• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

240 Stripped threads, drain plug

D.E

D.E

tvåförti
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Location
Mora, Sweden
So I went and changed the oil in my 240 93 which was kind of like opening Pandora's box. :-P I had noticed before that the oil drain plug had been changed for a different, allen-head one before but didn't think much of it until the time came to loosen it. It was sealed with silicone and it was clear that the threads were stripped. I took it out, did what I was going to do and tightened it up again as well as I could and re-applied silicone. But of course it leaks.

I don't really feel like dropping the oil pan so I thought maybe I can re-thread it. The plug is a 3/4" 16TPI and 3/4" means about 19mm. Biltema sells a kit that contains an M20x1.5 tap, drain plug and copper washer but since the recommended drill diameter for an M20 (coarse) thread is 17.5mm I don't think it's going to work.

I think that since they changed the plug the problem probably lies in the pan threads unfortunately and apart from JB Weld, I'm not sure how to fix it.

What does TB think?
 
D.E said:
That'd be cool, until the day it falls out. :-P
Click to expand...

That's what the duct tape is for.

Serious answer: I would recommend a timesert rethreading kit, if they are available in sweden of course. They tend to last longer than helicoil or other alternatives.

Also, how does one strip out the threads on a volvo drain plug? :wtf: They are massive. It must have been a total hamfisted moron.
 
Yeah, I thought of a Helicoil type of thing but it seems like you need a whole new set of tools to even use those things. What with all the specialized taps, keys and wrenches... Besides, I don't like how they are usually pretty long and would poke up into the pan a bit, which would make it hard to drain all the oil at a later time.

I seriously don't know how the hell they did it. A forestry company owned it before me and they probably had lumberjacks working on it with great big tools made for logging machines...
 
You could get something like this
375519.jpg


Or you could try to find the right size "donkey dick" drain plug, I don't think this one will work since it's only 1/2", you would have to measure, it's probably around 3/4" I would guess.
$_57.JPG


You stick that green thing in the black thing and it stretches out skinny enough to stick in the hole then you remove the green thing and it shrinks up and seals the hole.
 
Lando said:
Also, how does one strip out the threads on a volvo drain plug? :wtf: They are massive. It must have been a total hamfisted moron.
Click to expand...

Big bolt means big long wrench means easy for Incredible Hulk to smack a ham fist of torque on the poor thing. It's amazing how little feel some people have.
 
You will just have to ask whether doing all that work to drill and tap will turn out in the end to be more difficult than just dropping the crossmember and pulling the pan. Maybe, maybe not depending how you do it and where you have to do the work (outside, inside a garage, etc.).
 
x2
That's the ticket!

The drill size for a 7/8-14UNF tap size is 13/16" diameter.
That's close enough to what you have with the stripped out 3/4" that you may not need to drill out the hole

Start the tapping plug and screw it in and back it out in increments, a little deeper each time until you have it fully seated.

Each time you take it out, clean any metal fragments from the plug.

Use a small diameter magnet with a telescoping handle to stick into the pan after tapping the new plug.

You can pick up any metal fragments that come loose.

Bend the telescoping handle so that you can touch the bottom of the pan around the hole.

The oil pan has a slight hump on the bottom that will keep any fragments near the hole

Don't worry too much, the strainer on the oil pump will catch any you miss, and they will come out at the next oil change.

If you're still concerned, with the plug out, pour a quart of cheap oil thru the engine after tapping to wash out any remaining metal fragments.

Just my opinion
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top