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Watched a guy at the Portland car show fix a stripped oil pan plug with a rubber washer
I was at the Portland International Auto Show last month and saw a guy at a vendor booth working on a demo engine. The drain plug threads were totally gone, and instead of trying to re-tap it right there, he just put a thick rubber washer on the bolt and cranked it down. He said, 'It'll hold long enough to get it to the shop for a proper fix.' I always thought you had to stop and fix it perfectly on the spot, but that quick temp fix makes so much sense for a customer's car stuck on a lift. Has anyone else used a rubber washer as a get-home fix like that?
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jana_hart181mo ago
That 'it'll hold long enough to get it to the shop' line is exactly what I needed to hear a few years back. My buddy had a old Civic with a stripped plug and we were stuck at a trailhead in the middle of nowhere. We didn't have a rubber washer but we did have a thick gasket from a old thermostat housing and a bunch of zip ties. Crammed that in there, tightened it down good, and it dripped maybe a tablespoon of oil the whole 30 mile drive home. It's not pretty but sometimes you just gotta get the car moving again.
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