oil leak out of drain plug

[bmob01]

I'm slowly leaking oil out of yhe drain plug (small slow drip, about once every 5 minutes or so). Do I need a new oil pan? The bolt is tight and no wiggle room for a leak. Bought the car off CL so maybe a prior owner over torqued it, resulting in a hairline crack? When the car starts the oil leaks for a second at a faster rate then when its sitting in my garage. Any ideas?

 

[hayourwifeleftu]

try a new plastic gasket thing on the the plug.

 

[bmob01]

wait, there is supposed to be a gasket on the bolt that threads in? wow if that's the case I'm quite ignorant

 

[southrneclipser]

you could put some teflon tape around the threads of the drain bolt too. Should seal it right up.

 

[Calan]

There's a small plastic gasket, at least on some of them.

I just used a copper crush washer forever with good results, until I finally bought a new plug from the dealer.

EDIT:

Personally, I wouldn't run the risk of teflon tape unraveling and working it's way into the oil...but that's just me.

 

[bmob01]

yeah, teflon is good, but that thin of teflon at the temperature of the oil will warp it and will come undone (I know teflon is very heat resistant, but I had teflon cooking gloves that melted at my old work by picking up hot pans). The copper washer sounds like the way to go, did you use a full circular washer, or the snap ones which have the little break in them?

 

[Calan]

Full crush washer (the ones with splits are lock washers). I believe it was the same size as the one for the turbo water inlet, but don't quote me on that.

 

[2GeNTSi]

Yes, the drain plug is a M14. I actually bought some to replace my banjo bolt washers and realized that they fit the drain plug as well. You could buy the OEM washers that are $2.50 or so; they are slightly smaller than the bolt head and are slightly tapered (I guess to provide a better seal). It actually lasted me a few oil changes before it became completely flat and started to leak again.

Hopefully the copper crush washers will work for the meantime.

 

[Jermoturbo]

+1 for the copper crush washer. Should solve your problem.