this as a last resort. Russell
November 22, 200520 yr What about some PB blaster? I have had good luck with that and stubborn bolts. -=fred=-
November 22, 200520 yr Author does your subaru have a skid plate ,if so remove it first ,much easier to gey to plug, i found that out Yeah, took off the skid plate. About to try this again...
November 22, 200520 yr you sure you're turning it the right way? actually i was over at a friends a few months back and he was reefing on his drainplug and i looked underneath and he was turning it the wrong way.. sooo it does happen.. lol
November 22, 200520 yr Vise grips and a hammer. With any luck, it won't do as much damage as a 12 pt combination wrench slipping on the hex of the plug. To prevent this, change the crush washer. They last for about 3 oil changes before they get too flat to seal, and then the torque requirements on the plug get so high that it becomes way too much work to remove.
November 23, 200520 yr I use a IIRC 17mm 6pt socket and wratchet or 6pt wrench and a hammer to tap the tool to loosen, it works, BTDT
November 23, 200520 yr Author Whatever you do to get it out, let us know. The suspense is killing me! Haha, got it out. But not by any of the ways mentioned above. Maybe a combination? I tried spraying some WD-40 on it and waiting for a bit. Got back under and pulled/pushed away... no luck. I even tried tapping the wrench with a hammer to hopefully gain some slack... still nothing. I was about to give up but decided to try using my 12" socket wrench and pull while on two feet from in front of the car. I swear I was about to pull the car off the jackstands and just like that the plug came loose. Had to go out and buy a set of oil filter pliers to pull out the filter, but that's the easy part. I want a beer now. Thanks again for all the suggestions!
November 23, 200520 yr I am glad you got it off. That would suck to not be able to change your oil. -=fred=-
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