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Drain plug stripped at Spartan Toyota Dealership. Seek advice

3K views 34 replies 20 participants last post by  CSFJ 
#1 · (Edited)
Mom has gone to this dealership since 1999. She bought a brand new Avalon from them in 1999. She had all the service done there, oil changes every 3k and so on. She bought a 2003 Honda Accord brand new but had it serviced at Spartan Toyota, as she liked the service department better. They have been the only ones to ever change the oil on this car ever. I noticed the car leaking a bit of oil the other day and crawl under there to realize the drain plug is finger tight and just spins. She takes the car to Spartan and they say the oil pan threads are worn out and they need to drill out the pan to replace with a new plug at a cost of $200, but will only charge her $125 because she has been going there for so long. Spartan says its common for these threads to wear out and that her car is old. I told my mom to go ahead and pay it, since they think there reputation is worth $125.

I have only heard about drain plugs stripping out because of excessive torque and cross threading. Am I wrong for thinking the dealer should have fixed this at no cost since they were the only ones to ever touch the drain plug since new?
 
#6 ·
old hondas are in fact known for stripping out oil pan plugs - they use a specific crush washer at every change as the indicator of proper torque. no idea if a toyota dealer would do that or not.

all 3 of my old hondas ('88 - '91) crx/civic's had to have a new bung installed.
 
#7 ·
How many miles are on the car or better yet how many times has the oil been changed?
If the oil plug has been in and out hundreds of times sometimes you are just F'ed.

Does that mean no one ever over tightened it? Probably not. People who are changing your oil are not going to take the time to use a torque wrench on a oil plug.

If the vehicle has high miles/ lots of oil changes they will not be held liable.

You best bet is to talk to the highest ranking person at the dealership and plead your case in a nice manner.
 
#11 ·
I work at a honda Dealership as a lub tech and this happens all the time, the most common is that era accord. I have no idea if the dealership pays for it or if the costumer does.

I don't know how toyotas are set up but all hondas take the same plug, crush washer, oil filter so you can get going on a good pace and theres nothing worse then to get a (in my case) none honda vehicle. It doesn't bother me so much as others but it can piss people off and make them hurry through it. Causing said damages
 
#12 ·
Buy an American car? Of all the dozens of cars I've had with more than 100k on them I've never seen a worn out drain plug (plenty with idiots using 9/16" on a 14mm rounding the corners) except on Japanese junk including an iFarce V8. Must be why most of the oil change places suck it out of the dipstick tube.
 
#29 ·
your dozens of cars is sure a statistically valid sample :rolleyes:

like it or not, but this shit happens to "American junk" too.

as for sucking used oil out of the dipstick tube, honestly can't say I've heard of that ever being done, let alone experienced it. (I mentioned it to a friend that owns two quicky changes and a couple of car washes as well - and he snortled at the idea (laughed with a snort) )
 
#13 ·
If she has had all the oil changes done there they should cover it. Every place i have ever work has if they were the last one to change the oil. And they should have told her before she left not sent the car out leaking oil. Might be worth talking to a service manager over.
 
#19 ·
realize the drain plug is finger tight and just spins.
Well, he didn't say it was 'spinning', just that it was finger tight. I have had marginal threads that tightened ok and loosened up. In fact,I just had to replace a hydraulic motor mounting plate on a machine for this reason.


They are willing to split their normal fee, at least they didn't say 'not our problem'.

EDIT- 'finger tight and spinning'. My reading fail. Nevermind.
:poke:
 
#22 ·
Why are you spending $125 to put new threads in a old pan when you can buy a new one for $60?
Hell it is a 03. Good chance you could find a good used one out of a junk yard for $20 if you call around.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Ok, thanks for the replies...I will edit my post to delete the "beware" part, as I do not want to give them a bad rap seeing that this can happen over time. This is the first Honda that anyone in my family has ever owned so I didn't know they are known for this.

They already pulled the plug, so my mom paid the $$ for them to tap a new plug in.
The car has 119,00 miles.
 
#24 ·
Ok, thanks for the replies...I will edit my post to delete the "beware" part, as I do not want to give them a bad rap seeing that this can happen over time. This is the first Honda that anyone in my family has ever owned so I didn't know they are known for this.

They already pulled the plug, so my mom paid the $$ for them to tap a new plug in.
Te car has 119,00 miles.
Maybe title the thread "Beware of Hondas with 119,000 miles" :sonicjay:
 
#27 ·
pics of mom needed.
 
#32 ·
you mean like any exhaust/header bolts?
or a head bolt?
or a wheel stud?
or a control arm bolt?

or any of the various and sundry other bolts that can/do get stripped or corroded to fuck and back after 10 years on the roads in the midwest?
 
#34 ·
Shit wears out.

I'm guessing aluminum pan.

I doubt a dealership would use one of the self tapper bolts for a repair, give them credit for at least suggesting a proper repair.

Replacing the pan might be more expensive than the repair if the pan cannot be removed without lifting the engine.

For some reason, this thread is making me think of the car wash thread- i.e. I don't want to do the job myself, and the people I trusted to do it made things worse.

Shit happens.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I've spent the last 8 years wrenching on Honda's. The drain pug does require a aluminum crush washer and needs to be torqued at 29 to 31 lbs. The drain plugs threads will not strip if the proper torque is followed. Sometimes we see higher mileage vehicles with stretched threads, however, those will still tighten. Stripped threads are the fault of the person with the wrench. (and by higher mileage I mean 300 To 400k). Btw Accords have been built in Ohio for the last 30 years. The only exception were the hybrid Accords in 05-06
 
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