Today, as I was changing my oil, I managed to strip the treads out of the drain. In thirty-five years of changing oil, this is a first for me.

How can I fix that, short of a new oil pan? Can I up-size the plug and cut new threads? What size should I go for? Where can I get a larger plug? Or are there better alternatives?

Thanks for your usual good help.

Allen

As a last resort I would replace the pan, but you should be able to fix it using the methods others have posted. Replacing the pan is a pretty big job, I had to do it a few years ago and it sucked.

Good luck,
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Zack Silver 83' 242Ti (225k)

One of our local parts places, a real shop that services real shops, not Autozone (!!!!!!) sells very good repair kits for various plug thread sizes.

It won't be stock, but it'll fix your problem. It's a threaded insert with cutting threads, then a new plug that screws into that.

Fixed one in a 94 Golf last year and it worked surprisingly well.

Pretty painless repair. Good luck with it!
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 87 244DL- 249K, 88 245DL- 181K, 84 242DL, 89 244DL parts, SOLD: 86 244, 88 244GL, 87 244, 91 244, 82 245T, 88 744GLE, 86 244

Pan or plug stripped? If the latter, replace the plug - 3/4" x 16 tpi. If the former, either -

- Big drill and tap for a bigger drain plug.
- Have a bung welded onto the bottom of the pan. Much easier than having to lift the engine and/or dropping the crossmember to change the pan.

-- Kane
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While I would never deliberately mislead anyone, take into consideration that any info and advice was provided at no cost to you.