mpwilliams wrote:
> If you want your Honda Accord's oil pan to last as long as the engine it's
> bolted to, make a firm commitment, now, to always have your oil changed at a
> Honda dealership. The cost is the same - sometimes less - than at the quick
> oil change stores, and the Honda dealer will always change the 5 cent zinc
> washer on the drain plug, something the oil change stores will never do.

it's aluminum, not zinc. and in my experience, dealer oil changes are
delegated to the least skilled person in the shop who is just as capable
of screwing it up as monkeylube.

> Your Honda Accord has an aluminum alloy oil pan with a steel drain plug,

most oil pans are steel - to withstand road debris damage.

> and
> the zinc washer, which is quite deformable compared to the aluminum alloy,
> protects the drain hole threads from stretching (and, eventually, stripping)
> when the plug is snugged up; when the threads have stripped, that's it for
> your $400+ oil pan.

steel is $37.73 retail.

> The false economy and dubious convenience of quick oil
> change stores retired the original oil pan on my 1988 Honda Accord at about
> 60,000 miles (changing oil every 5,000 miles);

dealers rarely use honda oil, so what's the point?

> the oil pan on my mother's
> 1995 Honda Accord was done in at 40,000 miles (roughly the same change
> frequency).

all that says is that it was messed up, and that can happen anywhere.
i've watched dealers do it may times. the crx i got at 305k miles was
on its original oil pan and had never been serviced at a dealer its
whole life - i had the full service history. according to your dictum,
the pan should have been replaced many times. it all comes down to
having it done right, and that is a function of training & skill of the
technician, /not/ the name on the door of the shop.