Oil Leak at Oil plug

[mjc]

That's what I have, there is a leak at the oil plug. I changed my oil a month ago and know I have a leak. The brass seal is in place, but maybe it's shot. The Truck is new to me, 03 with a 7.3 in her. It has 62xxx miles on her. I did look at the brass seal before I reinstalled it and it did look a little concaved but I went ahead and reinstalled it. I orderd a new seal for it, should be in tomorrow.

Next question, can I change it without losing all that new synthetic oil I just put in it? I have read somewhere that you can put a shop vac up to the oil fill tube and hold the oil til you can change the plug. Do I try that or wait till I need to change oil?

Last question, should one be concered about the surface rust on the oil pan.

Thanks for all the great reading on this site.

[mschn99]

if you get someone to help you......you take the plug out...when you get the plug out have them quickly plug the whole.....change the crush washer....then have then slide thier finger out of the way quickly and put it back in......you will only lose .25-1 quarts depending on how smoothly it goes...

That copper washer should be replaced every other oil change....they are a common leak point. They simply wear out......

[mdouglas]

The magician acts pretty good if everyone isn't drunk or blind. What you can do is use a new clean drain pan as in no dirt or dust in it to catch the all of the oil then reinstall it into the engine once you are done. There are inexpensive transfer pumps available to transfer the oil from the pan to the engine. Then for the drain plug situation I made my own o ring seal drain plug that has a larger sealing diameter and never wears out. Got a lathe

But if your not skilled enough to do it you could simply let is seep just a bit till the next oil change then do it. My truck doesnt drip but it stays moist on the bottom of the pan. To lazy I guess to walk up to my parts dept while i'm changing my oil and to busy to remember it while i'm in there getting something else.

[redwoody]

Originally Posted by mjc

That's what I have, there is a leak at the oil plug. I changed my oil a month ago and know I have a leak. The brass seal is in place, but maybe it's shot. The Truck is new to me, 03 with a 7.3 in her. It has 62xxx miles on her. I did look at the brass seal before I reinstalled it and it did look a little concaved but I went ahead and reinstalled it. I orderd a new seal for it, should be in tomorrow.

Next question, can I change it without losing all that new synthetic oil I just put in it? I have read somewhere that you can put a shop vac up to the oil fill tube and hold the oil til you can change the plug. Do I try that or wait till I need to change oil?

Last question, should one be concered about the surface rust on the oil pan.

Thanks for all the great reading on this site.

I'm not much help to fix the problem now but in the future, you could (as I do) clean up the plug and apply a small amount of that blue silicone gasket maker to the inside shoulder of the drain plug. I've been doing that for years and never had a leak since.

[Clay Henry]

I replaced the drain plug with a quick connect dewhicky. I uncap this plug, screw in a tub and it opens a valve and begins draining the oil through the tube. Got it for a gift so i don't know where it came from but it's great when your outside changing the oil and theres a 30 mph wind cause it doesn't blow all over me and the driveway. The tube is clear rubber and can be cut to length so that it drops just below the top edge of the drain pan. Works great.

[sea71]

FYI, I went yesterday to Auto Zone to see if they carried the crush washers for my drain plug, and they do. There are 4 in a pack for 3 dollars and change.