An old mechanic told me to stop using impact guns on oil drain plugs

I used to ugga dugga every drain plug with my impact gun until a guy named Jerry at a shop in Cleveland pulled me aside. He said you're gonna strip the pan or crack the gasket doing that, just hand tighten it with a torque wrench to 25 ft-lbs. I thought he was being dramatic until I saw a 2014 Ford Focus with a cross-threaded pan that cost the owner $400. Now I do it by hand every time and haven't had a leak or complaint since. Anybody else get told to ditch their power tools for something simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaretf405d ago

Ugga dugga every drain plug" sounds like a personal motto I'd put on a t-shirt and then immediately regret. I mean, Jerry probably saved you from becoming that Ford Focus guy's new least favorite person, so maybe buy him a coffee or something. Idk, I still catch myself reaching for the impact gun out of muscle memory, but that mental image of a cross-threaded pan stops me every time.

jordan6535d ago

That "mental image of a cross-threaded pan" hits hard, I've definitely had nightmares about that. But honestly Margaret, what's the worst damage you've actually seen from someone going HAM with an impact on a drain plug? I helped a buddy swap a pan once where the previous guy had basically fused the plug in there with torque and rust, took us like two hours to drill it out.