Oil pan bolt stripped - wear and tear of poor mechanics? (vehicle, motorcycle)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
(that should say OR poor mechanics in the title...)
I have a 2006 Honda Accord EX-L V6 with about 113,000 miles on it. It was recently at the dealership and had the timing belt, water pump, and tensioners changed, along with an oil change (I only went to the dealer because they had a special for $700, which seemed pretty good).
Anyway, after they finished that work, one of the employees gave me a laundry list of things they found wrong with the vehicle while they were at it. Most of it seemed like minor things I could have done elsewhere (they wanted $560 for front brake pads & rotors!)
One thing that caught my attention however is that apparently the bolt for the oil pan is stripped. They stated that at some point in the past, someone over tightened it and caused the damage. They want $550 to install a new oil pan.
Now I've only gone to one place for my oil changes, so I called them up and asked them about it. According to the manager I spoke with on the phone, it's simply a wear and tear issue, and that it's related to having a weak aluminum oil pan. He stated that he sees it all the time and it's just one of those things that eventually happens.
It strikes me as odd how a bolt can become stripped from wear and tear, however. If I get an oil change every 5,000 miles (and I usually go a bit beyond that), that's only about 20 changes over the life of the car, which doesn't sound anywhere near enough to strip a bolt.
My mechanical knowledge is lacking, so I wanted to get some input here as to whether or not this could be a case of wear and tear, or if the guy is just trying to cover up for poor worksmanship.
No it's not wear and tear item. Someone must have messed it up. I had a corolla that I kept for 12 years - changed oil every 3K drove it for 250K and even then it was perfectly fine.
Stripping out a bolt is not wear and tear. At some point someone over-tightened it by quite a bit. Did the dealership say if the pan is stripped or the bolt is? Usually the bolt is designed much weaker so that if one strip its the one that is easiest to repair. If the pan is aluminum though you might be SOL. Most car I've been under have steel pans which are much harder to damage.
This is why I don't trust mechanics and would rather spend a hour doing my own oil change than take to some place an pay $30 to have it done.
He's just trying to cover his butt. Even if they were less durable than they used to be, screwing a bolt in 20 times over the life of an 8 year old car isn't going to do it.
If he is really the only one who has changed the oil, I'd make him a deal. Tell him that you have been a loyal customer for x years and that this is a result of his shops carelessness. You would like to continue to bring your car here but he has to meet you in the middle somewhere. If you agree to pay for the part (Approx $150) would he be willing to throw in the labor to keep a loyal customer? It's an easy fix for him. He probably pays his mechanics around $15/hour and this is about a 1 hour job. So it would cost him $15 to save a customer.
If he balks at that offer, find another mechanic. You won't get decent service there going forward.
I actually caught a dumb ass using an impact wrench on my Mom's car to tighten the drain plug. I yelled at the manager as I saw it through the glass in the waiting area, luckily I caught them in time there was no damage but I hope the mechanic got fired for doing something so stupid.
Could have gotten cross threaded one time and wrecked the threads.
Just pull the pan, re-tap the threads and put a new bolt in it. No need to toss the pan. Also keep in mind the service writers are paid commission so the more he pitches the more he gets in his paycheck!
Is it an oil pan bolt or the oil pan plug? If it's the plug and your mechanic is telling you it's a bolt you need a new mechanic.
Assuming it's the plug, others are correct in saying that it isn't a "wear" item, but I'd stop short of calling the stripping abuse. Aluminum is a very soft material, so there's not much resistance when you start to cross-thread a bolt or plug in an aluminum pan. When I sold parts we always kept an assortment of oversized self-tappin plugs on hand because it's not uncommon at all to strip one. All that being said, the place that changes your oil should have manned up and fixed the problem when it happened.
As City Guy says, the repair is not as big a deal as the service manager claims. If they're not willing or able to re-tap the hole, find someone who will.
Not a wear item at all, but it also isn't terribly difficult to strip the threads if they're aluminum. I did that once on my Honda motorcycle because I had a big brain-fart and basically forgot righty-tighty left-loosey only works AS YOU'RE FACING THE BOLT (which, when doing an oil change on a bike, you rarely are). It took a surprisingly minimal amount of force to overtighten the plug and strip the threads. Thankfully, the threads were machined into the cast aluminum block and my mechanic was able to re-tap a larger diameter thread into it.
Access to the oil pan on a FWD vehicle should be excellent, so even if you have to replace the whole pan, it shouldn't be a huge job.
Mike
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
