Oh No Oil Leak!

[Jager]

Oh no the Jӓgermobile has a major oil leak! With only 291,000 miles on the motor, what could it be?



Going under to investigate...

[stelan]

80% of the time is park plug tubes

[Jager]

I went under the Jӓgermobile to take a look. The motor was spotless except the oil drain plug and some surface oil stain around the plug on the sump plate. There was a small drop of oil on the plug so I thought maybe I did not tighten it enough on the last oil change. So gave it a little tightening turn and it gave loose, like the head of a bolt breaking off or stripped threads. I thought oh… oh… I broke something. So I removed the plug and took a close look at the threads, they were pristine. Then I took a close look at the threads of the sump plate and those were pristine as well. I thought wtf… Then I took a close look at the plug and this is what I found:





This is a LNE plug that I have had for many years. Not sure how many oil changes it has gone through but since I change the oil every 4000 to 5000 miles it has been through a few torques.

[JFP in PA]

Looks like it has been over torqued, a common problem.

[san rensho]

Both mag plugs Ive had broke the same way, at the shoulder. First one failed because Pelican did not postbthe correct torque spec. Second one failed and i always used 19ft lbs torque.

If you do a search there are many cases of failures. I believe lne may have revised the plug but im not sure.

At least the plug never comes completely out while you are driving.

[rexcramer]

Over-torqued maybe? If I remember correctly, the LN plug is aluminum and only gets torqued to 19 ftlbs and the factory plug is at 37 ftlbs. You removed the crush washer before the pic?

[rick3000]

I never saw the appeal of the $30 magnetic plugs since any plug drain plug should be replaced every few changes (in my opinion). I use a regular $5 plug, and replace it every oil change (probably overkill). To get a magnet in the oil system I got a FilterMag.

[911monty]

Originally Posted by rick3000

I never saw the appeal of the $30 magnetic plugs since any plug drain plug should be replaced every few changes (in my opinion). I use a regular $5 plug, and replace it every oil change (probably overkill). To get a magnet in the oil system I got a FilterMag.

Rick Here's something to consider if you haven't already. I have both mag drain plug and filtermag. The filtermag will only see metal that is picked up by the oil pump and pumped through the filter. However a large ish piece of metal may not pass through the pump pick up screen and will not get out of the sump. The mag plug will (hopefully) pick it up from the sump where it can be found before you drop the sump next time. My logic: Filtermag is for wear particles circulating, Mag plug is for IMS deteriorating! Cheap insurance. But I do believe the flange could be thicker, like the OEM one. Although I wonder if it is designed as a weak point to prevent pan failure on over torque.

[rick3000]

Thanks for the background 911monty, I was not aware of the differences.

[911monty]

Originally Posted by rick3000

Thanks for the background 911monty, I was not aware of the differences.

Any time my friend!

[Jager]

Originally Posted by rexcramer

Over-torqued maybe? If I remember correctly, the LN plug is aluminum and only gets torqued to 19 ftlbs and the factory plug is at 37 ftlbs. You removed the crush washer before the pic?

Yes, I always use a new washer. I removed it prior to taking the picture.

I had two stock plugs available (and a new washer) so I installed one of the stock plugs to keep me on-the-road.