Stripped drain plug on a 2000 Neon

Hello everyone.

I always take my 2000 Chrysler Neon to the dealer for my oil changes
and ’peace of mind’ inspections.

I recently took it in for the oil change and after they did it, the
guy come out and told me that my drain plug was stripped and that they
didnt have another to replace it. However, he told me that it should
be ok, so I took it home.

That night, I noticed that it was really leaking a lot of oil. So I
called them monday and told them what happened and how they said that
the nut was stripped. They told me to come in and they’ll fix the
problem.

I took the car to them and they came and got me about 20 mintues later
and told me that the tool they need to fix it (some kinda TAPPING
device) was ’lent out’ to somebody and they are expecting it back
shortly. They told me that they will call me to bring it back and also
said that the car was ok to drive. Even though the mechanic told me
that I shouldnt drive it.

They call me an hour or so later and tell me to bring it back. They
take it in and 20 mintues later tell me that its ready. However, this
time they gave me a $130ish bill. $17 for the part and $98ish for the
labour. I told the guy that I was under the impression that it was
their mistake and that I wouldnt have to pay to fix it. After trying
to explain that this sort of oil pan thread stripping is normal for
"old" cars (2000 is old?), he cut the labour fee to $40ish.

After talking to a mechanic friend, he told me that he hasnt seen that
kinda problem in a 5year old car and that they should have just put a
AA class nut to fill the leak.

Did I get played??

Should I keep going back to them or should I find a new place to
service my car?

THANKS A TON

 

You need to write a letter to the dealership owner and tell your story.

This kind of thing is unbelievably rediculous. Set aside the charge for the
$40 for a second. This service advisor sent a car out the door that had
a known problematical oil drain plug, one that they admitted to you. If
that plug had come out when you were tooling down the highway your
engine would have self destructed in about 20 seconds, and the dealership
would be on the hook for a new engine. This is extrordinairly
irresponsible and if I was the dealership owner I would be furious
that they let you go like that.

I think you should find out where your mechanic friend works and start
taking your car there for your oil changes.

As far as stripping, you can't really blame the dealership for the
stripped plug, you don't know for a fact that they stripped it, (although
they most
likely did) maybe something bumped the bolt head and jammed it
sideways. The standard "repair" used in these circumstances is to thread
in a new oil plug that has slightly larger threads that are self-tapping,
as the plug is threaded in it cuts new threads for itself. These plugs are
available at any auto parts counter, if the dealership happened to be
out of stock of the right size on the day you took your car in for the
oil change, they should have sent a runner to the nearest auto parts place.

Usually stripped oil plugs are caused by someone trying to do the
oil change too fast and not taking the extra 20 seconds to feel around
for the threads by hand and be sure the plug is in them, when threading
back in the drain plug. I own a car manufactured in 1968 that has the
original oil drain plug in it.

Ted

 

You should take all of your oil change reciepts and go back to the dealer.
Then speak to the service manager. They wasted alot of your time fixing a
problem they caused. They should have fixed it for free and apologized for
wasing your time. It is pure BS that these things go bad because they are
old. They go bad because the idiot didn't do the very simple job properly.

 

Does this 1968 vehicle have an aluminum pan that you have? The biggest
problem is when you remove a hot steel drain plug from an alluminum oil
pan. The drain plug expands and will pull out the threads, Thats probably
why your 68 pan lasts so much longer.
The same goes for spark plugs in alluminum heads. be careful!!

 

When I bought my 95 T&C with the 3.8L and the steel pan in it, the
van had a drain plug in it that was the wrong thread that some idiot
had forced into the pan (it was not self-tapping). Fortunately the plug
they used was too short and I was able to clean the threads up with a
tap. So it's not just aluminum pans that this happens with.

Ted

 

Ummm - coefficient of thermal expansion of steel is exactly half of that
of aluminum. Try again.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Yes but there's a difference between the wrong drain plug installed in a
steel pan causing the threads to cross.
Aluminum pans are more likely to go bad just by changing the
oil...especially when the pan and drain plug are very hot

 

Find a place that is competent. If they can't even change the oil, I
wouldn't want them working on anything even the least bit complicated.

Matt

 

That would be cross threading which isn't exactly the same as stripping.
Stripping is usually caused by overtorquing the plug. Many folks
don't realize how little torque is required on most drain plugs.


Matt

 

But the aluminum pan expands faster than the steel drain plug so it will
get looser rather than tighter.

Matt

 

if they did the prior oil change and the records they have show that then they over tightened it and stripped
it out i would stand my ground and make them eat it
and explain to them when they hire kids to do oil changes that is what happens

 

oh shit almost forgot you can buy a selftapping oversized oil drain plug from the parts stores for about 8
dollars and it works great i have used them to fix them from other dealers when they deny it and it labor is
25.00 +8 equals total cost of 33.00

 

:evil:

my car is still leaking oil.

I called the service manager, but he is gone til tomorrow.

sucks

 

IMNSHO--you got played--IF your car had been serviced by them each time.
Although I cannot speak to your Neon, my previous 300M had an aluminum oil
pan and the steel drain plug being removed and tightened with each oil
change BY ME resulted in stripped threads in the oil pan by 50K miles. If
this was the case with the dealer servicing your Neon as I suspect, then
they should have been responsible for repairing the damage that they caused
by tightening the steel drain plug too tightly (like I did) with each
subsequent oil change. I used an oversized drainplug (by .5mm or 1mm, I
forget) that was designed to cut its own threads to correct the situation
and it did--at a cost of about $5. These threadcutting oversized
drainplugs are sold at most automotive stores and many hardware stores.
While I cannot quote any case law, I certainly think that it was wrong of
them to charge you for their error. Good luck

MikeSp

 

It is wrong of them, because when they are selling oil changes, all they
are supposed to be doing is changing oil. If they were selling a product
advertised as "Oil change plus drain plug thread strip" then they would
be in the right. Since they aren't, and they stripped his drain plug,
they violated the contract with him on the previous oil change, and
are guilty of false advertising besides.

The problem though is he cannot prove in a court that he didn't either
strip the drain plug himself or take it to someone in between the last
oil change and this oil change who stripped it. So legally he really
has nothing since they claimed that the plug was stripped when they
started working on his vehicle.

This comes down to perceptions and assumptions. The dealership that
he went to is assuming that he wasn't a loyal customer who only went to
them for his oil changes - they are assuming that someone else who wasn't
them worked on the car and stripped the plug. This was despite the fact
that they could have easily looked up his service record in their computer
and seen that he was coming in regularly. Since they assumed he wasn't
a loyal customer he is going to go right out and start being someone elses
customer. A rather costly mistake in my opinion, and this is why I
said he should write the dealership owner a letter - it is quite possible
the
dealership owner has no clue what his service advisor/manager is doing.

Ted

 

Say, this did not happen with the Chrysler dealer in Newport, RI? Your
story sounds real familiar. Did they have only young mechanics who did
not seem to know where the parts were?

 

I've got a 1953 Chevrolet that doesn't have its drain plug stripped.

It's never normal to strip threads. It takes a moron to do it, and only in
about 1 second. They should have apologized and replaced the oil pan on
their nickel. There's really no excuse for that at the dealer.

 

Agreed. Your '53 has a steel pan and plug. Aluminum pans are reality
of the modern world. Can't have steel pans and lightweight/high fuel
mileage vehicles with subwoofers, LCD screens, cooled driver's seat,
elctric windows, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. that do 0-60 in 8
seconds that the consumers and the government demand in one vehicle.

Granted it still takes a 1st rate moron to strip an aluminum pan, but
it's a lot easier than stripping a steel pan for the determined idiot.
As someone stated here a couple of weeks ago, they get better at idiot
proofing things, but they keep making better idiots.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

funny thing is that dam steel pan on a chevy small block is way lighter than the
alum, pans are and it's a 4 cy.

 

I got a hold of the service manager who was very helpful.

He gave me a credit for what I was charged and got me to come in again
where they looked at the newly formed leak for free. He thinks the
drainage plug was just loose and that it whould be ok now.

If not for this service manager, I would have never gone back to that
dealership nor considered another chrysler again. However, it seems
that only a couple of the guys there are not as good as others.

This happened in London Ontario, the mechanic must have been in his
late 20s and seemed to know what he was talking about. Just the
service writers werent as good as I would have liked. Very happy with
the way they fixed my problem though.