Why does everyone overtighten oil drain plugs?

I was helping a buddy swap oil on his 2015 Civic last weekend and watched him crank that drain plug down like he was torquing lug nuts. I had to stop him because I've seen way too many stripped pans in my 8 years of turning wrenches. The spec on most modern cars is only 18-25 ft-lbs, you barely need more than wrist effort plus a quarter turn. A stripped oil pan means a $200+ replacement job at a shop, plus you're stuck with a leaky car in the meantime. Has anyone else had to explain to customers that more force doesn't mean better seal?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenixh742d ago

Agreed with you completely man... I've had this argument with so many people in my years of working on cars. It's like they think the plug is gonna fall out if they don't crank it down, but really that spec is just a light snug. I've seen more than a few aluminum pans that got ruined because someone used a breaker bar on a drain plug. You barely need more than a good wrist snap and maybe a little extra to crush the crush washer, anything past that is just asking for trouble.

ivan822d ago

Blew my mind the first time I saw a guy use a torque wrench on a drain plug. Like dude, it's not a head gasket, its a piece of metal with a rubber seal.