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Re: Darn sump plug

To: "Eric" <eric@erickson.on.net>, "MG List" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: Darn sump plug
From: Max Heim <mvheim@studiolimage.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 14:10:08 -0800
Sounds like they crossthreaded it and/or tightened it with an air wrench. 
Inconceivably stupid, I know, but stuff like that seems to happen every 
time I let a (non-LBC) garage touch my MG, which isn't often. I had a 
certificate for an oil change at one of those specialty places -- what a 
mistake. They cross-threaded the oil filter and when it fired up it blew 
4 quarts all over their bay. Sure, it was their floor that got messed up, 
but it also soaked the block, the inner wing, crossmember, etc.

For my drain plug I usually use a large adjustable wrench (spanner to 
you?). Not a crescent wrench, but the kind with parallel jaws at a right 
angle to the handle. It gets a good grip and has a long handle for 
leverage. If the head is too bunged up, you can file on two parallel 
flats until they are clean, tighten up the wrench, and use a hammer on 
the end. Frequently a sudden impact, if imparted without slipping and 
damaging the head, will jar it loose where steady pressure won't.

Good luck. You might want to take a tap to the threads and buy a new plug 
when you get it loose. Use a magnet to retrieve the filings from the tap.

Eric had this to say:

>OK, I have pushed and shoved, twisted and turned, bashed and now soaked
>it CRC... 
>
>I have sacrificed bits of flesh.
>
>Now tell me... what is the secret to removing the sump/drain plug?  I
>didn't do it last time, so maybe they welded it in place to stop it
>coming loose.  It has never stuck like this before!
>
>This was supposed to be a quick oil change before a long drive tomorrow
>and now it has turned into an all-afternoon project.
>
>
>aaaarrrggghhhh!
>
>
>Eric
>'68MGB MkII
>


--

Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the red one with the silver bootlid.


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