Stripped Transmission Plug

Flashback to about about 4/5 years and 40,000 miles ago....
Wanted to do my first oil change on my recently purchased 01 Taco, ended up draining the tranny fluid by accident. No biggie, rookie mistake! Refilled the trans w/ fresh fluid and never thought anything of it.
Today: Decided I was going to drain the tranny again and remove the pan and clean up the filter and gunk inside and reseal w/ a new gasket. Bought myself 7 quarts of fresh ATF and FIPG from the dealer. I was all set to drain the fluid. First step? Remove the plug.
As I was trying to remove the plug I noticed it was spinning freely and would not come out. I must have over tightened the damn thing too much. F^HK!!!!!!! What are my options? Could I tap the thing to a bigger size? New pan? Anywhere I could purchase a new pan on the cheap?
Thanks any input is appreciated.

 

I guess your lucky the stripped bolt stayed put and did not pop out or loosen up...
Maybe check the price of a new pan, check local junk yards for a price on a used one if available and or call around to get a price to fix the old pan if possible. I like the idea of a used or new pan replacement, but someone may be able to fix your pan, just make sure with the fix the new bolt can seat properly to be securely tightened. Good luck, I hope you learned another thing about working on your shit- there is such a thing as too tight, and be real careful with aluminum- a lot easier over torque and screw up!

 

Usually the threads on the oil pan come from a nut welded to the inside of the pan. So you could just pull the pan and weld the nut back on. Or find a new/ used pan.

 

Bummer bro, sounds like something I would do.

 

I'm in the same boat now too. Wrong torque spec got me I guess (darn 21ftlb). It's cinch down on the new crush washer. Drove it around last night - no leaks. We'll see what the next couple of days of driving will make it leak. Anyway, looks like I'm in for removing the whole pan.

Question: any idea how to take some of ATF out before taking off the pan? I hate for 3qt to come spilling out in the process of removing the pan.

 

@dbbyleo It might be a pain in the ass, but you could pump it out of the fill tube. You will need a pretty long skinny hose connected to a pump.

 

Disconnect the A/T hose to the radiator. Easy do do. Get a longer hose to attach and run into a drain pan. Start the vehicle and let it fun for about 15 seconds. It will pump out some. Or have someone help add more into the dipstick tube as you control the drain flow. No need to take off the Trans pan at all : )