Officially dislike...

[wander2039]

Crush washers. Didn't realize my parents Vibe had one for the trans plug till after all the fluid drained in the pan and I'd already filled the transmission back up. Had to drain in back into a gallon jug, dropped the plug in jug also (one of those I could of seen it coming moments), to redo it. Oh what fun that was.

All of my Ford's and Chevy's have never used crush washer and never leaked.. is a crush washer a alternative for the proper size plug? Although it didn't leak I just choose to redo it.

 

[dwendt44]

A crush washer is often just insurance.
It seals when the bolt or the pan surface isn't as smooth or as flat as it should be.
Some GM drain plugs use an 'O' ring instead of a washer.

 

[MrCritical]

Nissan is another who uses crush washers, even on oil plugs. I think they had a few fires on the 2.5 4 cyl.

 

[Tosh]

Crush washer: The self-sacrificing part devised by the cunning and ingenious Japanese to absorb the damage done when a gorilla mechanic used to working on Fords and Chevys tightens a drain plug on a car not originally intended to be re-badged and sold by a GM dealership.

 

[Kestas]

Like any engineered item, there's pros and cons to each design. Compared with elastomeric washers, crush washers are more reliable, don't take a set, but they are considered non-reusable, and are more expensive in the long run.

 

[blackcherry06]

Never thought I'd say that Ford has the best idea, but IMO they do. My 05 Sport Trac's drain plug has a built in washer on the head of the plug. Perfect seal every time, with no forseeable end to its service life.

 

[MrCritical]

So if the Ford and Chevy techs tighten the drain plugs too tight then why does Nissan use them?

 

[wantin150]

Re-used the same crush washer MANY times before without rotating it. Never a drop leaked. I do swap them every other oil change now.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: blackcherry06
My 05 Sport Trac's drain plug has a built in washer on the head of the plug.


So does my 06 Saab 93, so did my 95 Contour, so does my mom's 04 Chevy Malibu...

Incidentally all of those cars use the same threads on the drainplug, 12mm x 1.75

It doesn't look like they make this type of drainplug with the built-in washer in the thread size needed for a Vibe.

http://www.cgenterprises.com/drain_plugs_metric.htm

They do have it in the size needed for a Honda.

 

[PT1]

When stuck without a new crush washer I heat the used one with a propane torch lightly expanding back to near it's original thickness. Has worked many times. Especially on the copper ones that Nissan used to use.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: PT1
When stuck without a new crush washer I heat the used one with a propane torch lightly expanding back to near it's original thickness. Has worked many times. Especially on the copper ones that Nissan used to use.


If you toss a copper one in water while it's read hot it does a nice job on annealing it. Copper work hardens with use and needs to be annealed occasionally.