Oil Pan / Drain Plug threads

Hi folks

I have nowhere to work on my truck (2011 5.7L) at the moment, and with the mileage creeping up I decided to drop by a shop and get the oil changed today.

About half an hour (suspicions rising) in, I asked what was going on and got a half-cut explanation that the threads on my oil pan were worn and the plug wouldn't torque down. Apparently an inexperienced tech had removed the plug, whereas a more experienced hand would've known and turned me away refusing service.

Ten minutes later though, I was given an unprompted refund for the oil change and told that there was no way the issue could've been known til after the plug was removed. I was told respectively that it wasn't, then was, a big deal that it couldn't be torqued down, but that I need to get the threads recut / it's not possible cos the steel is too thin on Tundras so I have to get a new oil pan fitted. No leaks were found after a couple of minutes at 2000rpm and 5mins at idle, and I got out after an hour.

I drove home via a SMOG check (passed) and there's no signs of oil leaking at all nor any warnings on the dash. Gonna go check around the skid plate again in a few minutes.

Has anyone else encountered issues with these threads or plugs? Or is my suspicion that an inexperienced tech just over-torqued the crap out of my plug and stripped the threads more likely?

Any help greatly appreciated, and will go towards restoring my faith in humanity after this pageantry and getting rear-ended yesterday on the freeway in our other car

 

Sounds like your out the door oil change warranty just expired

 

Did they replace the drain plug washer? Who did the previous oil change? Sounds like someone may have applied too many ugga-duggas.

 

Someone probably cranked on it too much. Kind of shitty the shop wouldn't just fix it. My first thought is bump up to the next size tap, whether that's metric or imperial. I think there is a nut or plate welded in that tapped so it's not just thin sheet metal---obviously there's something that the plug is threading into. The next option would be to find a shop that has a welder and is competent, which is easier said than done, and just weld a nut to the outside of the pan and thread a bolt into that.

If its sealed now, my biggest concern would be the bolt backing out. Id crawl under there and put a wrench on it and just see how tight it actually is, and base my concern off of that.

 

My 2010 5.7 Tundra had a leaking oil plug. Drained the oil, while truck was lifted on an angle so the oil drained completely. Then rethreaded the pan with a slightly larger tap and then installed a fumoto valve using gasket sealer. Never a problem again.

I don't remember the exact ones, but I think the pan bolt was a metric thread and the tap I used was SAE. I bought the Fumoto valve the same size as the tap, not the listed one for the Tundra.

 

The OEM plug size is M12-1.25. It has extra material where the plug screws into the pan (see picture). Mine had a stripped drain plug when I bought it and I just replaced the whole pan. Not a bad job. I thought about retreading it but decided to replace the pan instead.

 

Down and dirty…drill and tap it for a 1/4” NPT pipe plug. Plenty of meat there for that. Just don’t tap too deep or the plug won’t tighten up. Super easy, cheap and quick. Hell, lots of modern small engines use pipe plugs on their sumps.

 

Hey folks.

Thanks for all the help! Quick update: I’ve now been told 4 different stories about what happened, none of which add up. I also have written acknowledgement that things they stated on an invoice as “Checked - Ok” weren’t even inspected. They are, however, flat-out refusing to admit they caused the damage, and I can’t prove it.

Getting the pan tapped next week, and planning to add a Fumoto valve at that point. If the OEM is M12 then I’m guessing the M14 is the way to go?

Again thanks to all.

 

Valvomax.com is great. I've been using those for years but I also haven't had a shop do an oil change in 15 years.

Shop should cover the cost of repair. Small claims court?

 

I decided it's not worth pursuing it, too much energy already. They refunded me the oil change, and I'm going to ask the mechanic I found to tap it (I'm recovering from hernia surgery so I can't even get under the truck rn) to salvage the oil and reuse it as it has all of 15 miles use lol. The labor outlay, plus the Fumoto valve, should be a similar amount to what they refunded.

I can take solace in knowing I cost them money and time, and all they got from me was a headache, zero dollars and a factually accurate Yelp review...

 

I can relate OP. I have had two opportunities to sue a guy / company over a financial slight but I'd end up having to miss at least one mowing day and I live by mowing days.

 

the oil pan on these trucks is small, and very easy to change, not a big deal and its cheap

secondly look at helicoils for the pan, thats the correct fix, not welding another nut on; there isn't a huge amount of meat there so you might not be able to heli coil but the hole could be tapped ever so slightly larger to accommodate a different bolt. But at that point we would just tell the customer that we're replacing the pan

 

(Stupid question alert)

I'm not a mechanic but I'm assuming the pan would have to off anyway to rethread the hole, right?

 

No, we rethread or heli coil with the pan still on the car

 

Got a video link?

Now I am off to look up "heli coil."

 

IMHO just replace the oil pan, here is a good resource for OEM parts toyotapartsdeal. Once the new one is in put a Fumoto valve in and this will never be an issue again.

 

Uhhh no sorry I’ve never recorded me doing one, always too nervous to not mess up and drill in crooked