Sump removal

[Steven M]

Hi all,

My sump bolt is jammed and so in all my efforts in trying to remove it, the head of the bolt has snapped off. I now need to remove the sump, can it be removed without taking the tranny off and will I need to raise the engine slightly?? BTW its a Vt ecotec.

Thanks in advance.

Stevo

 

[SSV8pilot]

You have my sympathies.

I had a similar problem -in that I completely rooted the head of the nut on my VX (even tried mole grips).

I took it to Ultratune - they had it up on the hoist and used a cold chisel to remove the nut - took them 20secs.

They say this occurs quite often.

So...my advice is - before removing the sump - eat humble pie and see if the local mechanics can help. They maybe able to drill into the remaining pieces and unscrew from there - point being - chances are they may have come across this problem before.:wax:

 

[WAGON MAN]

Stevo, I would do what SSV8pilot suggested....

They will be able to drill in to the sump plug and use an "ezy out" to extract what left of your sump plug.

I would also get a new sump plug and washer so they can put it in once the broken one is extacted, unless your going to get them to do an oil change and supply you with a new sump plug and washer as well.

 

[Steven M]

That is an idea, but after using vice grips and then proceeded to use a screwdriver and now I think I may have dug into the sump itself. Any ideas as to how much it would cost?

 

[MaN|aC]

I took it to Ultratune - they had it up on the hoist and used a cold chisel to remove the nut - took them 20secs.

Had to do the same last week, I rang up repco for a sump plug bolt the day before servicing my car but it took them 3 goes getting the right bolt?!?! :ranting:
So for a simple sump plug it nearly took 2 days by the second time repco sent the wrong again I rang up Holden and got them to deliver it.
Thats only half of it when repco stuffed up my other order....

 

[Hairy Eater]

why not try to remove it yourself ..... use a center punch to mark the center of the broken off bolt ... then drill a hole ... maybe 3 mm first, if its centered ... drill 5 mm hole ... then use the ezy-out that you have previously purchased before starting .... ezy-out looks like a tapered drill but is left threaded .... as you screw the ezy-out in anti-clockwise direction, it screws itself into the hole that you just drilled and cos its tapered and made of hardened steel it should get the broken bolt out ... the bigger the ezy-out to use is the best ... they can break too if you put too much preasure on them

 

[SSV8pilot]

Had to do the same last week, I rang up repco for a sump plug bolt the day before servicing my car but it took them 3 goes getting the right bolt?!?! :ranting:
So for a simple sump plug it nearly took 2 days by the second time repco sent the wrong again I rang up Holden and got them to deliver it.
Thats only half of it when repco stuffed up my other order....

From memory the oriignal part from Holden was not that expensive- around $5I think.

Also Ultra tune said they carry the sump plugs in stock as apparently this happens a lot - even to their own guys on occassions.