Oil Drain Plug Leaking

[Cruzen]

Hi - Is it normal that the oil drain plug needs to be tightened close to 25 ft/lbs? Chilton manual states between 15 to 25 ft/lbs. Tightened initially to 20 ft/lbs but still leaked. Tightened again to 25ft/lbs. Going to check in the morning for leaks. Using plastic gasket. Prior to this recent oil change, the drain plug leaked with a metal gasket. I just don't want to over do it and end up with a bigger headache and mess. Thanks

[Mike S]

The culprit is more likely the oil level sender just above the drain plug and the oil collects near the drain plug. I always snug it then a 1/8 to 1/4 extra.

[Cruzen]

Thanks for the response Mike. I've tightened the oil level sender slightly and wedged some shop rag against the side of the oil pan below the oil level sender to isolate the leak if any from the sender. This will also determine if the drain plug is still leaking. Will let you know the result tomorrow.

[Cruzen]

Update: After isolating the oil level sender, it seems to be leaking at the black rubber seal/ring where the sensor attaches to. I tighten the bolt a little more. Will see what happens. Question: is the nut a single unit or there are actually two (1 to secure to the oil pan and 1 to secure the sensor? Also, do I have to change the whole sensor or can the seal replaceable? Thanks

[Patrick]

There is a wire clip that inserts in the groove on the hex. That wire clip holds in the sensor. If you pull out the wire clip, you can remove the sending unit and replace the O-ring that seals the area between between the sender and the inside diameter of the hex nut.

[Cruzen]

Thanks for the information. Is a circular wire clip that looks like it's around the sensor from the picture I included?

[Patrick]

Thanks for the information. Is a circular wire clip that looks like it's around the sensor from the picture I included?
Yes. That's it!!!

[SVO58]

Mine is doing the same thing, thanks for the info.

[Cruzen]

Yes. That's it!!! I was able to get around to work on the car today an was able to remove the sensor. Upon removal, I was anticipating a typical round O-ring which I didn't find. What I did find is a blue rubber seal (see attached below) which was positioned inside the low oil level sensor assembly. However there's no O-ring on the actual sensor. Is this set up incomplete? Should there be additional components? Thanks 4254

[Patrick]

It looks as if the last person there before you used a tube of blue silicone sealer to fix the leak.

[Cruzen]

Low oil level sensor fixed. :D 10 more oil leaks to plug up. :( Thank you again for the guidance. In case anyone runs into the same situation, here some info that may help. Replace the blue silicone sealer with a O-ring as Patrick had mentioned above. Below are some pictures that may assist. Pic 1 & 2 - size of O-ring used and actual ring. Pic 3 - Retaining clip. Pic 4 - Low Level Oil Sensor in the housing. Note, retaining clip must be flushed to the hex nut.
4308 4312 430943104311

[Patrick]

Thanks for the pics. Nice job! This will help others in the future.

[brsvo]

Nice job I just did this and took pics to post but you beat me to it. My sensor had the exact same blue seal/grommet inside. I just bought a O ring and put it in on top of the blue seal. Took me a half hour to get the wire clip back on. It doesn't look like your clip is all the way on. If you can see the open ends of the clip inside the top you need to spread it with a screw driver and push it the rest of the way in.

[Cruzen]

Nice job I just did this and took pics to post but you beat me to it. My sensor had the exact same blue seal/grommet inside. I just bought a O ring and put it in on top of the blue seal. Took me a half hour to get the wire clip back on. It doesn't look like your clip is all the way on. If you can see the open ends of the clip inside the top you need to spread it with a screw driver and push it the rest of the way in.

Thanks. Yes, fully securing the retaining clip completely on to the hex nut was a bit of a challenge for me. However, I was able to fully secure after a few attempts. I wanted to show on Picture 4 above how the retaining clip goes and noted that it must be fully secured.

[BLK BRD 88]

Thanks for this info & pics...I have to do this on my 88TC now that I have isolated the sending unit & know that it is the leak source.
Ron

[Cruzen]

Welcome. Glad I'm able to contribute something small to svocop.com.