Is my Drain Plug Loosening?

Have the EXACT same problem on my 2 Toyota 2AZ-FE / 4cyl engines. Used OEM crush washers. It is the crush washer, no doubt. Something with that felt or whatever Toyota puts on the washers. So, what I do now is take a wire wheel on a drill, remove all that " stuff" Toyota smears on the washers, and tighten the snot out of them. Problem solved. Toyota does some stupid things. Need transmission pan bolts because all of mine were rusted beyond repairing/ cleaning. The new OEM bolts came with THREAD-LOCKER on them !!!!! Why in the world would you do that ??? The next time you want to replace transmission filter, you will remove all the threads from the transmission case !!!! Took the same wire wheel, and removed all the thread-locker. STUPID stuff like that just makes my head spin. The 16 transmission bolts are not going to back out. I mean, really ?????
 
Thanks Northstar, I have a spare drain plug floating around somewhere, ( just seen it 2 weeks ago, can't remember where. LOL ). Once I find it, I will take it to a local Nissan dealer, and match it to a crush washer at the Parts Dept. Great info :) Thank you. I really don't like over tightening the bolt. It's short with limited threads. Once I screw the pan threads up, the party's over. Thanks again. BTW,,,,you make a funny " Nissan crushed it with their crush washer design " LOL
 
Sequoiasoon said:
Those look weird. Which way do they go on? Does the plug rest in the recessed portion or does the thin edge go against the pan until it is torqued?
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I forget what side is the best. No longer have a Nissan. My guess is the thinner flat side towards the oil pan. I remember the washer gets caught up on the plug threads during install and not easily removed.

Nissan
 
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Why not re-use the washer and see if you still have the issue? I suspect the washer may be compressing even more during the OCI and that will leave the bolt feeling like it loosened up.

Generally speaking a fastener should take more torque to remove than the installation torque. So something is definitely happening.
 
KrisZ said:
I suspect the washer may be compressing even more during the OCI and that will leave the bolt feeling like it loosened up.
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The Toyota washers are very thin and I'm not sure they'd be considered "crush washers", but more like gaskets. They just appear to be flat washers with a felt-like material on one side. Very different than a Honda or Nissan crush washer.
 
Good point. They are paper thin, unlike a true crush washer. Maybe they are just gaskets ? Next OC, gonna inspect the alleged " crush washer", and if still good, going to re-use and see if it loosens up again. I did wire wheel off all the felt last OC, and no leaks. Why does Toyota gotta be so quirky with little things like this ? So annoying !
 
Patrick0525 said:
I forget what side is the best. No longer have a Nissan. My guess is the thinner flat side towards the oil pan. I remember the washer gets caught up on the plug threads during install and not easily removed.

Nissan
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The "right way" is not really important. I've never had one leak either way. I sometimes look it up because I forgot which is the intended direction
 
Hall said:
The Toyota washers are very thin and I'm not sure they'd be considered "crush washers", but more like gaskets. They just appear to be flat washers with a felt-like material on one side. Very different than a Honda or Nissan crush washer.
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It would be good if OP posted a pic of his crush washers.

I googled Tacoma crush washers and got these, they definitely look like they can compress.

IMG_5090.webp
 
2strokeNorthstar said:
The "right way" is not really important. I've never had one leak either way. I sometimes look it up because I forgot which is the intended direction
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Supposedly there is a correct orientation but I can't remember it when I'm working on mine and don't bother looking it up. It's never made a difference in my limited experience either. Checked and my notes say "notch (rounded/curved side) against drain bolt".
50yr Street Mech said:
NOW THAT"S A CRUSH WASHER !!!! I'm taking a spare pan bolt to Nissan Parts Dept and see if I can match one up !!!!! :)
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Nissan only has one size, if I'm not mistaken. I've used them on other cars if it fits. I've also used my Honda crush washers on different cars.
KrisZ said:
It would be good if OP posted a pic of his crush washers.

I googled Tacoma crush washers and got these, they definitely look like they can compress.
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I still think they're considered gaskets (the ones you show are the same p/n I have - Toyota is really standardized on them, I guess). I'm not sure they're even metal. Google says it's fiber and aluminum.
 
Hall said:
Supposedly there is a correct orientation but I can't remember it when I'm working on mine and don't bother looking it up. It's never made a difference in my limited experience either. Checked and my notes say "notch (rounded/curved side) against drain bolt".
Click to expand...

Yes, you're correct about the orientation. It just seems backwards of what you would expect which is why I second guess myself or just install it "wrong" sometimes.
 
Yeah, I tried a few small diameter Honda crush washer's, they leaked. Gotta find the perfect diameter. Next OC gonna try Nortstar's orientation that he has written down, now I have it written down too :) ..Apparently, it's a one way only washer.
 
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