That time a stripped oil drain plug in a Tacoma almost ruined my Friday

I was at the shop in Bellingham, finishing up a simple oil change on a 2018 Tacoma. Went to torque the new plug to 30 ft-lbs and felt that awful, loose spin (you know the one). The previous guy must have cranked it way too hard. Instead of panicking, I grabbed my time-sert kit, drilled it out clean, and tapped in a fresh insert. Took an extra 45 minutes, but the customer never knew and the repair held perfectly. Anyone have a different go-to method for fixing those, or is a solid insert the way to go?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica_miller7d ago

My old shop in Portland swore by helicoils for aluminum pans, found them faster and just as reliable.

diana_king7d ago

Portland shops actually had time for helicoils? Every place I've worked just chased the threads with a tap and called it a day, the service writers would have a fit over the extra labor minutes.

seanjohnson7d agoTop Commenter

Heard a buddy in Portland tried the tap trick on an aluminum block, stripped it worse. Diana_king is right, service writers would lose it over the extra time, but he ended up needing two helicoils anyway. Ever see that backfire?