my drain plug is leaking??

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Hey guys I have never had a plug leak before its on my 2006 Sequoia. Would an auto parts store carry a new washer or just get a new plug from Toyota..
 
You need to figure out whether it's the plug or the pan. If it's the plug, an auto parts store may well have one. If it turns out to be the pan, hold onto your hat. They're really expensive.
 
The dealer gives them away for free just go to the parts desk and ask. You can get away with installing the new washer without losing much oil. Will spill a little, so have your oil change pan under..When the car is cold...Unscrew to the end...then quicky take the bolt off and plug with your thumb. Put the washer on the bolt with your free hand, or have a friend ready. Put it back. Sounds funny but if your fast it can be done. Lose a little oil, maybe a cup.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Is it a crush washer that was not meant to be reused? I'd just get another one from Toyota to ensure proper fit.


No, its not a crush washer, just a metal washer that gets crushed by quick lube shops with the air guns set to max. Only crush washers are on the older Tranny plugs.
 
Are you sure it's the drain plug...? And not say, the oil pan "gasket" leaking, and then dripping "down" to the plug area, which in most instances is at the "bottom most" part of the pan, the plug?
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Giving it that illusion?
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Depending on the vehicle, you will either have a standard aluminum washer, a copper crush washer or a rubber gasket. I have seen all between my truck and car.

Your best bet is to pick up a few from your dealer to ensure you get the correct part. Then replace your current one that is leaking. May be easiest to simply use a clean pan, drain all oil, replace washer and re-use the oil for the remainder of the OC.

After your have solved the problem, measure the un-used washers and source them yourself. You may find your dealer is the cheapest but in my case, Nissan was over 2.50 each but online (ebay) was less then a buck, heck, less then 50 cents each.

SideNote: The aluminum and copper crush are designed for 1 time use. Yes, you can get away with multiple uses but that is not the design intent and the result is what you see right now, a drip. Do yourself a favor and invest in a new washer each time and call it good. It is cheap insurance to avoid a drip in the long run, especially if you are not the primary driver of the vehicle. It is amazing on how much can be overlooked by someone not interested in the maintance of the vehicle or anything for that matter.
 
Originally Posted By: cutter
Copper's soft and malleable, wouldn't it just keep deforming and plugging up under the drain plug until it's as thin as gold foil?


I'm looking at 2 spares the Toyota dealer gave me. I'd say aluminum. This is EXACTLY what they look like.
 
I've been re-using a copper one for years. I went to an autozone with my drain plug and picked up a copper one that fit inside the plug. M16 or whatever, I vaguely remember this because I thought about guns when I bought it. No problems.
 
Listen to ahoier's advice before you go out and buy a new washer. I have seen leaky oil pan gaskets on many of my friends car's where the oil drips down to the lowest part of the pan (in all the cases the oil pan drain plug) and it appears that the oil is leaking from the drain plug when it isn't.
 
Originally Posted By: live_to_hunt
Hey guys I have never had a plug leak before its on my 2006 Sequoia. Would an auto parts store carry a new washer or just get a new plug from Toyota..


It is an aluminum crush washer. It should be replaced at every oil service. Get a new one from your dealer. Drain your oil into a clean container. Remove old washer. Install new washer. Re-tighten drain bolt. Pour oil back into engine.
 
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While many folks reuse these washers and they seem to be fine (I have done it as well) they are designed to work-harden when they are crushed. Ever taken a soft copper pipe and bent it? You can't bend it back because the crystalline structure of the metal strain- or work-hardens. That's what the copper and aluminum washers are designed to do. Your bolt would strip out well before you crushed it into foil.
 
Originally Posted By: live_to_hunt
Hey guys I have never had a plug leak before its on my 2006 Sequoia. Would an auto parts store carry a new washer or just get a new plug from Toyota..


Some foreign vehicles require that you change the crush washer with each oil change. Many GM's and Fords have a rubber gasket built into the plug making the crush washer unnecessary. You may be able to find an aftermarket plug with a gasket type seal built in.
 
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It is not a crush washer. It is an aluminum gasket. It usually sticks to the plug head so hard that the average grease monkey has no idea that there is a replaceable gasket there. You can use a nylon or fiber, or aluminum, or copper gasket. All work equally well as long as they're the right size.

To soften (anneal) copper gaskets, heat them red hot and quench them in water--just the opposite of annealing steel. The copper work hardens after use, and annealing them gives another usage. As written in a posting above, new gaskets are cheap--buy several.

By the way, if you want to change the gasket without draining the oil, it isn't much of a problem. With the engine cold, and with a friend helping, remove the plug, put your thumb over the drain hole, the friend changes the gasket, and you replace it. You lose a coupl'a ounces of oil. Or your former friend goes out for lunch while you have your thumb over the drain....
 
The Sequoia should be using the aluminum crush washers that are teflon coated. They are of a blue color and should be replaced at every oil service.
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
It is not a crush washer. It is an aluminum gasket.


+1. The word "crush" is wildly misused. If anyone cares THIS IS WHAT a crush washer looks like. Note the inner and outer rings which "crush" to create a seal when torqued. Don't confuse this with a metal washer.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: Ken2
It is not a crush washer. It is an aluminum gasket.


+1. The word "crush" is wildly misused. If anyone cares THIS IS WHAT a crush washer looks like. Note the inner and outer rings which "crush" to create a seal when torqued. Don't confuse this with a metal washer.


That is one type of crush washer. There are others including those of malleable metal that crush to seal and are then deformed to the point where they are not supposed to be re-used.
 
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