

| Subject: | Re: Oil drain plug problems-Help! |
| From: | Eric Caron |
| Date: | Sun, 3 May 2015 21:45:26 -0400 |
OH man,
these bugs are one of my worries. I like changing my own oil but i�m always afraid I�ll mess up one of these fragile bugs.
I bought a lovely 84 Westi years ago and when I got it home I found the oil plug was missing and a rubber stopper thingy was stuck in their. My mechanic used a spark plug with a welded bolt head on it to replace it. Worked for the three or so years I had the van. I think it was a common solution for air-cooled busses.
Dealing with that plug is partly why my van is over due for it�s oil change.
the other reason is that my Walmart is out of Mobile 1 15/50 in the 4 quart bottle. the price is best there by a lot so I�m determined to get it from them! I read this tip from Dennis and he was right! Only reason I�ve been in that store in a year.
Eric Caron
85 GL auto westfalia.
> On May 3, 2015, at 9:09 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> It�s just not my weekend for getting anything done. Went to do the first
> oil change on my son�s �87 and found it has an 8mm hex key (Allen wrench)
> plug that now has a round hole instead of a six sided hole. Is this
> somebody�s idea of a bad joke? I do not see this type of plug for sale on
> any of our vendor�s sites.
>
>
>
> Which brings me to another point, my 1.9�s plug is the conventional bolt,
> but it says �14 1.25� on the top. It�s been rounded off and filed to fit a
> 13mm socket, but the replacement plug I ordered from Van Caf� is not the
> same thread pitch, it�s coarser. Hmm.
>
>
>
> My options for the �87 as I see them are:
>
>
>
> 1. Buy a big enough screw extractor to back it out, which may require
> drilling the hole all the way through and draining the oil over my drill
>
> 2. Take it somewhere and have them deal with it
>
> 3. Sell the van for $25,000 and look for another one
>
>
>
> My 1.9�s have all had a normal plug with a hex bolt head, as did the 2.1 I
> put into my �84 years ago.
>
>
>
> This can�t be the correct plug, can it??
>
>
>
> Stuart
>
>
>
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