[Shop-talk] Oil plugs, WHY?

[Rochlin Robert]

	To mitigate the mess I've tak'en to using synthetic oil and changing it every 8,000 miles. Same mess, but less often…
	Best,
	Bob

> On Jan 4, 2021, at 9:25 AM, Mark Andy <marka at maracing.com> wrote:
> 
> Howdy,
> 
> Re: controlling the flow of oil...
> 
> I have something like this:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Discharging-Motorcycles-Automobiles-Equipment/dp/B08PFVR7CS/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=oil+catch+director&qid=1609770211&sr=8-9 <https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Discharging-Motorcycles-Automobiles-Equipment/dp/B08PFVR7CS/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=oil+catch+director&qid=1609770211&sr=8-9>
> 
> Basically it's a formable sheet that you can bend into whatever shape, that you can set on crossmembers or whatever that would otherwise get soaked in oil.
> 
> The one I have works reasonably well for directing oil flow.  Not sure how the one I linked to performs (I got mine probably 20 years ago), but it looks like the same thing?
> 
> Mark
> 
> On Mon, Jan 4, 2021 at 9:22 AM Brian Kemp <bk13 at earthlink.net <mailto:bk13 at earthlink.net>> wrote:
> I think they are horizontal for extra protection against ground impact.  If they stuck out the bottom and you went off road or drove over a concrete stop in a parking lot, an oil drain plug could take a direct impact and perhaps have greater damage than hitting a frame rail or suspension bit.
> 
> I share your frustration with the oil filter location from my Honda Odyssey.  Changing the filter caused oil to come down directly on the frame rail.  My solution was to take a foot square of alluminum foil and make my own deflection device to catch all the oil and direct it to the drain pan.
> 
> Brian
> 
> On 1/4/2021 5:14 AM, eric at megageek.com <mailto:eric at megageek.com> wrote:
>> OK, this is half vent and half "can someone explain why the heck do they do this to us?" 
>> 
>> I notice that just about EVERY modern's car drain plug drains horizontally and not vertically (where the plug come straight down from the bottom of the oil pan.)  This make's oil changes SO much harder and messier. 
>> 
>> Then, I've even seen (2018 Ford F150) where it has a frame rail right in front of the oil hole and it splashes the nearly 2 GALLONS of oil everywhere.  Then, the oil filter has a 'slide' under it to redirect the oil to the front of the frame, which is nice, EXCEPT that it doesn't go all the way back to under the oil filter!  This means that some oil drips under the oil filter while more drips in front of the frame rail about 2 feet away (meaning no single oil pan can catch both.)  I'm seeing this in more and more cars that have stupid oil drains. 
>> 
>> Now I get that engines are sometime designed in a vacuum and the frame builders don't care what is in the way, but it just seems that for optimal oil changes, a plug should be at the bottom of the pan.  With all the environmental concerns, I would also imagine that any way to prevent oil spills and splashes would be ideal. 
>> 
>> Can anyone explain this?  Or is it just a case of designers really HATE mechanics? 
>> 
>> 
>> "Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph Waldo Emerson 
>> -Who is John Galt? 
>> 
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