I would not for 2 reasons. One of the reasons the drain plug is aluminum is to protect the threads in the oil pan. If you use a plug that's stronger than what it's screwing into, you will strip the pan instead of the plug of you accidentally over-tighten it. Second, I want to see the 987 Turbo that the eBay lister mentions in his add - twice.

 

That won't work. That style of smart charger needs to sense a battery in the circuit before it delivers power. If using the fuse panel jumper, you're powering just the trunk release circuit, not the battery. your power source has to be another battery, an old dumb charger or a jump pack.

Try the Ctek in the lighter plug socket in the centre console and leave if for a couple of hours.

 

Some of the more expensive CTEK's have a "supply" mode. This supplies 12V to the car while changing out batteries to keep all your presets, doesn't need to have some minimum charge present in this mode. It might work with the fuse panel jumper in "supply" mode. Otherwise Smitten is correct, go through the lighter plug socket with the correct adapter.

Model 7002 has it: http://smartercharger.com/products/b...multi-us-7002/

 

Right you are- it did not work. I was unaware of the "supply mode" functionality, so I used my other car and jumper cables to pop the hood. One issue solved. I attempted to charge the battery, but the voltage was too low for the charger to pick it up. I pulled the battery and took it to the Interstate store. They told me they would charge it or replace it if it wouldn't hold a charge for free. Great company.

They called this am- it is ready to go- so issue two resolved. Now I am waiting on extractor set to be delivered Friday. I am waiting on other methods until I get this set and give it a try. I have another plug and washer ready to go. Hopefully by Saturday I will be cruising.

I am waiting to see how the plug comes out to determine if I need to replace the oil again to flush the system. My thinking is that if there are any filings or the plug comes out in pieces, most should come out if I let a few cups of oil drain before replacing with the new plug. Thoughts?

 

That's an aluminum plug. 5 minutes max, bolt remover 3/8 after you drill (not all the way) a bit extra down into the hole and the bolt remover will bite that soft metal. Always keep a spare plug.

 

just as a word of caution when drilling into the drain plug . you dont want to go too deep to a point where the magnet gets dislodged and travels to the nearest ferrous component in your engine. work slowly and carefully with the extractor and it will work. good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Well just to post a follow up- the Irwin extractor did the trick in about 3 minutes. Interstate recharged the battery for free and I had a spare plug. Total cost was the extra plug and the extractor kit. I have to say thanks to the rennlisters! You guys saved me at least a few hundred $$.

I learned quite a bit and the car is ready to go!

Thanks again! This place is great.

 

Great! We knew u could do it. thanks for having the courage to post this because it will help others at some point I m sure.

 

Great to hear the excellent (and cheap) outcome! Congrats!

 

by the by just wonder if anyone has used a copper crush washer on the drain plug? I know they can be reused virtually for ever (heat to red hot, cool at room temp) soft annealing. I like the idea of not sourcing a washer for every oil change, not so worried about the 2.00 cost

 

I think the same considerations apply to the copper crush washer. Copper is harder than aluminum, so with the copper washer you risk deforming the oil pan and drain plug and not the washer. Will it hurt? Not worth finding out. By a bag of 10 washers and you'll never have to worry about having the washers on hand again.

 

Porsche used a steel plug in their aluminum 911 cases for 40 years without any problems and countless manufacturers still do.

You just need to know when it's "tight enough".

 

Glad your story has a good ending. Everybody makes some dumb mistakes when working on their cars. The learning part is a good part of the fun. I've had plenty of those moments of just having to leave the garage and cool off. Just think, from this point forward the pleasure of a well executed oil change is worth the effort.

Cheers/