Worried about Oil Drain Plug ... Piggyback plug???

[BigNick]

So I finally did it. Changed my oil for the first time on my own! After lurking on here, I was inspired haha But I'm glad I did it and looking forward to doing more! But now I have a problem.. The car is the 2.7L Sebring which I plan to keep for the next 4-5 years. OCI's of 5,000km, mostly dealer oil changes, but some jiffy lube type places (watched carefully). The previous Oil Change was done at a Lube Stop (130,000km on the odometer). I watched them throughout and they were actually very good. The even gave me a new oil drain plug.. for free! Said mine was the original, and is short, and that it should be changed. I requested to keep the old one. As I changed the oil myself, I compared the plugs. I tried putting in the old one, went in smoothly, but it would not tighten at the end for some reason... it just kept "spinning". The new drain plug is definitely much longer, and might even be a single oversized plug (not sure). The threads on the pan seem as to be "coming off" as I discarded some metal pieces (or might be from using an oversized plug). The newer plug went in, with some extra effort (not much) and no leaks. I actually don't have a problem right now... but want to avoid future problems, that being, having to replace the oil pan, which may get costly. After doing some reading online, I came across piggyback drain plugs, and actually bought one from Napa for under 5 bucks. It's a single oversized piggyback plug, but is short like the original plug (they didn't have longer ones). Looking for opinions here... My thinking is, next oil change, try to install this Piggyback plug (this will be done by my mechanic... just in case there are issues). Hopefully it will go on with out any issues and therefore I will never have to damage the oil pan threads any further, as the internal screw will only be removed for oil changes in the future. Does anyone have any experience with these Piggyback Plugs? Do they last? Do they leak in the future? Should I just continue using the newer plug from Lube Stop? Should I just get a mechanic to change my oil from now on.. just in case? I'd like to change the oil myself in the future, but I am worried about having problems with the drain plug. Any comments/opinions appreciated...

 

[Hethaerto]

I wonder what caused the original plug to become to small or short? Did someone over-tighten or strip out your threads? Or is the old plug made of super-soft metal and it simply wore out? I'd definitely prefer to have the drain plug be softer material for sacrificial reasons.

 

[crazycrak]

these cars are very bad for the plugs to strip out. my first question would be why did you go the piggyback route a single oversize should have went right Im not sure how long these last and most lube shops wont touch them. but if your worried on it leaking then only way to ease that would be get new oil pan. the most common striping of these oil pans is b/c they are fine thread with very soft aluminum pans and ppl put coarse thread plugs in them for another chrysler car which indead look alike but the thread pitch is diffrent I work a walmart tire and lube express and see tons of these cars come in with striped pans and a jiffy lube sticker in the window I would also conseder taking it back to the Jiffy Lube that did it last the should replace the pan since it happened on their clock.

 

[BigNick]

The original plug is short. I see no reason why it wasn't longer from the factory, but that's how it is. Someone, somewhere, over the last 8 years must've started the problem by over tightening or stripping the threads. Not really sure... The plug in there now is the plug from Lube Stop. I know for sure it is longer (comparing it to the original plug). I am NOT sure if it is the same size or single oversized (didn't know about "oversized" plugs or piggyback plugs when I changed the oil.. researched after the fact). I did the oil change on a Sunday at my parent's house before having to drive 250miles back to my apartment, so basically had to get it back together again and be on my way. I bought the Piggyback Plug and have it in my possession for PoSsiBlE future use... Just thinking of trying to avoid future damage to the threads and avoid changing the pan. 5 bucks compared to $100+ (don't know for sure)... I would not be willing to tackle an oil pan change on my own..Mechanic territory.

 

[crazycrak]

the plug would say OS on the bolt head if it was oversized I see no reason for the piggy back not to work just be carful when changing the oil