I was going to change my oil today and somehow ended striping the oil drain plug when I tried to remove it. I tried using a vise grip afterwards but was unsuccessful. I heard about a tool set called Easy-Out. Does anyone have any experience with this? I also found several other tools like this from Sears.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...o=5&blockType=

I'm not sure which one to buy in order to remove this stubborn plug. Does anyone have any advice/suggestion on how I should go about removing this striped hex?

thanks

 

An easy-outwill work, but you need to drill a hole in the in the plug first. Not
something I recomend. If you drill off center into the threads of the pan you'll have
bigger problems. If you are good and drill nice perfect hole for the easy-out,
there is a risk of snapping it off inside the plug. Which would be worse than
your present situation. The Sears tool is only good for smaller screws/bolts/nuts IMAO.

I would see if independant shop or oil change place can help. They deal with this all
the time and may have trick to help you.

If you were local I would be glad to give you assistance.

Good luck.

Bryan

 

you can try cutting a slot in the head and then try to back it out with a screwdriver. you can also try using a socket that is one size smaller than the original bolt. an easy out is really only useful on smaller screws that have had their heads snapped off.

 

i guess i'll try cutting a slot on the plug tomorrow with my dremel tool and see if that will work. I can't believe how soft the metal is on the MINI's drain plug. I've been changing the oil on all my cars in the past and have never stripped a bolt before.

 

It doesn't sound like you stripped the drain plug threads, but instead rounded off the head thus preventing a conventional 6 point socket from fitting. You did mention attempting to use vise-grips.

If that is the case, then perhaps an old fashioned pipe wrench on the head of the bolt will convince it to free up. Sometimes, tho, when removing these stubborn drain plugs the threads do end up getting stripped as the drain plug is removed.

It might be a good idea to have a replacement handy.

...Les

 

You beat me to it. Pipe wrench if you can get it on the drain plug.

 

You can use a small chisel at the 3 o'clock position on the screw head. Just tap it with a hammer so that you are driving the screw in a "lefty-loosey" direction. It will come loose. then you can use your fingers or the old hex wrench to get it all the way out.

 

Once you get it out, get a Fumoto valve!

 

i ended up getting this set of damaged bolt remover from sears on saturday. I didn't get a chance to try it yet.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...o=1&blockType=

I hope this will work. I've already picked up a spare plug from the dealership. I also have a Fumito valve on hand. what size allen wrench do I need in order to tighten the fumito valve?

 

I have had a Futomo Valve on my 2004 Chevy Avalanche for about 5 years now and is still works great. It does take a little longer to drain but you don't get the normal hand/arm covered in oil. That being said I dont think I would put one on my MINI. The plug comes straight down on the MINI and in my mind it will hang down too low with a chance of getting broke off. The plug on my Avalanche goes straight back and I dont have to worry about it.

The Set of bolt outs you bought from sears should do the trick. I have a set and they have saved my butt a few times. Well worth the money. The pipe wrench idea is also a good one if you have room for it. In the past I have had to break out the welder to get some stubborn bolts out. I had to weld nut to the head and use a wrench on that. I think the heat helped a little too.

 

The set you bought should work just fine. And you don't even have to remember the Lefty loosey/ Righty tighty rule as they only will bite in one direction!

 

Well, the bolt extractor set I got from Sears didn't work for me. The drain plug just won't budge. I even tried using some PB blaster on the plug. I think I'm about to throw in the towel and go ask a mechanic to help me take this out.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

you had me confused until I looked at your gallery

you have a GEN1 and you've posted in GEN2 area - the drain plug is very different 'tween the two with a GEN1 being an outie and GEN2 an innie....your question makes no sense for a GEN2!

Over in GEN1 land you'll find plenty of threads about this. I've gotten several out for folks using an extractor similar but a wee bit different then the sears one you pictured.


I usually use one with an 18 inch breaker bar - use a hammer to tap the extractor down....a bit of force is required...if it starts to slip, tap down more

and note that despite all references the drain is really a 1/2 inch and using the right size wrench helps a lot!

 

I had the same problem on my 04 mcs, I used the set I believe you have posted, Irwin I think it is, worked perfect, and once out i did install a Fumoto valve, works perfect

 

yep - IRWIN - used with a socket wrench

difference I see from the sears pictured above is the IRMIN has a flat base which allows easy whacking with a hammer to get it down onto the mangled head. You'll mangle it more getting it off but it will come off. Here's a mangled and a clean

 

Have you tried the pipe wrench? Lots of leverage (use a pipe over it if you need even more) and it grips tighter the harder you pull.

 

That sounds like one stubborn bolt! Who put it in last time, The Hulk? Pipe wrench sounds the best approach. Could you grind two flat sides parallel to each other and get a crescent on it maybe? However you get a bite on it, make sure you've got as long a bar as possible for most torque.

One thing that helped me when I was doing my front rotors. The keeper screw was seriously stuck and Kroil, a mapp torch, and an impact wrench finally got it out. What helped though was I drew a line from the screw head to the rotor so I could tell when all that effort finally made it move. It was only 0.5 degrees but at least I could see progress.



I've had my Fumoto on for quite a while and have not had any massive trauma. It does not come straight down it angles down and there's enough other stuff in the way that it's not the lowest point on the car. We're not Baja racing these cars...

I installed it finger tight and then used a big crescent wrench to torque it. The sides are flat and I got the valve arm to be on the top.

 

I usually take two approaches to a stripped bolt. One is to tap a slightly smaller socket onto the bolt head, then use a ratchet. The other is to take a pair of vise grips to it. If you do the latter, tighten the adjustment **** and squeeze the handle shut as hard as you can handle.

 

I was the one who put the plug back the last time i did the oil change. i always just hand tighten it. The rubber must have gotten stuck onto the contact surface of the oil pan over time.