Here's what happens when you overtorque drain plugs...

Oh yeah I forgot the manuals use gear oil. I thought it looked strange at first.

 

Thinking about putting the plug back in, cleaning it up really good and just sealing rhe whole kitten-caboodle up with jb weld. And I mean everything. Plug and all. Heres my reasoning: she's a 98 with 200K on the clock and with my light duty driving habits I cant see ever needing to change the oil in the foreseeable future. Gonna pump her full of redline and just go. If I can get 100k more out of her I'll be more than satisfied. Thoughts?

 

Could always suck out out through the fill plug too if you do that or pull the shifter and suck it out from there. That's funny shit though.

 

go for it, you can always take the plug back out in the future if you leave the bolt head relatively JB weld free.

 

That is indeed funny shit.

 

I mean sorry for your troubles but that's a funny fix!

 

I 2nd the liquid steel. Or have some one weld it. It will take them 2 seconds. They have those steel sticks, I bet it would work fine. It could also be brazed with a flux and higher silver content in a few minutes.

 

I completely agree, its very spur of zi moment.

 

Talked to a welder today and he said he could weld the crack and plug the drain with aluminum, leaving the option to tap it in the future if the need arises. Sounds like a better option than jb-ing it all together.

 

I think I'd try some JB weld or simliar, that shit works like super glue , if you can get the surfaces clean enough without leaving any residue, it'll bond & seal like no tomorrow, but like super glue it'll either work like a champ or it'll be wasted time, but it is cheap to find out which

 

How many more *years* are you looking to keep the truck? Oil degrades with time, too, not just milage. Since the tranny is open to the atmosphere through the breather, the oil will absorb moisture, contaminants, and degrade on its own. Better to weld the crack properly and use some Loctite thread sealant (not threadlocker) when installing the drain plug.

 

I would patch it and go. drive it till it breaks and find a good used trans. from a salvage yard. but thats just me.

 

I've used this stuff with a lot of success over the years. You can even drill and tap it.


I see you're from from CO now but are you Canadian by birth? Several of them seem to have maintenance issues.

 

Thing is, the drain plug probably won't tighten well. And once you DO tighten it, it'll spread out and break anything you've sealed it with.

 

On my truck, the oil doesn't leak as long as the plug is threaded in by 1-2 threads. It doesn't take much torque to seal.

 

But t is cracked along the threads, the plastic gasket ring will essentially do nothing. There think of the hole as not a cylinder anymore. It is wider at one end it looks like in the picture. You'd have to really load it up with silicone to get it to seal .

 

This happened while using a torque wrench that was set to the proper torque?

 

Yes, el cheapo wrench didn't crack. Well, in one sense it did I suppose

 

The hole diameter increase from the crack is very minimal. And if the OP welds the crack instead of using metal putty, the weld will pull when it cools, closing the crack.

Another option is to install a Fumoto drain valve commonly used for engine oil pans. Then you can completely goop up the thread interface.