Stripped oil pan or stripped drain plug

[B8 Tchuss]

Hi everyone,
While i was doing an oil change yesterday I decided to over tighten the drain plug and it kept spinning never getting completly tight.
Im not sure if i stripped the drain plug or the actual oil pan but i did get the drain plug out, the drain plug does look stripped but i hope i have not damaged the pan.

Has anyone ever changed the oil pan before ?

whats the cost of having the oil pan changed?

is it hard to change on my own?

[o1turbo30v]

Well first thing i would do is buy yourself a torque wrench, next i would go to your local Audi dealer and buy a drain plug and drain plug gasket put that in and see how that works, if the drain plug still spins you stripped the pan and can do one of three things,

1. Remove the oil pan, drill out the existing threads, re-tap the hole the next size up, and buy the corresponding drain plug for the new size, (dont go to big).

2. Buy a new oil pan, gasket, and drain plug.

3. Take it to the dealer and have them install a new one.

Its not hard to change out a pan if you have some skill and a decent set of tools.

[Okan509]

syphon from the top seems to be the new method.

The oil pan plug is a bunch of horsehit on this car.

The dealer did an oil change and stripped it, had to order a whole new pan... -_-

[Mike@PureMS]

It's most often the pan that strips. Sometimes you can use a timesert to repair the threads, otherwise you have to replace the pan.

[TCHUN003]

The dealer replaced my pan after they overtightened my drain bolt. The bolts are steel and the pans are aluminum so you're most likely going to need to replace the pan. Also, you should invest in a Fumoto valve, they make oil changes extremely convenient.

[Elliott]

The dealer replaced my pan after they overtightened my drain bolt. The bolts are steel and the pans are aluminum so you're most likely going to need to replace the pan. Also, you should invest in a Fumitomo valve, they make oil changes extremely convenient.

Fumoto* valve.

X2 on this. Makes life much easier.

[jbradle7]

The bolts are steel and the pans are aluminum

The pan is steel as well, they probably just have a bad supplier/improper heat treat on the bung threads for them to be stripping out so easy.

I had one oil change done at the dealer, the "free" 5k service and they d1<ked my threads up as well.

[A4di_B8]

I went through this exact ordeal earlier in the summer. Bought my car used and went to perform my first oil change. Found the plug was stripped. Finally got it out and decided to replace the pan...myself. I got the majority of the torx bits out, but couldn't get all. In order to get all, you have to remove some of the sway/steering/whatever bars that run underneath the pan. By the time I figured out that, I didn't want to put my car on jack stands in order to relieve the tension to get at the bars (as the repair manual states, but I didn't get ahold of until after I started working on it). Long story long...I ran some oil through to get the remaining stripped thread pieces out of my pan, put two magnets at the bottom of my pan (outside, just in case), and then screwed in an oversized plug I never plan to remove. I'll just change the oil with a vacuum. So far, no leaks from my pan, or where I put in the plug. That was ~2K miles ago.

[Whyu1nunno]

i know its been some time but i'm having a similar issue here.

took my car in and they told me that the plug is coming out but its a little harder to come out than normal. They asked if i wanted to continue and that they might end up stripping the plug or the pan and that sounded fishy to me so i told them to stop. Looked around AZ and Genuine Audi Parts and i can change the oil myself but i want to buy a new pan and plug just in case it does strip so i can replace it and make sure i can keep driving. Do i need to buy the lower and the upper pan or just the lower pan?

EDIT - You know what? Never mind. Its easier (and cheaper) to just get an oil extractor...

[Okan509]

i know its been some time but i'm having a similar issue here.

took my car in and they told me that the plug is coming out but its a little harder to come out than normal. They asked if i wanted to continue and that they might end up stripping the plug or the pan and that sounded fishy to me so i told them to stop. Looked around AZ and Genuine Audi Parts and i can change the oil myself but i want to buy a new pan and plug just in case it does strip so i can replace it and make sure i can keep driving. Do i need to buy the lower and the upper pan or just the lower pan?

EDIT - You know what? Never mind. Its easier (and cheaper) to just get an oil extractor...

definitely do this..

[DJ_AudiA4]

i stripped my drain plug, tightened the best that i could and the JB welded it on and sealed it in. I've been using an evacuator to do my oil changes and i think it works way better than the drain plugs. Its faster and i get out more oil than i ever did with pulling the drain plug.

[domamei]

I might have to do this as well. I'm having the same issue

[Sales@DriveAuto]

Yeah, its usually the pan that strips. Feel free to shoot me an email or give us a call - if you want to bring it in, we can look it over (and we'll be less expensive than the dealer).

[jdwk]

Digging up an old thread. I just stripped the 6mm hex of my drain pan bolt, it is now a 6mm round hole. I tried tapping in a torx but I guess you need to grind down the edges of the bit to have a chance of getting it to fit.
I have a bolt extractor set, but I am not going to try that until I have a replacement drain plug. I'll probably have to drill completely through the plug, so I am worried that if I still can't get it out, I'll end up with a permanent hole in the bottom of my pan.

What methods have people found that work? My biggest fear of course is damaging the pan itself and having to tap it or replace the entire pan.

In the meantime, I just ordered an oil extractor, the TopSide seemed to the most recommended for the price so it'll be here Tuesday. Part of me says, just use the pump from now on, and try to forget the plug is stripped, but I have a hard time forgetting stuff like that and it will eat away at me until I fix it.

So I need to find a new bolt. I'd like one that has an actual head on it instead of a 6mm allen key socket. The ECS magnetic plugs have hex heads, but when searching for this thread, I saw a few cases of the ECS plugs cracking or stripping as well.

Anyone have any success finding a good bolt? The 6mm oem bolt is just stupid. I was just using a small wrench, so I couldn't have put more than 25lb-ft on it.

[jfo]

After you have used the extractor once or twice, you will forget about ever going under the car to change the oil, which means you do not need to worry about that plug ever. I changed my oil from below for many years until buying an extractor 2 years ago and would never go back. Don't look for a solution to problem you don't really have.

[jdwk]

Yeah that is good advice. And that's what will happen, but I still want to order a new plug just to have in my parts bin.