My oil change story

[KrisZ]

My sister in law came over to visit and pretty much as usual, she asked me to change the oil on her 2012 Mazda 3 Skyactiv. Since I don't mind, I agreed, but she warned me that she went to an oil change place before coming over and they did not perform the service because the could not remove the oil filter. That was a little puzzling and perhaps should've been a red flag.

So I went to our local parts store, got the oil and the filter. Being prepped by my SIL I was ready to fight that oil filter. To my surprise it came off normally, but when it came to remove the drain plug, here is what I found.

It all made sense now. The oil change place simply did not want to totally round off the drain plug and be stuck with a possible pan repair. It also proved that they were not very competent at what they do since I removed the plug easily with the locking pliers.

I replaced the plug with an OE one from our local Mazda dealer, but in retrospect I probably should've gotten a regular, hex nut plug since it is not as easy to round off.

Incidentally I'm not a fan of this style drain plug. They are good for transmissions, transfer cases and such, where they are not being removed that often. Regular hex head type plugs are much better IMO because even if they do get rounded off, there is more material on them sticking out to make the removal easier.

 

[Bladecutter]

Uh, no.

If you use a standard 8mm tool, like you are supposed to, you don't round out the Mazda drain plugs. Someone used the wrong tool in there, and damaged it, like a moron.

I prefer this style of drain plug fitting, because you can't mess them up, unless you're an idiot. I'm on my second Mazda, second Porsche, and I don't know how many Ducati's we've owned with this style drain plug.

Nothing wrong with it, but good on you for helping out your sister.

BC.

 

[montero1]

I like hex heads wayyy better.

 

[KGMtech]

You did a nice job for the SIL, I think she owes you a nice lunch )

 

[Justin251]

I hated changing the oil in my cx7 turbo I had.

It was a cartridge type with a drain plug on the plastic housing. It would strip very easy and the housing was awkward and soft so it damaged easy.

I almost bought the cannister adapter but traded it in.

 

[Eddie]

The 8 MM internal hex drain plug in my 2014 Mazda is great. I think the as..oles at quick lube places will have a more difficult time in cranking them down with an impact wrench. It appears that the hex shown was butchered with a large screwdriver or something else rather than a correct size Allen wrench-a real amateur approach IMO. Ed

 

[Justin251]

I couldn't find a standard or metric to do mine. Probably already fubar from the dealership oil change when I bought it.

 

[philipp10]

Apparently people are over-tightening oil drain plugs with all the issues I have read about. It should just be snug and then a touch more.

 

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
Apparently people are over-tightening oil drain plugs with all the issues I have read about. It should just be snug and then a touch more.


The problem is they are re-using the crush washer without annealing it. That then requires more gorilla arms to get it tight enough to seal properly. A new or freshly annealed washer will seal a bit like an o-ring with very little effort.

 

[JamesBond]

They use an internal hex bolt for the drain plug?

OMG why would they do this?

This is something I would expect from ford, c'mon mazda.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: Bladecutter
Uh, no.

If you use a standard 8mm tool, like you are supposed to, you don't round out the Mazda drain plugs. Someone used the wrong tool in there, and damaged it, like a moron.

I prefer this style of drain plug fitting, because you can't mess them up, unless you're an idiot. I'm on my second Mazda, second Porsche, and I don't know how many Ducati's we've owned with this style drain plug.

Nothing wrong with it, but good on you for helping out your sister.

BC.


Apparently there are lots of idiots in the quick lube places that use SAE instead of metric and vice versa.

 

[Justin251]

Originally Posted By: Brad_C
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Apparently people are over-tightening oil drain plugs with all the issues I have read about. It should just be snug and then a touch more.


The problem is they are re-using the crush washer without annealing it. That then requires more gorilla arms to get it tight enough to seal properly. A new or freshly annealed washer will seal a bit like an o-ring with very little effort.


The Motorcraft filters I was buying came with one for the plastic cover. I'm pretty sure for the drain too.

 

[CourierDriver]

male egos say tighten up all bolts and plugs with 200 ft lbs so they will not leak,,,lol. snug is good, but men still think they are tightening up head bolts on a diesel engine even when putting on a bicycle wheel..

 

[stchman]

Reason I don't take my vehicle to a quick lube. They round off drain plugs, over tighten filters, generally they are morons.

 

[Trapperr]

Anyone thought about about tack welding a nut to the head of your stripped out drain plug? I don't like those hex plugs.

 

[Silverado12]

I don't like allen head bolts on anything. They are all over my motorcycle and I wish they would have used torx or 12 point for decent appearance and ease of removal.

 

[SilverSnake]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
Apparently people are over-tightening oil drain plugs with all the issues I have read about. It should just be snug and then a touch more.


So what torque value is "snug and then a touch more.? That is why they make torque wrenches. No guesswork. Just correct.

 

[DBMaster]

I replaced mine with a Fumoto valve, but it's not a problem with the right size Allen wrench. You can probably buy a socket with the right Allen end on it, or go cheap and cut off a piece of the Allen wrench to stick inside a socket. Did that once for working on old GM brake calipers.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Brad_C
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Apparently people are over-tightening oil drain plugs with all the issues I have read about. It should just be snug and then a touch more.


The problem is they are re-using the crush washer without annealing it. That then requires more gorilla arms to get it tight enough to seal properly. A new or freshly annealed washer will seal a bit like an o-ring with very little effort.


Bingo. This is especially true for the plugs on the skyactiv, at least from my experience. The one-time that I went "just snug" and re-used the washer, resulted in a horrific drip. That plug has a very small number of threads so IME it is critical that you use a new washer each time and tighten properly. If you re-use the washer, you really need to crank down on that plug for it to properly seal.