Is it OK to thread jack this little bit and talk about drain plug tightening? Some of you might have read the saga of stripped oil drain on my Odyssey. One mechanic stripped it and the other senior mechanic re tapped it and put a over sized plug with a nylon (white plastic?) in there. He was very very gentle in tightening it, I wonder why
When I brought the van back home, I noticed that the plug is leaking. I don't have time to take it back to them during their normal hours. For last few days, I had to re-tigthen the plug. The access is extremely bad as I am trying to do this *without* jacking up the van.
Here come the questions:-
Honda specifies 29 ft-lb for the drain plug with new crush washer. I do not know how that translates with the over sized plug (14mm headed bolt) with the nylon washer.
I have a got an exercise bike which just happens to have couple of 14mm bolt. I am trying to get a feel of 10 ft-lb, 15 ft-lb, 20 ft-lb etc and that feels way tighter than "snug". I was able to confirm that both 1/4 and 3/8 torque wrench were giving me similar readings, so I believe they are accurate. My plan was to start with 10 ft-lb on the 1/4 torque wrench and see if the leak stops. Unfortunately, there is no room to swing the 1/4 torque wrench. The only wrench that I can get there is the 3/8 composite. I also can't get my dominant hand there. I tried to tighten with my other hand but I was only able to move it a little bit. The leak slowed down but not stopped.
Also I believe the dynamics are different with the nylon washer vs the crush washer. With the nylon, one does not get the solid stop like one will get with the metal washer. Against my better judgement, I used my hand to whack the ratchet to move it more.
You know what frosts me? Those mechanics even laughingly said "we can already see you putting cardboard under the van to check for the leak" :-( May be I should learn how to do my own oil changes after letting these guys do it for last twelve years. I certainly have lot more tools than they do