Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My oil drain plug on my car is froze and rounded ?

My oil drain plug is froze and rounded and it won't budge, I tried a pair of vice grips and only rounded the head more. I have a pipe wrench I was going to try that. Should I heat up the bolt first? It is on a 1993 ford escort, and there is not enough room to put a socket on it. Any suggestions? Thank you..My oil drain plug on my car is froze and rounded ?
you can heat it a little but to help it but a good pipe wrench will remove it,i get a hold of a few once in a while that's rounded off and usually the pipe wrench is the last resort to get those off,but it works,good luck.My oil drain plug on my car is froze and rounded ?
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Don't heat the bolt! It will expand and make the problem worse. If there's no room for a socket, the only other thing I can think of is a cold chisel. Whack the bolt with the cold chisel and the biggest hammer you can wield in the space available. Whack it at an angle, in the right direction to undo it. Eventually you will make a notch which will mean you can whack it harder. Hopefully you have space to make a few notches, which could mean you might again have enough grip to use a wrench. Brutal, but it usually works.
have someone weld a flat piece of metal to that drain plug and then you can put vice grips on the metal shank and turn the drain plug counter clock wise. after you do that get a new drain plug. there is tools at the car parts store that can also get that drain plug off, but i like doing it my way. i wish you well on this problem.
I wouldn't heat it. If the car has been warmed up then that should have the same effect without the possible problems of having a torch applied to the oil pan. The vice grips you used may not have been big enough to put enough grip on the drain plug. I would try using a larger vice grip to get the plug out and definitely replace it.
Can you use a flat file on the bolt faces and restore the sharp corners? Then try fitting the next smaller size socket (either metric or inch size, which ever fits the bolt.)





Be sure to use a 6-point socket -- a 12-point socket has too many angles and will only round off the plug head again.
The pipe wrench should do the trick. Just be sure that you are trying to turn the plug in the right direction.



use a file to square up the edges of the drain plug and then use a 6 point boxed end wrench to loosen it.
Hi sorry to hear this are you turning it the right way lefty loosey


righty tighty good luck
anthentherwasi said it, bolt out. Sears carries them.
I would use a Phillip and hit it with a hammer at an angle.
they have sockets for that called bolt out its perfect for rounded bolts
ha take it to jiffy lube and let it be their problem

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