DOH! Stripped Sump Thread.

[Drift]

Yer I contacted Femco first, then had a chat with Richard from Difflock and for the 6 I bought he did a better deal and he buys them from Femco and I got a differs sticker oh and free postage as I bulk ordered.

BUT, Phil if your going to order, or I will for you, dont get a drain hose, save your money as I have one spare, thank Alex for that, Ill explain when I see you but beer was involved

[Sir-Doris]

ta ste, wont be for a wee while yet but a far easier alternative to the drain plug thingy.

[alex]

That reminds me, best put them on...

[kingfisher]

well guys it looks like the thread on the sump has gone , yesterday afternoon there was a big puddle of oil underneath the engine , had a look underneath and t was coming from the plug .checked the sides of the sump just in case it was coming from th engine or rear crank seal and it was dry , looked at the dipstick nothing on it .so it will have to sit on the drive till the weekend , i don,t want to use it while its losing that amount of oil . could any of you guys give me a bit of advice , can i retap the thread and fit a new plug , if so any ideas of the size i would need , or is it worth getting one of those plugs that you use on lorrys as was said in a previous post . thanks kf

[Sir-Doris]

I just got a M16x2.0 Tap and stainless bolt in the same thread. Im going to retap it as I dont want to spend over £50 on a helicoil kit. I got 1st and 2nd taps.
I would have preferred to helicoil it but its a daft amount of money and I thing a larger plug and thread will be easier to work with and less likely to strip in future.

Mine is just dripping, about 250ml a week at the moment but its enough to warrant fixing it ASAP.
I have a sneaky feeling that mine has been cross threaded for quite a while but its always had enough material to hold it tight until the last time I changed the oil.

[kingfisher]

sir let us know if that fixes it . as i don,t want to spend out on a helicoil , thanks

[Drift]

I got away with running the same sized tap through the hole and the original plug fitted back in.
I say I did but it was A friend

[Sir-Doris]

Call it a personal thing but I would prefer to drill and retap to a larger thread then chase through the existing threads, especially since my existing bolt is just spinning.

Anyway, a larger thread and bore size means I can knock at least 10 seconds off an oil change

[kingfisher]

i haven't used the fronty at all this week , today had another look underneath and decided to see if i could tighten the sump plug up a bit more , maneged to get about half a turn , mrs asked if it would be ok to go and See her mom & dad who live at stourport , so i put some oil in to the max limit on the dipstick .anyway sitting in the inlaws and the mrs says have you seen all the oil under the car , went outside checked the dipstick nothing on it , had to go and buy some more oil . £16.99 . got home and as i turned into our street the oil light came on . so looks like another £16.99 , anybody got any ideas where i can get a helicoil from . and will the sump have to come off to do it .

[Drift]

Not sure of the helicoil think I saw some on ebay, the sump on the 20l shouldnt have to come off, just take the bash plate off to ease access.
When the job is done get the cheapest oil you can and flush though to remove any swarf that could end up in the pan, then bin that oil, dont run the engine till its flushed through and got the good oil in.

[kingfisher]

this may sound like a stupid question . but what size tap would i need if i was to go down the retapping route , iv'e just been on ebay looking at the helicoil kits . what size kit would i need . and also could one of you kind guys have a look at some on there and see which ones the best as i don,t really know anything about helicoils . thanks

[Sir-Doris]

Sump thread is M14x1.5

Helicoil kit you will need will be M14x1.5 They are all the same, Helicoil being a brand name but any Helicoil type kit will do. Should be about £50/60 on ebay and similar prices elsewhere on the net.

I tried finding an M15 bolt to retap with but ended up going for M16x2.0 as bolts were readily available as are the taps. A coarser and larger thread will also reduce the chances of stripping the thread in the future.

Bear in mind that different engines have different sumps. Alloy or Steel. Pressed steel sumps are quite thin with a collar welded to the sump with a thread through it, these will probably benefit from a Helicoil type repair as opposed to an alloy sump that is generally thicker and has more material with which to redrill and retap the hole..

[kingfisher]

would that size apply to the 2ltr (c2one engine) thanks

[Sir-Doris]

As far as I know they are all the same but best to get comfirmation from other users as well.

[kingfisher]

thanks again mate

[Drift]

When I ordered the sump drain plugs they where all the same size, that covered the 2.8, 2.2dti 3.2V6, all the plugs on these where the same size, though they needed thread lock to guarantee a seal.
Ill check the size in the morning as there is a karaoke session going on here at the moment and I cant get at my tool cuboared

[Sir-Doris]

No worries. Hope you get it sorted soon. A garage shouldnt charge too much to retap it for you or even to helicoil it.
If you decide to retap yourself and m16x2.0 will fit your sump then you need a 14mm drill bit and a 1st or 2nd tap. Tap should be no more then £6, drill bit should be no more then £4 and a bolt and washer less then £1. I got my taps and drill from UK Drills on ebay.

[Sir-Doris]

Its deffo M14x1.5 ste. Found a place on ebay that sells the sump plugs for the frontera.

[kingfisher]

thanks for taking the time for helping me out mate , looking a the price difference i hink i will be doing the same as you . thanks again , i'll let youknow how i get on . cheers mick

[Sir-Doris]

Best to get a 1st AND 2nd tap as it will make the whole precess easier, especially for the sake of another £5 or £6. 1st taps have a longer taper to get the thread started, 2nd have shorter tapers and 3rd or bottom taps have no tapers and are used for blind holes.