plug drips make me a mess
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New User
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Mansfield, OH
plug drips make me a mess
bought me a F-150 about 2 months ago 1992 6cyl/electronic Trans -runs and drives fine but has a drip at oil drain plug. I replaced the orig with one of those quick drain units with a copper gasket. Put silicone sealer around the threads and gasket-torqued it down to 24 pounds and it still drips. I have a concrete drive and my wife don't like it. Help! Any Ideas??
Also I noticed there is some kid of heavy coating on the pan which is chipped off in several places on the bottom and sides - is this any thing to worry about?? If so; how to correct??
Tarkon
Also I noticed there is some kid of heavy coating on the pan which is chipped off in several places on the bottom and sides - is this any thing to worry about?? If so; how to correct??
Tarkon
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Joined: Jan 2003
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plug drips make me a mess
Are you sure it is actually leaking from the plug? The plug is the lowest spot on the pan so all the oil will run there before actually dripping. Check all the other bolts around the pan to make sure they are tight, see if you can see anything wrong with the gasket. You might want to poke the spots where the coating has been chipped off to see it they actually have tiny holes in them.
Longneck
Longneck
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From: Mansfield, OH
plug drips make me a mess
Longneck
I am pretty sure that is the only drip point. the entire pan was oily [plus other ajoining areas too] but as I was working on it yesterday I cleaned everything off and could see nothing else loosing oil but the drain plug. I put cardboard under it last night and will know more after I check it today.
tarkon
I am pretty sure that is the only drip point. the entire pan was oily [plus other ajoining areas too] but as I was working on it yesterday I cleaned everything off and could see nothing else loosing oil but the drain plug. I put cardboard under it last night and will know more after I check it today.
tarkon
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plug drips make me a mess
Hello-
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Welcome to Ford Truck Enthusiasts! The Internet's leading Ford TRUCK and SUV Resource!
This thread has been moved from Garage and Workshop Tips forum where we share ideas about how to organize tools, heat the shop, or free that rusty bolt. Unfortunately no truck tech questions are allowed there. Please scan down the list of available forums and place your topic in the most specific forum you can find, -fairly simple to do and just takes a moment.
Please take the time to read the headings and notices in each forum. The FTE board is HUGE! We want users to be able to find answers to their questions so it is organized into many areas and search tools are provided.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact a moderator.
Please turn on your email function. Users do not have access to your actual email address.
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Elder User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 870
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From: Upstate NY Rochester
plug drips make me a mess
Hey there tarkon and welcome to the Forum! Ok, we gave you a day. What did you find out? My oil pan is/was leaking due to a hairline crack. Dye helped there. It's being braised by my mech.
Air cleaners, valve covers, oil pans and the like are produced using thin layers of sheet metal and pressed under high pressure stampings and heat. A few years of driving in the salt, will start to wear away those layers up here. The threaded boss, welded to the pan for the plug can be damaged very easily also. Cross threading usually doesn't happen very often, but it does...
Ask your mech to do some dye to find out for sure.
I was lucky my wife let me back into the house after my leak! She was re-assured by the DEC, that the 2 qts of oil I left in the driveway, in 20 minutes time, could be cleaned up and the Haz-Mat Team didn't need to be called! HEE HEE!
Concrete etching took care of the oil stain. (plumbers acid) Use ALL protection aids available. The stuff will burn you...
Get back to us soon!
Air cleaners, valve covers, oil pans and the like are produced using thin layers of sheet metal and pressed under high pressure stampings and heat. A few years of driving in the salt, will start to wear away those layers up here. The threaded boss, welded to the pan for the plug can be damaged very easily also. Cross threading usually doesn't happen very often, but it does...
Ask your mech to do some dye to find out for sure.
I was lucky my wife let me back into the house after my leak! She was re-assured by the DEC, that the 2 qts of oil I left in the driveway, in 20 minutes time, could be cleaned up and the Haz-Mat Team didn't need to be called! HEE HEE!
Concrete etching took care of the oil stain. (plumbers acid) Use ALL protection aids available. The stuff will burn you...
Get back to us soon!
Thread Starter
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New User
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Mansfield, OH
plug drips make me a mess
Thanks to the folks that made suggestions to solve my drip problem. I had hoped my "cobble up job" with sealant on 7/31 would take care of it, but unfortunately, it still drippeth forth. I am going to try [1] javi2001 idea-get an Explorer plug which has an internal O-ring, [2] LJ-mar idea-get an oversized plug, [3] Sooter29's idea that the pan might have an hairline crack and to use dye to find it, in that order. I am still concerned about what appears to me to be, some kind of a thick coating on the pan which is chipping off. No one has mentioned their pan having such a coating. maybe it's just layers of the pan chipping off. That's a bit scary to consider. Again thanks to all for the ideas.
Tarkon
Tarkon
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 870
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From: Upstate NY Rochester
plug drips make me a mess
Hey tarkon! Sorry about that.. It's either undercoating overspray, or driving across those crack patch areas on our fine roadways.
But then it could be like mine, and the pan itself is chippng away due to rust! I'm having my mech braise on a nice thick piece of sheet metal. Galvanized, scuff it up and undercoat it the rest of it's life!! Talk with you guys later....
But then it could be like mine, and the pan itself is chippng away due to rust! I'm having my mech braise on a nice thick piece of sheet metal. Galvanized, scuff it up and undercoat it the rest of it's life!! Talk with you guys later....
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Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 9,987
Likes: 7
From: Memphis, TN
plug drips make me a mess
The thick coating is road grime that has built up on the oily surface of the pan, which is just now getting thick enough to flake off. Get a paint scraper (preferrably plastic) and remove as much as you can. Then use Gunk Engine Brite each day until you have it looking spiffy. 
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Thread Starter
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New User
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Mansfield, OH
plug drips make me a mess
Well thanks to all for the assistance with my problem. I tried one of the Ford Explorer plugs, as suggested, but the one I got had different threads than my pan. I went back and got an oversized plug [w/neopreme washer, [wrapped a couple of twists of teflon tape around the threads - suggestion of a guy at the parts store] screwed it in and **LO** the oil pan is dry as a bone for the last two days. It's great!! The other problem that Scooter 29 & steve83 addressed was the flaking material from the surface of the pan. Unfortunately, Scooter29 was correct. It was the pan itself chipping away due to rust. There was even a pin hole though the pan that was oozing oil. Fortunately, I had some Titanium Putty which I mixed up and was able, after removing all loose material and cleaning it well, apply it to the damaged areas and rebuilt the surface. Everything is now clean and dry and Momma is happy about it too.
Again thanks for all the suggestions.
Tarkon
Again thanks for all the suggestions.
Tarkon
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 423
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From: Nova Scotia, Canada
plug drips make me a mess
If it was my truck I would put a new oil pan on it. I see trucks with leaky pans all the time at work, they usually find this out when they check there oil and there is none on the dipstick. fixing it temporarily os ok, but to play it safe a new pan should go one.
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