Leaking oil drain plug

[CJ Johansson]

Long ago, before everyone knew about the misprint in the manual on torque for the oil drain plug, I followed the manual and tried to tighten it to what the manual said. Needless to say, I never got there, the plug cracked at around 60 ft-lb.



I realized something was wrong, so I took it out, saw the crack, and brazed it back together so the oil wouldn't pour out, then off to the Cummins dealer for a new plug. Well, they didn't have one and had to order it, but said they had the gaskets.



Well, when the plug came in, they didn't have any gaskets, so I just used the old one. It leaked a bit, but I lived with it. Then got new gaskets, lost 'em somewhere in the clutter, etc.



Anyway, I *FINALLY* got a new gasket and installed it. Now it's leaking worse than the old one.

So, I've got to assume that over torqueing the plug distorted the oil pan somewhat, making it basically impossible to get a good seal.



So, I'm looking for suggestions of how to solve this problem. Two gaskets? Some other sort of gasket material to fill the space? One of the after-market easy drain type plugs, put in with silicone around the threads?



The last one seems like possibly the best option, but I'm really leary of having something down there that could get bumped on a rock or brush or whatever and dump the oil since I do drive off road a fair amount.



So, any suggestions out there? Are there any easy drain type plugs that don't reduce ground clearance and/or don't have something hanging down to get caught on stuff, possibly opening the valve?



Thanks,

-cj

 

[cumminsgetme]

I have had the same problem. I use a piece rubber to seal it (tractor tube). I didn't want to put anything on the threads of the plug because I was afraid it might contaminate the oil some (just due to the plug being longer than the thickness of the oil pan)

 

[SDBenton]

I've not had the leaks (fortunately), but I did replace the stock plug with Geno's EZ Change Plug and Draintube (part #s 0428 and 0601). The EX plug does not negligably reduce ground clearance, and the setup makes for real easy oil changes. I recommend it.

 

[ProvenPerformance]

What misprint are you guys talking about?



My service manual for my '95 calls for 25 lb/ft.



Thanks

 

[barrfishe1]

As i recall, my '97 manual says 60 ft-lbs, and that is the torque I used. I guess I (may) have been lucky--It did not break or crack and no leaks! If I can get it out again at the next oil change I will use 40 ft-lbs, and a new washer! Now I wish I had used Amsoil

 

[CJ Johansson]

Originally posted by ProvenPerformance

What misprint are you guys talking about?



My service manual for my '95 calls for 25 lb/ft.



Thanks

My '98 manual said 70 I think, but should have been 40...

 

[RHebert]

HEAVY DUTY OIL PLUG - DODGE

I replaced the stock oil drain plug with the "HEAVY DUTY OIL PLUG - DODGE" from Geno's Garage and it is a big improvement over the stock plug. I don't think you have to worry about damaging this plug, but still use recommended torque setting.

 

[ProvenPerformance]

Where are you guys getting the 40 lb/ft spec from?

 

[CJ Johansson]

Originally posted by ProvenPerformance

Where are you guys getting the 40 lb/ft spec from?

Well, this stuff came out years ago, back when most of the info was passed around on E-mail lists instead of the TDR board.



I still need to go look at my owner's manuals, yeah, I got two, one with the truck and another that DC sent to replace the original which had some bad info in it, or maybe it was adding stuff for the 24V. I can't remember if they fixed the oil plug torque spec in the second one. I seem to remember the First one said 70 lb-ft torque, whatever it was, I tried it and broke my plug.



Then, others were having the same problem and the info came out that the max torque was 44 lb-ft. I'm not sure anymore where it really came from, the E-mail I have about it is dated 29 Mar 2000 and just has part numbers for the plug, washer and the torque spec. It's from a guy names Ken J. Scobel at Cummins.com, this may be the origin of the 44 lb-ft number since he's a Cummins guy.



-cj

 

[SMorneau]

The correct torque for my 96 is 40 ft-lbs, not 60 as the manual says. If you torqued the plug to more than that replace it because it has probably started to fracture. Don't rely on an unaided visual inspection.



The chronic leak is probably caused by the distortion of the sealing surface on the pan itself. When I over-torqued mine, you know I read the book with the wrong spec, it caused the sealing surface to deform. DC replaced the pan and the plug under warranty.



Now I only torque it to about 34ft-lbs and it stays put just fine.

 

[Big John]

JC, I had the exact same problem with my '96. I fixed it by wrapping the gasket with teflon tape the first time I used it. I torqued it to 40 and by time I changed the oil the next time the gasket had conformed to the pan and it has not leaked since.



The teflon tape is long since gone, but it never leaks. After the second oil change, I started using 35 pounds of torque.



Big John

 

[CJ Johansson]

Thanks Big John! That's certainly something to look forward to, maybe mine'll seal the next time.



If not, maybe I'll try the super plug with the thicker flange. If it doesn't seal at 40 lb-ft, it looks like it could be torqued a bit more. I don't need to worry about deforming the pan seal surface 'cause I'm fairly certain that's the problem I have now Maybe I could get the pan replaced under warrantee since I'm still under the 100K on the engine and they did print it wrong in the book, but avoiding that hassle seems easier to me.



After looking at the various easy drain type plugs, I don't think I really want one. The one with the special hose and all seems like the best and least likely to accidentally dump your oil in the middle of nowhere, but it seems, from reading other posts, that this one leaves a fair bit of old oil in the pan. I don't like that. The mess factor is no big deal to me, I've got a huge pan to catch the old oil (it has to handle the 5 gallons from the tractor - I'm still not sure what to do about the 27. 5 gallons I need to dump out of the swather )...



-cj