Oil pan bolt stripped threads

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I do the oil change every 7.500 miles and alternate between the two Mazda dealers in my area. Today I did an oil change at one of them. To my surprise, the personnel informed me that the bolt can not be tightened because stripped threads in the aluminium made ( so they say) oil pan. I walk under the car, to see it with my own eyes, and I see around the bolt some blue stuff, silicone or glue or something, not sure what. I personally ask for a socket and try to tighten the bolt myself ( I am no stranger to maintenance - aviation though) and the bolt clearly loses the grip at some point and become lose again. The dealer says they found it like that and they recommend replacing the oil pan. Well, I said, the car wasn't leaking any oil when I got in, I have not noticed any oil leak under my car ever, so you, the dealer, you have to fix it! The dealer claims that it was like that which means that the other dealer screwed it up and never said anything. So now what do I do? I just stop by the other dealer, informing them about the situation, hoping that they will fix it for me? The previous oil change was done sometime in June 2024, almost 4 months ago. Since these two dealers are the only one who touched my car in the last year, will the "June" dealer believe me? I am not sure if I'm allowed to say dealers name here. Any suggestions from the Mazda world would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Silly Wabbit]

I wouldn't recommend you driving over there because if the bolt gets loose and you spill oil everywhere, you'll be in big trouble. Since you have evidence from your current dealership and proof that the other dealership serviced your vehicle prior to this, I would ask them to reimburse your current dealership and let them work something out.

 

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Proof, I don't have the invoice anymore but there is a maintenance record on Carfax, reported by the dealer itself. Basically, every single oil change done to my car is on Carfax.

 

[RedBaron]

If you don't get anything from the dealers and have to fix it on your dime, you can probably get an independent shop to re-tap the pan a size larger and get a new bolt to fit.

 

[Silly Wabbit]

If you don't get anything from the dealers and have to fix it on your dime, you can probably get an independent shop to re-tap the pan a size larger and get a new bolt to fit.

Good idea but that will leave metal shavings if you tap with the pan on. It also means you'll need to get a larger washer every time. I guess you can get a 10 pack and leave it in the car so you can hand it to the tech.

 

[Zig613]

If you are planning to keep the vehicle long term bite the bullet and replace the oil pan. This what I did to our Volkswagen Jetta a few years ago. It cost me $$ but, it made life easier and reduced the opportunity for a larger bill should the “fix” decide to let go and you dump your entire lot of oil out into the street. You can try to go back to the offending dealer to seek compensation but, I doubt the will admit to their error. Good luck!

 

[ADS-B]

I am at the “June” dealer as I type this. Walked in, explained what I think has happened. No denial or rejection or anything from them so far. The car is on jacks now, and I’ve been told that it will get fixed but I must pay the new oil. Sure, I agreed to paying for the oil change. So fingers crossed.

 

[madar]

For this kind of situation, and speaking from personal experience, ahem....they do sell self tapping oversized drain plugs for stripped plugs. Glad the dealer will resolve..

 

[murky]

2nd Dealer shouldn't have touched the plug without pointing out that it was gunked up. June Dealer should cover the oil too, that's ridiculous. Either they screwed it up or they didn't. Looks like they know that they did. They should fix it, put new oil in, apologize profusely, and offer you some type of goodwill gesture.

 

[ADS-B]

I got it fixed. They, June, got it done. Ended up paying for the oil because I wasn't in the mood to argue for 80 dollars. Screw it. Just fix it. So, according with the mechanic who worked on my car, all that was needed was a new bolt, problem solved. I pointed out: "you know very well, no customer is allowed in the shop while maintenance is performed on his car. The customer has no choice but to trust you, the mechanic, that you do the proper maintenance. No customer will visually check the proper bolt installation, proper torque and so on right after the work completion or before leaving the dealer's parking lot. Will I have any problems with this bolt in the future? No sir, everything is good now. OK, thank you". End of story, payed for oil and left. At least, June dealer fixed it, relatively simply, I would say. Now, another thing pisses me of, quite frankly, about the second dealer, the guys who discovered the stripped bolt, yesterday: the fact that they were incapable of providing me with any options, troubleshooting, nothing. They went straight for the oil pan replacement, gross incompetence, in my opinion. And I remember watching them, yesterday, from a distance: four youngsters, mechanics, orbiting around my car, starring at their cellphones, car on jacks, nothing was happening. That's what we pay for: incompetence at a premium price. Dealer expertise... There is no dealer expertise or maybe very few good techs. Everybody else has no idea what to do without the scanner, the tablet that tells them how to do a certain task. Completely useless and a ripoff for customers.

 

[Moonlighter]

I got it fixed. They, June, got it done. Ended up paying for the oil because I wasn't in the mood to argue for 80 dollars. Screw it. Just fix it. So, according with the mechanic who worked on my car, all that was needed was a new bolt, problem solved. I pointed out: "you know very well, no customer is allowed in the shop while maintenance is performed on his car. The customer has no choice but to trust you, the mechanic, that you do the proper maintenance. No customer will visually check the proper bolt installation, proper torque and so on right after the work completion or before leaving the dealer's parking lot. Will I have any problems with this bolt in the future? No sir, everything is good now. OK, thank you". End of story, payed for oil and left. At least, June dealer fixed it, relatively simply, I would say. Now, another thing pisses me of, quite frankly, about the second dealer, the guys who discovered the stripped bolt, yesterday: the fact that they were incapable of providing me with any options, troubleshooting, nothing. They went straight for the oil pan replacement, gross incompetence, in my opinion. And I remember watching them, yesterday, from a distance: four youngsters, mechanics, orbiting around my car, starring at their cellphones, car on jacks, nothing was happening. That's what we pay for: incompetence at a premium price. Dealer expertise... There is no dealer expertise or maybe very few good techs. Everybody else has no idea what to do without the scanner, the tablet that tells them how to do a certain task. Completely useless and a ripoff for customers.

I would be getting under the car when you get it home and putting a socket on that drain plug and testing it’s tightness myself, you dont want it getting loose as you drive around.

You can back it off till finger loose and barely any oil leaks out, and then take it back tight like it should be - even better if you have a torque wrench and can tighten it to the specified torque setting. Peace of mind.

I supply my own oil to the dealer when they service the car. They seem happy enough about that, and it saves me a lot of $ compared to what they charge for the unknown brand oil they use. On sale I can get top quality oil that meets Mazda specs for a third to a half what the dealer charges…..

Dealers can be frustrating at times. My local has generally been very good and quite reasonably priced….. but…..

I do interim oil changes on all my cars (halfway between the dealer services) and a while ago, I get under the CX5 to drop the oil and notice signs of oil leaking around the drain plug - and then discover that the plug is barely finger tight ….. so the dealer’s mechanic must have got distracted and forgot to tighten it up ….. human error, easily done, but still, shouldn’t happen. We had just done a 1200km road-trip with that plug loose ….. very lucky we didnt have a catastrophic failure.

I rang them to let them know, they accepted their mistake immediately, apologised profusely and gave me a discount off the next service.

 

[Mazdiod2]

according with the mechanic who worked on my car, all that was needed was a new bolt, problem solved

So they installed a new Mazda OEM drain plug with the Allen hex? Or did they re-tap it and add a larger bolt?

As for seepage, I use Honda 14mm rubber o-rings on the Mazda drain plug for no leaks, but I've considered getting a regular 14mm bolt with the hex head so I don't have to look for a Allen key when I want to change the oil.

 

[N7turbo]

The current bolts don't have the Allen key thing in the center, they are standard bolts. It's so strange for me to learn they used to use those. I don't see the benefit.

 

[ADS-B]

I had no idea either. And with the torque requirement, it would just complicate things a bit, torque wrench and an Allen key - not a good combination.

 

[madar]

I had no idea either. And with the torque requirement, it would just complicate things a bit, torque wrench and an Allen key - not a good combination.

I did it all the time when my bolt was an allen key until they gave me a new oil pan because of leaks, 28 ft/lbs. Not a big fuss. By the way, that oil cost way more than that bolt did.

 

[ADS-B]

I did it all the time when my bolt was an allen key until they gave me a new oil pan because of leaks, 28 ft/lbs. Not a big fuss. By the way, that oil cost way more than that bolt did.

You're right. But I wanted to get it done, I wasn't in the mood. Just get it done, man. Sure, I'll pay for the oil, whatever, so I can get the hell out of here.

 

[RL911]

Glad you got it fixed. Dealers have records of all work so clearly it was caused by them. I think they had no choice but to correct it.

Can the threads be retapped when this happens? Might just be cross threaded and a simple tap will correct it.

 

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Thanks everybody for your input. I am glad it got done.

 

[Silly Wabbit]

Thanks everybody for your input. I am glad it got done.

Any pictures of the fix? Dealerships are notorious for their brutal honesty. And for me, seeing is believing.

 

[murky]

Did you look at it after they fixed it? This is the same shop that let it leave with that blue junk. Why do you believe it is fixed any better than it was before you brought it to the 2nd dealer. It's hard to imagine a legitimate circumstance in which they'd do that in a dealer shop, and if they did, they should have told you what happened, and why, the day they did it.
Charging $80 for a new bolt and oil is what they should do for a customer who comes in off the street for the first time, not what to do after they've stripped your oil pan and gunked it up with junk to hold oil until the next change.