Stripped Pan
 

Tried taking out the bolt. It keeps turning and turning and won't come out. I'm not sure if it's the pan or the bolt where the threads are stripped. What are my options?

Thanks guys

Wheres the bolt?

I would guess the oil pan?

You can take off the oil pan and take it to a shop and have them re-weld on that bung, or pop it out and weld on a new bung...it shouldn't cost much at all.

The hard part is taking the pan off and replacing the gasket...but depending on your skill level, that isn't bad.

I woudl just tow it to the shop (or drive if it still has oil), and have them mess with it...I can't immagine more than 100 bucks

get the bolt out and heli coil it

just buy a new pan, there not that much :shrug:

Sorry, yea oil pan.

Taking out the oil pan isn't an option right now because of where I live and my schedule. Time is takes to learn how too since I've never done it before. I need it fixed real soon.

There is still oil in it so I can drive it....but I've heard stories of this costing an arm and a leg if the oil pan needs to be replaced.

There's no rubber plug or someone after market I can use if I manage to get the bolt out? I didn't want to try taking it out without first having a replacement idea.

I don't know if its the bolt or the pan thats stripped.

well if your 2wd EDGE 3.0, then the oil pan comes right out, just un-bolt it from the motor and it will drop out of the bottom.

The threads are designed to be softer than the pan and strip first before damaging the pan. But, it sounds as if it is up in there good.

Well that's good to know.....hopefully I can just get a replacement bolt and that'll be the end of the problem. *Fingers crossed*

You'll have to find some sort of rubber gasket to put in the hole with the new bolt, as it may leak.

There was a cool tip on Extreme 4X4 not to long ago about welding a washer and nut on one side of the pan, and then a washer on the other, and then using a bolt.

They also make problem solving plugs that cut the pan a little and have oversized threads, but it is my understanding that once you use these the pan will need to be replaced to get the original plug size to work.

Drive it to jiffy lube and when they say the plug is stripped tell them that they did it and they need to repair it.

Kind of what I did for my tranny. I just had my mechanic weld a nut on the pan and used a short bolt with rubber washer. This way I change my tranny fluid every 9k miles (3 oil changes).

That's a good idea.

Oil pan bolt. Simple fix. Weld a jam-nut onto the pan with an inner diameter thats the same size/thread as your present one. Get a factory/oem oil pan bolt from Ford. All fixed.

are the new oil pans different than the old ones?

Maybe I'll take it into the shop and mention these ideas.

3.0l oil pan shouldnt be much work.
u gotta get the bolt out to no what it is. all this guessing isnt doing much. if you dont have time to deal with it urself then just take it to a shop and pay the bill. not many other options.

you could try to put a screw driver behind it and apply a little bit of pressure while turning the bolt but if the pan is striped then you might have a problem.

I did try that and it was coming out a bit but then stopped progressing. I didn't want to take it out if I wasn't able to put something back in. At least with it in, I can drive it to the shop if the pan is stripped.

Update. Garage took out the bolt, put in an oversized bolt and changed the oil/filter with the oil/filter I bought. All within half hour and for 26 dollars. Thankfully my pan wasn't stripped. Problem solved. Thanks for the responses guys.

oversized bolt = oil pan is junk!

it may be ok for now but the next time you need an oil change you may be in trouble.

If the pan wasn't stripped, why did they put an over sized plug in? Those are for fixing stripped pan threads.