Stripped Oil drain bolt

[Averroes]

Guess I’m a certified “stripper” now, but all humour aside I “done goofed”. Was in a rush today before a storm hit and I accidentally stripped the bolt.

Now, I don’t know how to go about this so any help is appreciated.
Is there a way to take the remainder of the bolt out of the pan? I’m worried about contamination of metal scraps being in the pan oif there were a way to take out what is left of the bolt.

Or, should I just go the route of getting a new oil pan and gasket from Rockauto? I started up the engine to check for any potential leaks, there are none but this is a issue I want to get resolved before I store the car for winter and will have to do it anyways before I take the car out in the spring time.

Thank in advance for the insights the help is much appreciated.

 

[JC1]

Is the bolt broke off in the pan and flush with the pan? That pic isn't clear to me.

Can you easily remove the pan without removing anything else under the car? I would try to do that and then back out the bolt portion that sticks inside the pan.

Wait for the others that have done this to get some options.

 

[Eddie]

I would use an EASYOUT after drilling a hole in the bolt. Ed

 

[JeffKeryk]

Take a small punch and ball peen hammer and carefully spin that bolt out.
Sometimes a pick will work it out...
After a couple of turns you should be able to spin it out with pliers or vise grips.
I recently spun one out with a pencil magnet.

If it's cross threaded, it will be much harder...

Good luck.

 

[UncleDave]

or you can buy a mityvac and move on.

 

[Trav]

That bolt will not be very tight in there as it broke off going in. As Jeff said just use a small punch and tap it around, it will come out.

 

[2heeldrive]

I think there are lots of ways to fix that without replacing the pan. Here's one way:

 

[Trav]

I don't think it is stripped but broken off unless I missed something.

 

[AZjeff]

In my world stripped is different than broken-off. If it's not leaking hard to imagine it will turn back out easily. Easy Out or pan removal. Pretty big bolt to break, is it aluminum?

 

[Jethro_Bob]

I've had good luck with left handed drill bits on snapped off bolts. With the bolt head removed, the only torque should be the friction from the threads.

 

[Averroes]

In my world stripped is different than broken-off. If it's not leaking hard to imagine it will turn back out easily. Easy Out or pan removal. Pretty big bolt to break, is it aluminum?

first off I’d like to thank everyone for their input and assistance. Yes it was an aluminum drain plug. Hopefully it’s a easy out. I’m not to handy, so I’ll take it to my regular mechanic to get it checked out.

 

[Trav]

Stay clear of those aluminum plugs, nothing but trouble.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Left hand drill bit possibly or find a way to cut a slot in it and unscrew it with a screwdriver if it isn’t stripped and just broken off. I personally have never been in this situation so don’t know many other opinions lol.

 

[AZjeff]

Yes it was an aluminum drain plug. Hopefully it’s a easy out.

FYI - EZ Out is a brand and generic name of broken screw/bolt extractors. like this

No problem for a good mechanic.

 

[ecotourist]

Guess I’m a certified “stripper” now, but all humour aside I “done goofed”. Was in a rush today before a storm hit and I accidentally stripped the bolt.

Is there a way to take the remainder of the bolt out of the pan? I’m worried about contamination of metal scraps being in the pan oif there were a way to take out what is left of the bolt.

The big question is whether that bolt went in easily or not. If it threaded in easily and then broke off, it might come out fairly easily. If it was difficult to get started and was hard to tighten it's probably cross threaded, in which case getting it out (without the head) is going to be pretty tough.

If it started easily and went in quite easily, I'd be concerned about the remains of that bolt coming loose and possibly even falling out. Not that likely but a big problem if it were to happen. "A low risk but with a catastrophic outcome." So I wouldn't drive it around a lot before fixing it.

 

[Egg_Head]

Only problems I have ever had with oil pan bolts "wanting" to strip is with aftermarket magnetic drain plugs. Nary an issue with OE bolts.

 

[Pablo]

Only problems I have ever had with oil pan bolts "wanting" to strip is with aftermarket magnetic drain plugs. Nary an issue with OE bolts.

Interesting. I've never "stripped" either, but I find Dimple plugs to be high quality - better than OEM

In the OP - what stripped? Threads or head/socket? I had a shop strip the 10mm hex socket on my front diff drain plug, yep as suggested - cut a groove and with a chisel, it's hammer time! They wound in my Dimple replacement plug.

So in 2020 stripped could mean the threads are FUBAR, OR it could mean the head of the plug - of the (looks like a) bolt type, or the socket (looks like a screw type with a hex, square, Torx socket) is destroyed.

What is the case here????

 

[dlundblad]

I don’t have steady hands so the punch scares me. I’d be afraid of distorting the bolt and making it worse.

I’d try a left handed bit as mentioned or just drill a 1/4” hole and spin it out with an EZ out. It won’t be tight.

 

[doitmyself]

Can anyone show an example of what this plug looks like? Is it a two piece outfit? The broken off core is so much smaller than the female threads showing.

 

[Trav]

It looks like one of these aluminum magnetic plugs, they break easily. When the head breaks off during install there is no longer tension on the threads and they will spin right out. Maybe the OP can confirm or show us what he put in.