Yummybud924

I've only changed the oil 3 times since buying my 944 as it wasn't my daily driver up till now.

anyways everytime I change the oil it makes me really nervous. When I tighten it it gets tight but then when I put a torque wrench on it (needle gauge type so it's accurate), to make it tighter than about 15 foot pounds the plug doesn't move and then suddenly when I apply torque it suddenly turns a quarter turn and then again it stays tight and then when I continue applying pressure to tighten it to about 35 foot pounds it won't move and suddenly it move a quarter turn or so.

to me it seems like it's starting to strip, maybe someone has previously damaged it or something. so far 3 oil changes and it still at least gets tight to around 35 foot pounds but past 15 foot pounds it feels like it's starting to strip.

or is that normal? the sudden move doesn't seem normal to me.


for my next oil change should I install one of those quick oil drain vales http://www.quickoildrainvalve.com/ so I don't have to take the oil drain plug out anymore.

problem with that is that I'm paranoid the valve will open up somehow and I'll lose oil while driving. also there is not spot to put a torque wrench on it so I wouldn't know how tight to make it.

also do you guys think about 20 foot pounds should be enough to keep the plug tight, I was really nervous getting it up to 35 foot pounds this time.

Yummybud924

http://www.928motorsports.com/parts/...drainvalve.php

quinnfiske

Are you sure that 35 lb-ft is the correct torque? Sound high to me. I never tighten mine very tight. It only has to be tight enough to stay snug, there is no load on it.

luckett

You are supposed to use a new crush washer with every removal of the bolt. That will affect the torque readings. Maybe that level of torque you stated is assuming that you are using a new washer?

Just do it by hand. Relying completely on a torque wrench without regard for feel in low torque applications in alum. is just asking for stripped threads.

Yummybud924

you think I could have partly stripped it?

it's tight now but the 2 times I changed oil it would get tight and then when I applied further torque to go up to 35 foot pound the bolt suddenly moved a quarter turn.

yes I do use a new aluminum crush washer.

last time I tried only tightening it to 15 foot pounds and after a few weeks I saw it was leaking a tiny bit as it had come loose.

next time if it doesn't strip I'm going to buy one of those quick drain oil drain plugs so I don't have to take out the oil plug again.


just wondering what happens if you strip the oil rain plug? does the pan have to come out or is there some way to repair it at home?

fastmover

Yes you can put a heli-coil in the drain hole or a time-sert. time sert is a better quality. Both are thread repair kits. Heli coils can be found at most local part stores, time serts are a little more scarce, mostly used in dealerships.

N/a 944

What's a heli-coil and what is a time-sert?

Zero10

helicoils and time-serts are thread repair kits, you drill out the hole to make it a tad bigger, tap it one size bigger then put in a threaded insert to bring it back down to the original size. Time-sert > helicoil since helicoil is just a piece of square wire twisted into a coil that you thread in, time-serts are solid inserts and are much more reliable. Problem is doing this on a hole the size of an oil drain plug is really expensive (large drill bits, taps and inserts aren't cheap). If you have to go this route it is best to have a shop do it. It's not practical to remove the pan on our engines so it might as well be done in the car at oil change time if necessary.

That said, the quick drain valves get good reviews but I have always been really nervous about using one for the same reason.

35lb/ft is too much for the drain plug. With a new washer I go to 20lb/ft, then if I can't get a replacement washer easily, re-use the washer at 25lb/ft and replace it the next use.

yellowline

37 ft-lb is the factory spec. Never had a problem with it.

mavfan

forget the torque wrench, just go hand tight. and 37 ft-lb's seems excessive, whether porsche said to use that spec or not. i think you guys are over complicating oil changes. (says a GS at an auto shop)

Yummybud924

hmm, so next time I'll only torque it to 20 foot pounds and hope I didn't strip it too bad this time going to 35 foot pounds......

I think I'll also order one of those quick drain valves.

if the bolt gets stipped and doesn't get tight anymore then I'm screwed. that was what I was saying, you can't buy a huge *** drill bit and tap like that to do it at home.

when putting the quick drain valve on I wonder if I should put some blue loctite on the bolt and torque it to like 15-20 foot pounds so it stays tight.

so are there many cases of the quick drain valve opening up while driving and losing oil the 944 engine is so low to the ground which makes me a bit worried.

there are already chunks of the metal fins on teh oil pan misisng from rocks etc on teh road.

Zero10

I don't feel safe with a quick drain valve in the car, but I suppose if your instruments all work correctly you would be able to shut the engine down before any real damage occurs if you were to knock it off on a rock/curb/speed bump/dead moose. It would probably be a safe thing to do, there's so many of them in use on the roads there are bound to be accidents/failures.

TRP951

one thing you give up is the magnetic oil drain plug when you go to the quick drain ones

Yummybud924

hmm yeah I'd also feel safer with the regular plug.

maybe I didn't partially strip the bolts and next time I'll only torque to 20 foot pounds instead of 35.

I remember last time I only went to 15 foot pounds and it came loose after a few weeks and I had to torque it to 35 foot pound and it was fine.

maybe I"ll try 20 foot pounds next time.

I'm scared that each time that I go to 35 foot pound it strips a bit and then one time it will fully strip and I"ll be screwed.

like this time it went tight and then when I put the torque wrench on it to go to 35 foot pound the bolt suddenly moved a quarter turn or so after it was alread tight.

That's the thing with aluminum it strips so easily. I had to helicoil all my water pump bolts as they all were stripped but I can't helicoil the oil pan as you need a big *** drill bit and tap and theres the problem of getting metal shavings in your pan.

well I'm sure anything can happen with those valves. I've even thought about how a rock on the road could easily punch a hole in the oil pan as it's so low to the ground.

big chunks of the metal fins on the oil pan are already missing from rocks on the road taking them out.

but those valves have to be pushed open right? I doublt speed bumps etc would touch it to open it up. yeah maybe running over a dead moose but that would do alot of other damage aswell.

Yummybud924

what about uing on of those magnets that attach to your oil filter