Oil change without pulling drain plug?

[Rant72]

Yeah I understand it sounds insane to cut the cross member. Normally I would be the first one to say that it's a terrible idea. I'm keeping it in the back on my head though if I get into a pinch.

I did find the post I saw it in: 3.7L Oil pan replacement pictures - JeepForum.com

It's in the 7th post.

This is a bit off topic, but your post has me wondering tommudd. With rusty nuts and bolts I've dealt with, I've personally moved towards using an impact, or whacking a wrench with a hammer to bust things free rather than using my God given muscles. I feel as though I'm less likely to break things with quick hits rather than torquing on it. I'm curious of others feelings on it.

 

[tommudd]

Yeah I understand it sounds insane to cut the cross member. Normally I would be the first one to say that it's a terrible idea. I'm keeping it in the back on my head though if I get into a pinch.

I did find the post I saw it in: 3.7L Oil pan replacement pictures - JeepForum.com

It's in the 7th post.

This is a bit off topic, but your post has me wondering tommudd. With rusty nuts and bolts I've dealt with, I've personally moved towards using an impact, or whacking a wrench with a hammer to bust things free rather than using my God given muscles. I feel as though I'm less likely to break things with quick hits rather than torquing on it. I'm curious of others feelings on it.

It all depends on the situation and the bolt, some yes you can use an impact on but things like a simple drain plug is way over kill

 

[twowings]

Get yourself some Kroil (Penetrating-Lubricating Oils) and soak that plug down for a day or two...it'll come loose...

 

[CactusJacked]

This is the first I've heard of marine oil changes. I will have to do some looking around to see if I have a pump around that would suck it up out (a syringe would be brutal haha).

Probably more brutal than you expect. You would have to stick a rubber hose down the dipstick tube to get it to the bottom of the oil pan. You're talking about a hose with a pretty small hole....zzzzzz. Or, use thin wall copper tubing, which would give you a bigger hole. Marine dipstick tubes extend down to the bottom of the pan, and have a garden hose fitting at the top to attach the sucker-outer pump...yeah I've been through the inboard boat phase. Street engines generally don't have the dipstick tube extending to the bottom of the pan. I have a pump you can borrow, but they're cheap to buy. Hopefully this would only be your last resort, good luck with the drain plug.

 

[tommudd]

Get yourself some Kroil (Penetrating-Lubricating Oils) and soak that plug down for a day or two...it'll come loose...

best stuff out there
But the only thing he is trying to loosen is the blue gunk they put on , should be no rust

 

[M38 Bob]

I find the idea of putting any penetrating oil on an OIL DRAIN PLUG both the most humorous and at the same time asinine thing I've heard in a while! There's a gasket between the bolt head and the seating area of the pan.:emotions34: You can be assured that ALL the threads on the other side of said gasket are soaked,immersed, inundated, marinated,filled to the brim with oil. Oil that would surely be weeping out around them, were it not for the gasket. That very clearance area that's already full of oil(on the other side of the gasket, remember) is the only place where penetrating oil could ever conceivably have any effect. If said gasket was in any way susceptible to the effect of any oil it would be pretty much worthless as a gasket.

Having dealt with the frozen, seized, oxidized, totally unlubricated fasteners holding exhaust pipes to engine manifolds since the 70's I'll always grab any form of impact driver to loosen any threaded fastener before attempting to do it by hand. The judicious use of hammering/cycling impact tools will always jar a fastener loose (as long as some ******* doesn't just lay into the trigger full blast) more reliably than steady, continuous physical exertion. Over kill for a drain plug? I LURVE overkill! :gr_grin:

Bob

 

[tommudd]

Full on power, drain plugs comes out quick, OP covered in oil:happy175:

 

[Rant72]

Hey you laugh but that's about what happned! I crawled back under and still didn't like how it felt pulling on it. 10 or so bangs with the impact though and she broke free!
After that I had one of those "why didn't you just do this in the first place *******" moments as I scraped the rtv off the pan.
Thank you for all of the suggestions everyone! It was greatly appreciated! Seems like a very good community here.
Now I just gotta track down some more vacuum/evap leaks. I'm impressed that the dealer was able to keep the check engine light off long enough to get it inspected.

 

[profdlp]

If it makes you feel any better, every time I change my oil I have this fleeting moment of panic that the bolt is not going to come out. It always does, though, eventually... Every single time I put it back in I try to not tighten it quite so much. Then next time - it's the same old story. I swear, I could put it in there just finger tight and I would still need a breaker bar to get it back off. :icon_lol:

I actually just ordered a new drain plug. It's OEM, so no difference there. I do feel like I have rounded the old one off just a bit with my repeated "gosh, this thing ain't moving" twisting and yanking.

Glad you got it loose. :favorites13:

 

[M38 Bob]

prof, is it coming with a new gasket? If not be sure to get one before installation.

Bob

 

[renegade 04]

If your oil pan is rusty and want to protect it, you should LIGHTY wire brush it and paint it with POR15. That is what I did for my oil pan and so far no new rust problems.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I wipe my oil pan down each oil change with an oily rag and I don't have any rust issues on it.

 

[mx3_ryder]

I wipe my oil pan down each oil change with an oily rag and I don't have any rust issues on it.

x2

 

[profdlp]

prof, is it coming with a new gasket? If not be sure to get one before installation.

Bob

From the picture, I'd say yes. I'll let you know once it gets here.

 

[profdlp]

prof, is it coming with a new gasket? If not be sure to get one before installation.

Bob

From the picture, I'd say yes. I'll let you know once it gets here.

It arrived yesterday and is exactly like the old one, right down to the "4.8" stamped on the head of the bolt. The gasket is more or less molded onto the thing. As an OEM part, that's what I expected.

 

[CactusJacked]

This whole change the oil through the dipstick thing reminds me about the proctologist who learned to work on his own cars. He could rebuild an engine by going through the tailpipe.

 

[teeje]

Change the damn thing already lol. Drill a hole so it's not heavy but make sure you're smart enough to not drill too deep


2002 Jeep Liberty 3.7L with brand new engine
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