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Sump plug fell off!


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Picture me happily;y driving down the a45 on a lovely sunny Friday when I hear a load of loud bungs under the car.

Me, thinking the piney anti-roll bar I made two weeks previous had failed do a little weaving to see if the car handles funny.

200 yards down the road I pull over to assess the damage but see nothing wrong with the rear suspension, what I do see is oil running down my exhaust which leads my eyeline to the oil pouring out of the sump. I panic and switch the car off instantly.

Check sump, sump is fine but the sump plug is missing! thread is fine in the sump so it didn't strip out..

Call friend, he's goes off to ECP to grab me a new sump plug and some oil, bung them in and she still lives! Drive home in a cloud of burning oil smoke, wincing the whole time.

This isn't just a story, I have some queries.

1: How the heck does a sump plug just fall out? I changed the oil two weeks previous and I know I tightened it. I can only think the combination of reusing the washer and old plug aswell as not clearing the oil off the threads before screwing it in.

2: How did I manage to get 200 yards with the sump plug missing before the oil pissed out!? Crankcase depression is only small, theres no way -1~kPa of vacuum can hold in 3 litres of oil! maybe my weaving stopped it reaching the hole (unlikely, not an F1 car) or the oil pump was working hard enough to suck up most of the oil before it left....

Any ideas? I'd like to understand whats happened so I can make sure it doesn't again...

Edited by l354uge
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It takes a good couple of minutes for the majority of the oil to come out anyway so you most likely stopped just in time plus what celica do you drive as 3 litres does not sound much at all most cars hold at least 4-5, looking at your profile pic I will guess that you drive a gen 7 which in fact holds 5 litres, as for the sump bung if the threads were not stripped then the only reason would be that it wasn't tight enough, plus rule of thumb is that if it has a copper washer then they are pretty much a one hit only as the copper washer compresses when you tighten the bung up so once compressed it can't be compressed again to form another seal so that's why you should always put a new one on, you sometimes get a new washer in the oil filter kit if you buy a decent oil filter.

Basically next time when you do an oil change next, replace the washer and do the bung up fairly tight, a little trick I have learned is that change the oil when still warm that way obvious oil comes out quicker and metal expands when hot do you can do the the nut up tighter as if you tighten the sump bung when sump is cold then it may feel tight but as soon the sump gets hot along with vibration can cause the sump bung to come loose, if you do just want piece of mind then re tighten the sump bung after a couple of days.

Edited by Smwebb1993
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Either you didn't tighten it, or someone else came along and loosened it. Oil on the threads is good as it helps the bolt tighten up properly. I always put grease on threads when re-assembling things, both to ensure torque is correct and also to make future servicing easier as the threads won't be rusty.

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Thought magnetic ones have mag on inside core if plug to catch metal particles?

Yes they do, the magnet is only there to catch metal filings, the best way is to tighten the sump plug properly as that was the only reason it came out.

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They are, and yes in an ideal world all bolts would be tightened to specified torque and remain in place till removed.

The magnetic plugs even when fully unwound need a pull to come away from the sump hole, (at least mine does), saves buying a new sump plug and spewing all the engine oil over the road in one drop aside from the fact they're a damn good idea to collect the small metal particles floating round your engine.

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