The genius previous owner of my car didn't use a washer on the sump plug. The bolt is now seized onto the sump. I have tried wd-40 etc but nothing seems to shift it. I have put a massive amount of torque onto it but it just won't move.

How do I get this off without drilling, rattling it off, or removing the lower sump?

Rob

Are you trying with the engine warm or cold? You might have better luck cracking it off when its cold.

Other than that have a spoonful of concrete and get a tight-fitting socket and wrench and whack it with a mallet

Or you could try that freeze lok stuff first to chill the bolt

Are you using a breaker bar? I know they can just be bastards, when I first got mine this was the case, I didn't own a breaker bar and RP7/WD40 didn't help either.

I found a piece of metal pipe that would slide over the socket arm to give it more leverage and cracked it that way, saves having to buy a breaker bar.

I did it with the engine warm. Forgot about that. I will try it cold and with the mallet. If that doesn't get it off I will just have to go borrow my mates compressor and rattle gun.

I tried it with the breaker bar for leverage but that didn't help.

Thanks for the quick responses.

Sump plugs on Magna's dont have a washer, they use an "O" ring, pop down to Mits, get a new sump plug from a 380 with the washer, then you can use anything you want to get the old one off, generally if these are an issue you can use a cold chisel or similar to budge it given yo have a new plug so damage to the old one will not matter

have you tied tapping the bolt with a hammer .
it may help to break the seal

Sump plugs on Magna's dont have a washer, they use an "O" ring, pop down to Mits, get a new sump plug from a 380 with the washer, then you can use anything you want to get the old one off, generally if these are an issue you can use a cold chisel or similar to budge it given yo have a new plug so damage to the old one will not matter

Hi Mal. Yes you're right. It is an o ring (I am just used to saying washer). I have a new plug with o ring from repco. I have used them before.

What is the OEM size of the bolt itself? The one on my magna was 18mm but this one is a massive 24mm. The repco replacement is 16mm.

have you tied tapping the bolt with a hammer .
it may help to break the seal

Yes. I didn't punish it too much but I gave the bolt a fair whacking. It would not come loose.

Try this trick while you're at it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqNcBkLvptg&feature=plcp

Above may be fine for most but for a sump plug forget that alltogether.

The std Magna third gen is the 24mm, usually a single hex is used. I generally replace mine with the 380 plug as it is a 17mm and a little larger. Mits used the flat plug hex I suspect to reduce the chance of damage should there be an impact however the 380 has the more standard sump plug and does not seem to have issues thus why I use them

It's not so much the lack of an "O" ring under the bolt head, it's how tight it was done up the last time. They seem to freeze in really well when you over tighten them. (using a torque wrench would be a good idea. 42 Nm IIRC)

I've had to cut one off using an angle grinder - slicing the head off neatly until it is almost flush with the sump metal. Once the head of the plug was paper thin it undid by hand. The thin headed 24 mm plug is a pain, even when torqued up properly, it is too easy for the socket to slip off and rip off the corners. As above the 380 or Lancer 17 mm plug has a much taller head on them and take a socket without slipping off when you apply a lot of force.

Same thing happened to me a few years ago, with my old TE V6.
In the end I took it to my local exhaust shop, and they only way they could get it off was to weld a 24mm nut to the sump plug and then attack it with a breaker bar.
The 17mm 380 plug is def way less hassle.

It's not so much the lack of an "O" ring under the bolt head, it's how tight it was done up the last time. They seem to freeze in really well when you over tighten them. (using a torque wrench would be a good idea. 42 Nm IIRC)

I've had to cut one off using an angle grinder - slicing the head off neatly until it is almost flush with the sump metal. Once the head of the plug was paper thin it undid by hand. The thin headed 24 mm plug is a pain, even when torqued up properly, it is too easy for the socket to slip off and rip off the corners. As above the 380 or Lancer 17 mm plug has a much taller head on them and take a socket without slipping off when you apply a lot of force.

Yes, I use a torque wrench too. I think I tighten it to about 44 or so. The repco plug has a big head on it and it only 16mm so I don't need to use my heavy 1/2 drive wrench.

I have chewed up the corners a bit, but the bolt is still servicable. Because I don't have easy access to a hoist without paying someone to do it, I have very little room for leverage on the stands. In turn, that makes the breaker bar slip. I will try again tomorrow morning when the engine is dead cold and report back.

Thanks for the tips guys.

Are you certain that your turning it the right way. It is easy to get confused when your upside down and working in an arkward postion.