Honda Car Forum

I have been told by my servicing Honda dealer that my 1998 Accord EXV6 has
an oil pan with a stripped drain plug and self tapping plugs which they are
now using is only a temporary fix.
The car has 110,000 miles on it and the dealer has done most ALL of its oil
changes. I really though that only Jiffy Lube stripped Honda pans, not the
dealers, but I can understand that a car with my mileage may have this
issue. (?)

My dealer wants $130 for the pan and $250 installation. Seems excessive as
an OEM pan is available on line for $48.00 from Majestic Honda!

Anyone with an idea on an "acceptable" cost to replace the oil pan on my car
in the Long Island, New York area??

Thanks,
Matthew

Matthew wrote:
> I have been told by my servicing Honda dealer that my 1998 Accord EXV6 has
> an oil pan with a stripped drain plug and self tapping plugs which they are
> now using is only a temporary fix.
> The car has 110,000 miles on it and the dealer has done most ALL of its oil
> changes. I really though that only Jiffy Lube stripped Honda pans, not the
> dealers, but I can understand that a car with my mileage may have this
> issue. (?)
>
> My dealer wants $130 for the pan and $250 installation. Seems excessive as
> an OEM pan is available on line for $48.00 from Majestic Honda!
>
> Anyone with an idea on an "acceptable" cost to replace the oil pan on my car
> in the Long Island, New York area??
>
> Thanks,
> Matthew
>
>
you may have the aluminum pan, in which case it is more expensive.
either way, stripped drain plug is imo a crime punishable by moving your
business elsewhere.

On Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:02:46 -0500, Matthew wrote:

> I have been told by my servicing Honda dealer that my 1998 Accord EXV6 has
> an oil pan with a stripped drain plug and self tapping plugs which they are
> now using is only a temporary fix.
> The car has 110,000 miles on it and the dealer has done most ALL of its oil
> changes. I really though that only Jiffy Lube stripped Honda pans, not the
> dealers, but I can understand that a car with my mileage may have this
> issue. (?)

It should never happen unless the plug was put in cross-threaded, or it
was over-tightened. Find a new dealership to do your service.

>
> My dealer wants $130 for the pan and $250 installation. Seems excessive
> as an OEM pan is available on line for $48.00 from Majestic Honda!

That's the price of dealing with a dealer. You could try talking to the
service manager, to see if he will cut you a break, since the damage was
obviously done by his shop...

"Joe LaVigne" <jlavigne@hits-buffalo.com> wrote in message
news:ejc3jq$ei9$1@news.datemas.de...
> On Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:02:46 -0500, Matthew wrote:
>
>> I have been told by my servicing Honda dealer that my 1998 Accord EXV6
>> has
>> an oil pan with a stripped drain plug and self tapping plugs which they
>> are
>> now using is only a temporary fix.
>> The car has 110,000 miles on it and the dealer has done most ALL of its
>> oil
>> changes. I really though that only Jiffy Lube stripped Honda pans, not
>> the
>> dealers, but I can understand that a car with my mileage may have this
>> issue. (?)
>
> It should never happen unless the plug was put in cross-threaded, or it
> was over-tightened. Find a new dealership to do your service.
>
I'm not so sure. We are the second owners of my daughter's '93 Accord, and
the previous owner relied too much on Midas for service (original timing
belt at 163K miles!) Still, we made it through about half a dozen
do-it-myself oil changes before the oil drain bolt stripped. Had Midas been
overtorqueing the bolt and it finally caught up with me? Dunno. But I
suspect even torqueing "by the book" results in gradual erosion of the pan
threads. I can testify that a mechanic can do it exactly right, even several
times, and still the bolt may strip. It also seems to be a uniquely Honda
phenomenon; I haven't seen any other make that has this problem... unless
cross-threaded, of course.

NAPA carries single and double oversize drain bolts for Hondas. Hers now has
a single oversize and it has done well through a handful of oil changes. My
only complaint is that it doesn't thread in very far by hand the way the
original did, but it does thread far enough to ensure it isn't
cross-threading. I recommend leaving it at as-is unless and until there is
another stripped thread. If that happens, at least it won't be with a new
pan!

Mike

"Michael Pardee" <michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote in
news:f9CdnfJJV4O2KcTYnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@sedona.net:


<snip>

> We are the second owners of my daughter's '93 Accord,
> and the previous owner relied too much on Midas for service (original
> timing belt at 163K miles!) Still, we made it through about half a
> dozen do-it-myself oil changes before the oil drain bolt stripped. Had
> Midas been overtorqueing the bolt and it finally caught up with me?
> Dunno. But I suspect even torqueing "by the book" results in gradual
> erosion of the pan threads.



It does not. The single and sole cause of stripped oil pan drain bolt
threads is overtorquing.

Too many mechanics (even dealership ones, unfortunately) hand-torque the
bolt to save time, usually overdoing it by a considerable margin.

The first oil pan in my Integra made it barely 3 years with oil changes
exclusively by an Acura dealer. The second, well...It's still on there.



> I can testify that a mechanic can do it
> exactly right, even several times, and still the bolt may strip.



Unlikely. Do it right, right from the start, and that bolt will go a
long long time before it strips. And I mean a decade or more, or well
over 100 oil changes.



> It
> also seems to be a uniquely Honda phenomenon;



It is. It has to do with the way Honda makes the threads in the oil pan.

The official Honda cure is Heli-Coil.



--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

"TeGGeR®" <tegger@tegger.c0m> wrote in
news:Xns987B4E76F9883tegger@207.14.116.130:

> "Michael Pardee" <michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote in
> news:f9CdnfJJV4O2KcTYnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@sedona.net:
>
>
><snip>
>
>> We are the second owners of my daughter's '93 Accord,
>> and the previous owner relied too much on Midas for service (original
>> timing belt at 163K miles!) Still, we made it through about half a
>> dozen do-it-myself oil changes before the oil drain bolt stripped. Had
>> Midas been overtorqueing the bolt and it finally caught up with me?
>> Dunno. But I suspect even torqueing "by the book" results in gradual
>> erosion of the pan threads.
>
>
>
> It does not. The single and sole cause of stripped oil pan drain bolt
> threads is overtorquing.
>
> Too many mechanics (even dealership ones, unfortunately) hand-torque the
> bolt to save time, usually overdoing it by a considerable margin.
>
> The first oil pan in my Integra made it barely 3 years with oil changes
> exclusively by an Acura dealer. The second, well...It's still on there.
>
>
>
>> I can testify that a mechanic can do it
>> exactly right, even several times, and still the bolt may strip.
>
>
>
> Unlikely. Do it right, right from the start, and that bolt will go a
> long long time before it strips. And I mean a decade or more, or well
> over 100 oil changes.
>
>
>
>> It
>> also seems to be a uniquely Honda phenomenon;
>
>
>
> It is. It has to do with the way Honda makes the threads in the oil pan.
>
> The official Honda cure is Heli-Coil.
>
>
>

Then perhaps this?

http://www.fumotovalve.com/

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Jim Yanik wrote:
> "TeGGeR�" <tegger@tegger.c0m> wrote in
> news:Xns987B4E76F9883tegger@207.14.116.130:
>
>> "Michael Pardee" <michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote in
>> news:f9CdnfJJV4O2KcTYnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@sedona.net:
>>
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> We are the second owners of my daughter's '93 Accord,
>>> and the previous owner relied too much on Midas for service (original
>>> timing belt at 163K miles!) Still, we made it through about half a
>>> dozen do-it-myself oil changes before the oil drain bolt stripped. Had
>>> Midas been overtorqueing the bolt and it finally caught up with me?
>>> Dunno. But I suspect even torqueing "by the book" results in gradual
>>> erosion of the pan threads.
>>
>>
>> It does not. The single and sole cause of stripped oil pan drain bolt
>> threads is overtorquing.
>>
>> Too many mechanics (even dealership ones, unfortunately) hand-torque the
>> bolt to save time, usually overdoing it by a considerable margin.
>>
>> The first oil pan in my Integra made it barely 3 years with oil changes
>> exclusively by an Acura dealer. The second, well...It's still on there.
>>
>>
>>
>>> I can testify that a mechanic can do it
>>> exactly right, even several times, and still the bolt may strip.
>>
>>
>> Unlikely. Do it right, right from the start, and that bolt will go a
>> long long time before it strips. And I mean a decade or more, or well
>> over 100 oil changes.
>>
>>
>>
>>> It
>>> also seems to be a uniquely Honda phenomenon;
>>
>>
>> It is. It has to do with the way Honda makes the threads in the oil pan.
>>
>> The official Honda cure is Heli-Coil.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Then perhaps this?
>
> http://www.fumotovalve.com/
>
over my dead body.

Jim Yanik <jyanik@abuse.gov> wrote in
news:Xns987B51AFC3DD5jyanikkuanet@129.250.170.85:

> "TeGGeR®" <tegger@tegger.c0m> wrote in
> news:Xns987B4E76F9883tegger@207.14.116.130:

>> It has to do with the way Honda makes the threads in the oil
>> pan.
>>
>> The official Honda cure is Heli-Coil.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Then perhaps this?
>
> http://www.fumotovalve.com/
>



Or just torque the damn bolt properly.

Last time I had the local dealer do an oil change (some time last year) I
noticed a notation on the invoice that stated the drain bolt had been
"hand-torqued". I thought, uh-oh...What's the opposite of that?

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

TeGGeR® wrote:

>
> Last time I had the local dealer do an oil change (some time last year) I
> noticed a notation on the invoice that stated the drain bolt had been
> "hand-torqued". I thought, uh-oh...What's the opposite of that?
>

May it mean that they DIDN"T use one of those fancy new extensions that
apply the correct torque automatically? Just a guess. bob

jim beam wrote:


>> http://www.fumotovalve.com/

Fram had something like this for sale many years ago. I bought one, but
never installed it. Possibility of a bad outcome scared me too much.
bob