quote:
Originally posted by ex_MGB:
I breezed though the replies. I've a '97 Nissan Maxima and it's important to point out, the Nissan crush washer is a true crush washer. It's like a mini copper accordian (just two pleats). You screw it on the drain plug first by hand up to the plug bolt-head gasket surface. The washer is about 1/8" thick at this point.
When you tighten the drain plug to the oil pan, the wasker gets crushed to about 1 milimeter thick, very thin. My Hondas and Mazdas have solid aluminum washers which "crush" hardly at all. Not so with the Nissan. I wouldn't reuse a Nissan washer normally but did once when I ran out. Wasn't a problem, but its not good practice.
It actually works well by hand because you can feel the washer being crushed and have a better feel for when its on tight as compared to a solid aluminum washer if that makes any sense. However, go ahead and torque it to 22 ft-lbs or so if you so choose.