Quote:
Originally Posted by njbray
8 days ago I changed my oil and decided to use a brand new LN magnetic drain plug as my old one (18 months old Ln plug) was a little oily but not dripping.
I used the washer it came with it and tightened to 19 foot pounds as per instructions.
SO... It is now leaking and dripping oil on my garage floor! I’m very annoyed as I now have to drain the new DT 40 oil and replace plug.
I will not be using LN plugs again as I don’t think they are fit for purpose or maybe it's the fault of the washer they ship with it. This says it is the 'New improved' version too!
Anyone else had this problem?
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The same thing happened to me when I first got my Boxster and changed the oil. I used a new Porsche crush washer and 444 in lbf (not a fancy torque wrench, 3/8" drive, 960in lbf max. It was an LN magnetic plug. In hindsight I should've looked up LN's torque specs but at the time I assumed it was the same as factory).
I tightened the LN plug by hand, then with a normal socket wrench until I felt a little resistance, then went in with my torque wrench. But I noticed the torque wrench wasn't clicking and I wasn't getting an increase in resistance as the plug tightened. Then I noticed that the threaded part had sheared off of the head and was spinning deeper into the oil pan as I tightened. The remaining oil started to drip out. Thankfully the previous owners kept the original factory drain plug in a parts bin. The LN plug had been on the car for 15,000 miles and 6 oil changes. I'll post pics if I can find them on my old phone.
If the same thing is happening to you, I would not tighten the plug as it is already shearing.
update: the LN plug that broke was purchased from Pelican Parts in April 2011. Part# LN-106-07. I recall the plug needing a different size and/or type bit (not the 8mm hex like stock). The more I think of it, I don't think the torque spec was written on the head. I feel like I would've seen that and changed my torque setting. I knew some kind of aftermarket magnetic plug was installed and I later noticed the purchase of the plug was documented in the car's logbook so there's still no excuse for me applying the wrong torque. I'm confident the owner who purchased the plug torqued it properly for oil changes 1 and 2. But changes 3 through 6 probably left the plug no chance of surviving based on the mixed bag of people who performed those oil changes.
Here's the LN plug:
I didn't think to take any other pictures (even after it broke)