Well, I'll stick with the pump rather than introduce metal shavings into the
case, and you can't tap that hole without doing that no matter how much
grease you pack into the tap.  Probably won't go through the pickup screen,
but being an aluminum alloy a magnetic plug won't collect them either.  A
Subaru engine is going in at some point anyway.

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
mike riley
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2016 6:00 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: stuck oil plug

pumping it out is crazy. pep boys has a thread repair kit for ~10 dollars
that has the tap and bit and stainless steel inserts to repair the threads.
OR drill a hole in the plug and tap with 1/4" pipe thread and use a brass
pipe plug that seals without a gasket and can be replaced for 50 cents.
Suction will not get the heavy particles out. Increasing the effort and
expense of the oil change does not increase the value of the operation.

mike