loose oil drain plug - options?!?!? (Infiniti M)

[tacodominion]

are there any inexpensive option to fix a loose oil drain plug? I went to a quick lube place and about a month ago and the car's been dripping oil ever since.... I went back there to complain and took a look at what they were doing... it turns out the previous tech stripped the oil pan thread and now the plug doesn't tighten / crush the gasket. Are there any permanent options that do not require a replacement oil pan?

Thanks...

[szh]

Ouch!

1. Have you tried re-threading the threads? Using a tool for this purpose.

2. Another possibility is to enlarge the hole by rethreading and using a larger bolt, but this makes it tough to find crush washers of the right size.

3. Make the place that did that last oil change pay for the oil pan replacement!

Z

[szh]

By the way, this is one of the reasons there are threads here at NICO about avoiding the quick lube places like the plague!

They are sloppy, uncaring, poorly trained, and often do poor quality work.

Yours is just another example of what can happen, unfortunately. Sorry that you had to experience it!

Z

[tacodominion]

1) the oil pan is aluminum so re-threading it is not an easy option.2) not sure if using a larger bolt will wake the problem worse and lead to option 3... 3) a new oil pan is ~$300 but the dealer quoted over $600 for labor since the some of the suspension sub-assembly will need to be removed during the replacement.

any thoughts on those rubber expanding bolts?

I went to the quick lube place to lodge my complaint (with the dealer estimate) and explain that I expect them to replace the pan since it's pretty much their fault that this happened... If things aren't satisfactory I guess I will need to escalate to the national HQ.

I'm not sure what they're going to do or counter with, they've committed to getting back to me by Monday so i guess i'll know then...