2002 Something happened to my oil plug | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models
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2002 Something happened to my oil plug

  • Thread starter Thread starter kerrigan
  • Start date Start date
kerrigan
Reaction score
4
Thunderbird Year
2002
Hello team,

Howdy! ⚡️
I’m a bit short for time and pretty confident that this has not occurred to anyone at least recently, so please allow me to ask for your opinion on what the heck I am looking at?

Quite simply:
• I went to drain the oil in the 2002 Tbird and plug wouldn’t budge. I then realized there was something white around it. I thought in wonderment whether it had been welded.

• Turns out, the white stuff came off.

• Now, what the heck is this and why did somebody mark it with red paint?
IMG_2743.jpegIMG_2738.jpeg

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Last edited by a moderator:
I do not like the look of that and hope that isn't some kludge to keep the plug from leaking because its stripped and they slathered some sort of goo on there to get by. The red paint may be the indicator of how far you can 'snug' the bolt into the stripped pan and get it somewhat tight before you pass the 'sweet spot' and it goes loose again.

Second thought it is a visual 'check' to see if the red marks don't match up; meaning the bolt is coming loose.

If you find the plug threads are stripped there are kits to deal with it.
 
You can tell the bolt has damage where the wrench has slipped off, etc. It's definitely had a rough life. Fortunately this is an unnecessary, but common problem with cars. This is why I change my own oil again, because I do not trust the flunkies at the shops.

Search Youtube for general stripped oil plug fixes.
 
That Oil Plug has the bolt heads shaved (nubs?), as if someone used an incorrect wrench size? Who knows... Many years ago, we were able to buy an Oversize (Thread Diameter) for a situation such as this. Good Luck... Frankie has hit the nail on the head!
 
Replacing the oil pan is easy to do. After raising the vehicle on a lift or on jack stands, drain the engine oil and remove the bolts and the engine cross member.

cross member.jpg

Remove the bolts and the oil pan. Using a plastic scraping tool, remove all traces of sealant and make sure all gasket sealing surfaces are clean and dry.

Install a new oil pan gasket and the oil pan. Tighten the bolts in the sequence shown in two stages.

Stage 1: Tighten to 44-inch lbs.
Stage 2: Tighten to 9 ft. lbs.

oil pan.jpg

Install the engine cross member and tighten the bolts to 36 ft. lbs.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
 
That bolt head has been rounded off by overtorqueing, probably by some idiot using a air ratchet to remove and install . That "gook" looks like an epoxy, such as JB Weld, applied to hold the plug without leaking after stripping the threads in the pan by the same idiot to get the car out of the shop without the car owner knowing of issue, Not so uncommon practice at some oil quick change shops. I definitely would not drive the car with that mess. You can try a repair kit with a oversized oil plug, but replacing the oil pan is the safest route.
 
Replacing the oil pan is easy to do. After raising the vehicle on a lift or on jack stands, drain the engine oil and remove the bolts and the engine cross member.

View attachment 32704

Remove the bolts and the oil pan. Using a plastic scraping tool, remove all traces of sealant and make sure all gasket sealing surfaces are clean and dry.

Install a new oil pan gasket and the oil pan. Tighten the bolts in the sequence shown in two stages.

Stage 1: Tighten to 44-inch lbs.
Stage 2: Tighten to 9 ft. lbs.

View attachment 32705

Install the engine cross member and tighten the bolts to 36 ft. lbs.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
Well I’ll be darned. Thank you! I know that’d take a while to find.
 
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