MommyTaz022200 Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 I was trying to change the oil on my boyfriend's car today (97 Bonneville w/ 3.8L Gen II non-Super) and when I went to take the plug out it wouldn't budge. He bought the car a week ago, and the oil was last changed at a shop (sticker on the windshield) I don't think the plug that's in it is even the right plug cause it isn't the same size socket as my Prix uses. Anyway, the edges started wearing off. Then my boyfriend tried and got nowhere. By then the edges were even worse. We decided it's going to have to be replaced with the edges rounded, so we might as well use a vice grips to just get it out. With the vice grips as tight as my boyfriends 2 hands could squeeze shut we tried it and still no budge. So we got the hammer out and pounded on the vice grips. Still nothing, but that rounded it off and now the vice grips just slip. Anyone got any ideas? Is the bolt on his engine suppose to be the same size as my 3.4? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 sounds like you might just have to replace the pan my brother just replaced the oil pan on his Spirit R/T today...stupid previous-owner nailed the oil pan on the ground (cracked it bad), and practically flattened the pickup could a gator-grip socket possibly get it out? i would probably try spraying down the bolt with liquid wrench overnight, and then heat it up with a propane torch a little and use the biggest vice-grips you can find.... good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slade901 Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 Just be careful. I've accidentally tried to loosen the oil pan drain plug bolts by turning it clockwise since I use my left hand while going underneath. I realized that I was tightening it instead and turn it counter clockwise. Since the drain plug is now rounded off, I would suggest to use a monkey wrench or pipe wrench and it use the longer one so you have enough leverage (again counter-clockwise to loosen up while looking from the ground up to the oil pan drain plug). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyTaz022200 Posted July 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 Ok, I got to clarify this clock/counter-clock wise discussion. When your standing in front of the car the bolt head facing away from you, turn it clockwise/toward the passenger side then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 righty-tighty, lefty-loosey IOW - clockwise = tight, and counter clockwise...well you get it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 2 1/2 years of changing oil, its happend a couple times 2 me. I went to the extreme 1ce of drilling thru the center of the drain plug and squeezing the plug with vice grips (to change the pressure points). use sum PB blaster around the drainplug and see of u can breakup the gasket thats on there. Also, if needed, get out the file and make 2 new points 2 gra on withvise grips, all round wont help. give it a hard turn to tighten the plug and then try 2 loosen it, might help 2 get it loose. when you do get it out, check the threads, a lotta oilchange places put the wrong plugs in and torque em in so the threads all get fucked. good luck. -Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patgizz Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 how bout a boyfriend with stronger hands? i've never met anything round or not that getting locked down upon with vise grips(are you using real Vise Grip brand ones? if not, the cheapies suck) and smacked with the BFH wouldnt break loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 sears sells a real neat tool called an easy out i think by craftsman, its great for getting striped bolts out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyTaz022200 Posted July 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 how bout a boyfriend with stronger hands? i've never met anything round or not that getting locked down upon with vise grips(are you using real Vise Grip brand ones? if not, the cheapies suck) and smacked with the BFH wouldnt break loose. My boyfriend is plenty strong. The problem is we don't have jackstands, and we can't get the car on my ramps because the bottom of the front bumper hits the ramp when there's still like 6 inches to go before the front tires even touch them. I have a 5,000 pund hydrolic jack but that don't work really well to get the car up high and stable, and my boyfriend says he don't want me under the car if he thinks it's not stable. Right now he's a little overcautious as far as me getting hurt cause I'm pregnant and the car is so low to the ground if the jack gave out even with all the tires on it it will hit my stomach hard. Also the previous owner brought it to a mechanic who had to be a big huge idiot. When he bought the car there was green and orange antifreeze mixed together, it had just had a tune-up but I had to change the plugs yesterday because one cylinder wasn't firing at all. (there was nothing left to the plugs) and the fuel filter was covered with rust when I changed that. They told him the heater wouldn't stop blowing, so it had to be on either heat or air all the time. Their mechanic told them there was no way to fix it so he put a valve on the heater core hose to turn it off and I don't know what he did to the blower because it won't turn on but it works fine if I power it from my Prix's blower wiring with jumper wires. (Yes the fuse is good) The oil filter is loose and squirting oil onto the s. belt, and that's why I told my boyfriend to change the oil. I figure with the plugs being as shot as they were and reeking of gas the way they did there caould be oil in the gas and the oil is all over the engine's outside instead of the inside so it's low anyway. It also is due for a change in 400 miles anyway, but there were a bunch of empty bottles of genaric oil in the trunk (like 5 different genaric brands) so I'm figuring it has a bunch of crappy kinds of oil all mixed up in there too. I don't know if they are real vice grips on wanna-be's. I'm thinking wanna-be's cause there is nothing stamped on them. I bought some of those sockets made for bolts that are rounded off, and I'm going to try those after I finish feeding my son. If that don't work I'm going to try filing the sides like gp90se suggested. If it gets to that I'm hoping my pareents are home so I can use my dad's jackstands. He got a really good deal on the car, it's a seafoam green 1997 with grey leather interrior. It has a electric sunroof, power/keyless locks, traction control, power heated mirriors, power windows, lumbar adjustable power seats, HUD, DIC, auto. lighting, cruise, tilt, front buckets, air, an air compressor built into the trunk, factory chome mags that shine like hell, auto. climate.... The bad: the problems above, all the vaccuum hoses are cracked and leaking badly, the gas always says full, 162,000 miles, air compressor squeels and don't always spin, the remote is looks like the one in my owners book for my 93 Prix so if you use it to unlock the doors the alarm will go off, if you play around with the buttons on the remote it makes the gauges move around and the car has actually started twice by itself (as soon as you get in and step on the brake it turns off), alot of minor interrior trim pieces are missing or cracked, and I think the power steering pump is going because it leaks and make groaning noises when the wheel's turned. But for $2,500 on payments (buying it from his mom's boyfriend) it's not a bad deal and my Prix is still having it's own issues, my Escort's 5 speed tranny seems to go into neutral for like 5 seconds and then engage in the gear it's in more and more and with 132,000 miles, burning oil, and rust right thru the body it's not worth fixing. So we needed to get a running car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91oldscutlass Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 Ok I got to say something here...Your pregnant...Why in the hell would your boyfriend let you do anything to a car??? I know i wouldnt let Christy do anything if she was!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 They told him the heater wouldn't stop blowing, so it had to be on either heat or air all the time. Their mechanic told them there was no way to fix it so he put a valve on the heater core hose to turn it off thats is one of the most half assed repaird i have heard of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyTaz022200 Posted July 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 I'm stubburn, like to work on my car, and will not pay a mechanic to fuck up my car anymore then they already did. I also don't do really intense things right now, just body work, tune ups, oil changes, interrior work, and trying to figure out why my engine sounds the way it does. I want to try to change my transverse spring and the oil pump o-ring or rear main seal (whichever the problem ends upo being) but he wants me to finish the body work and then "we'll see about the engine stuff". He works from 9-3 though so he can't really stop me from working on it, he just keeps taking the keys to my Prix to work with him, but I think that's cause they are on the same keyring as the Escort and he's using that to get to work. Or he could be trying to stop me from doing things like when I took the doors, hood, and front fenders off and brought them in the basement. They are almost ready to be put back on the car but the garage is a single stall, so the car has to be out of the garage for me to have the room to put the doors on. He don't know much about cars, he has never had a license and this is his first car that is 100% his. He was married and had cars with his wife but neither of them had a license so she'd let her parents drive them and when they use a car they don't buy anything for it except gas, so they blew up 4 of the cars by running them without oil, and they also smashed up like 3 of the other cars he had. So he didn't learn much about the cars except if he wanted one that wasn't going to be in the junkyard right away he'd have to get rid of his wife. (That's not really why they got divorced tho. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91oldscutlass Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 Well i understand the fact of not letting anyone work on your car. Just be careful..I know none of us here would want to read a post that ya got hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegaslumina Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 I changed the oil on my lumina today and the bolt was stripped but i managed to get it off with a pair of vice grips. I then just replaced the bolt with a new one from autozone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 If worse comes to worse and the above ideas don't work you could always get it in running condition again, take it to a shop, have them weld a nut on the factory one, and get it off that way. Then just replace it and you're set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 I'm not sure if you have air tools available, but I was thinking if this were me, and the above suggestions didn't work at all, I'd first drill a small hole through the center of the drain plug. I'd then take a diegrinder with a cutoff wheel and shave the head of the drain plug bolt off, trying not to scratch the surface of the oil pan too badly (maybe by putting some tape on the pan around the bolt. I'd try using an easy-out after the head of the drain plug bolt was cut off (cause maybe since the head was cut, the rest of the bolt will spin freely.) If it won't back out, then I'd try to thread the plug into the pan. If it threaded into the pan, I'd let the oil drain out and drop the pan afterwards to retrieve the bolt and any shavings (and if the pan was damaged by the diegrinder, then just replace the pan altogether.) BTW, if you need some jackstands, Wal-Mart sells decent ones dirt cheap. I don't know whether they have a store called "Northern Tool and Equipment" in Wisconsin (they're all over Minnesota,) but they also sell good jackstands $20 a pair. I think the standard socket size for most GM drain plugs is 15mm. Whenever I have a hard time getting the plug loose, I get out my 3 foot length of 3/4" pipe to put on the end of my ratchet to use as a cheater bar. Works every time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no1kicker Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Why not just go to Sears, and buy a stripped bolt remover set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
streetdreams1 Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 without jack stand your not properly equipped, I dont like to touch my car if I dont have it 6 feet in the air (on the shop hoist's) since you got oil in it, take it to a shop they will file the head into shape than hammer on a undersize 6 point socket for a 15mm I think it would be a 9/16 without looking at my toolbox. the nice thing about a shop doing it is they are responsible for there labour. the guy who said he changed oil for 2.5 years and 1 time he drilled thru the plug (how did you stop the shaving from going into the pan sorry but that sounds a lil cheech and chong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 streetdreams1, your really not aware that most of us here like to do our own work are you? but i'll restarte my position on going ot sears and getting a $20 easy out kit, then just replace the drain plug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 When I drilled through the plug, I let a couple shavings get into the pan and used a suction hose to suck it out, then ran some fresh oil thru. very very little shavings in the pan. IIRC it was a volkswagon with an aluminum plug. Easy outs dont work on aluminum, but with the 15mm GM plugs, it should work fine. -Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPXSS Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 If you couldnt get that bolt out using a 3/8" wrench with good grip on the head, then you can forget about the easyout.. you'll just snap it right off. Get some jackstands and get the car up in the air so you can work on it. Even if you are small enough to get under there, youve got no room to use a cheater or breaker bar. Usually in this situation, id use alot of heat (blue wrench / prop torch) but id be leary doing that around oil or gas. I know we all like to do stuff ourselves, but sometimes you have to put it on someone else who A) has had this happen before and found a fix, and are insured incase they catch your car on fire or blow it up. Id say take it to a real shop, not some PepBoys or Walmart autocare center, theyll just mess it up even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyTaz022200 Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 We got it out with a pipe wrench. I don't know what the plug came from but it was not a GM plug. There was no gasket on it, the head was still too big for my 19 mm socket, and it had redish-orange color on the threads (lock-tight?). Luckly the pan wasn't cross-threaded and the hole was still the same size as it should ve, so we got a different plug from autozone and it's not leaking any oil. This car makes me even less trusting of mechanics. It was always serviced at my boyfriend's mom' boyfriend's brother's shop. As soon as he bought the car I checked it over as best as I could with my limited knowledge and found that it had both Green and Dexicool antifreeze mixed in the coolent, so I told him to get a flush & fill. They sold it pretty cheap, because the check engine light kept going on, so we also gave it a tune up. There was almost no tips left on the spark plugs, and after changing them it ran worse. The top and bottom coil packs have the same numbers on them so I looked at my Haynes book and found that 2 of the plug wires were switched. After fixing them the check engine light went off and has stayed off for about 2 weeks now. The car also is running much better. It still blows my mind that a mechanic serviced it, since most of the problems were so far ones due to sloppy work. I guess the good part is that they probably wouldn't have sold it so cheap if the mechanic wasn't so sloppy. My boyfriend bought it figuring the body and interrior are in great condition, so he'd run it till it died and then rebuild it. Now maybe it will run alot longer before needing a rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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