Stripped oil drain plug

[2Blu4u]

Ram 3500 6.7 HO Limited Patriot Blue shortbox. Received my truck via factory order if February. Went to drain oil with 3/8 drive extension and ratchet and plug just kept spinning. Attempted to tighten back up and it didn’t grab. 1st oil change @ 3500 miles. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Have an appointment at local dealer next week. Sure hope the pan doesn’t need to be dropped. I believe they would have to lift the engine to accomplish this. Currently has a good seal and not dripping.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Thats a new one for me that sucks

 

[elephantrider]

ooph no good. hope you get it sorted.

 

[Bombaman]

Going to be a big fight with the dealer wish you well. I would get a shop to open up the thread and put a fumoto in or something

 

[G’Dave]

Going to be a big fight with the dealer wish you well. I would get a shop to open up the thread and put a fumoto in or something

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. If the dealer won't help you out (i.e. repair it at no charge), here is what you might want to consider:-

1. Remove oem drain plug (assuming it will unscrew)
2. After oil has drained, try to clean up the thread - remove any shavings, and then clean meticulously
3. Use something like JB Weld to secure the Fumoto oil drain valve. (since the thread is no longer functioning correctly, this shouldn't be an issue).
4. Refill with fresh oil.

 

[Riddick]

As suggested above the dealer might give you a hard time with this, I hope they do not. If they try to slap you with a hefty repair bill I would take it somewhere else. In my experience with stripped fittings if you can pull out while unscrewing, generally they will thread out. You can also apply heat to the drain plug, this will help expand the plug and it might thread out.

Once removed DO NOT put JB weld on the new plug, that is a terrible idea. You will need to find a plug one size bigger and tap the pan. Once the new pan is tapped run a few quarts of oil through the motor with the drain plug out to wash out any shavings in the pan.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

They sell kits just for stripped pans its basically a bung that cuts new threads with an oring seal then it has a drain plug built in to it. I have used them on tons of stripped pans from the local quick lube shops they would send the cars to us. They work well thats if the dealer does not come good for it

 

[CdnHO]

If your lucky, it’s the plug that’s stripped and not the pan.

 

[superjoe83]

I'm pretty sure that cummins uses a nut that is spot welded to the bottom of the pan for the drain plug threads, if that broke loose then the pan will need to be replaced

 

[amauri]

Same thing happened to my 2018 when I changed the oil the first time with 5k miles since I bought is brand new.

As I unscrewed the drain plug, it was not turning very easily.
I slowly turned it back and forth until it finally came out, looking at the threads I am guessing it was over tightened or who knows what. See photo bellow.

The threads are M18x1.50 and I just happened to have a tap that size, the threads on the oil pan cleaned up nicely.
Called the local Ram dealers and none had a drain plug in stock, the cost is $27.

Called the Cummins parts dealer and got one for $9 including tax. p/n 5301901

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Same thing happened to my 2018 when I changed the oil the first time with 5k miles since I bought is brand new.

As I unscrewed the drain plug, it was not turning very easily.
I slowly turned it back and forth until it finally came out, looking at the threads I am guessing it was over tightened or who knows what. See photo bellow.

The threads are M18x1.50 and I just happened to have a tap that size, the threads on the oil pan cleaned up nicely.
Called the local Ram dealers and none had a drain plug in stock, the cost is $27.

Called the Cummins parts dealer and got one for $9 including tax. p/n 5301901

The 6.7 powerjoke is notorious for that the threads on the plug are so soft at least the local ford dealer keeps 15-20 in stock.

 

[2Blu4u]

Thanks for everyone’s input/suggestions/support. Dealership took full ownership, pulled pan off, replaced with new pan/plug. Old pan had nut-sert that was spinning within pan. Quite the conundrum never saw coming. Glad was able to get resolved. Don’t want to think how intrusive the actual job was to not just dropping pan, sure a few components/links had to be removed to gain access.

 

[jetrinka]

Cummins oil pans SUCK to change.... Good luck OP. Although perhaps you'd get lucky and the pan threads are fine.