Can anyone tell me what these are?

M

mxracer624

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Hemet ca,

• Oct 30, 2011

• #1

Ok so i dropped my oil pan yesterday to change out my rear main seal, and laying there at the bottom of the oil pan were these little things.. i havent seen anything like this before and i cannot for the life of me figure out what they are to. any help would be appreciated! the penny is just there to reference the size.

And if you look closely at this one, i know its hard to see but it says TAIWAN on the left and then has some kind of M on the right, whatever logo that may be.

 

Shorty

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Memorial Lifetime Member

Location

on the beach in Ocean View, VA

• Oct 30, 2011

• #2

those are the inner part of a universal drain plug made by R&B/Dorman/Motormite/Help!/Oil-Tite products (the M is for Motormite). The part you have there is attached to a threaded rod and it pivots in the center. You tilt that part and stick it through the drain hole and when you tighten the threaded rod, it flattens out and puls the plug tight against the pan.

 

Last edited: Oct 30, 2011

J

jeeptorino68

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Lebanon OR

• Oct 31, 2011

• #3

the picture does not have any threads... so does that mean both of those broke off?

 

O

O-Gauge Steamer

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Oct 31, 2011

• #4

Sort of looks that way. From the picture Shorty posted, there would be a threaded pivot that the pieces attach to. Might want to look for them in the oil pump pick up screen.

 

ehall

NAXJA Member

NAXJA Member

Location

Southern Maryland

• Oct 31, 2011

• #5

Shorty said:

those are the inner part of a universal drain plug made by R&B/Dorman/Motormite/Help!/Oil-Tite products (the M is for Motormite).

Click to expand...

car nerd

 

M

mxracer624

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Hemet ca,

• Oct 31, 2011

• #6

haha im glad someones a car nerd cause i woulda been still scratching my head wondering what the hell they were! well i dont even have that drain plug so they must have been in there forever now! and from what i can see there are no other pieces anywhere.. all the other pieces have probably already done their damage long ago!

 

Original_MudButt

NAXJA Forum User

Location

In the eighth dimension

• Oct 31, 2011

• #7

That's just scary. Either someone was just too damn lazy to properly remove them (hence two), or they fell out going down the road dumping all the oil out.

 

J

jeeptorino68

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Lebanon OR

• Oct 31, 2011

• #8

Original_MudButt said:

That's just scary. Either someone was just too damn lazy to properly remove them (hence two), or they fell out going down the road dumping all the oil out.

Click to expand...

both of which are very bad situations...

 

Shorty

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Memorial Lifetime Member

Location

on the beach in Ocean View, VA

• Oct 31, 2011

• #9

jeeptorino68 said:

the picture does not have any threads... so does that mean both of those broke off?

Click to expand...

probably....

ehall said:

car nerd

Click to expand...

been called worse (by better...)

 

RedHeep

NAXJA #1499

Location

Landenberg, PA

• Oct 31, 2011

• #10

I bet someone screwed them out too far and lost the retainer, then replaced it with another one without taking the pan down and fishing out the piece left in there.

Twice

 

xcm

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Southern Oregon

• Nov 1, 2011

• #11

Yup, and that couldve all been prevented, by taking a pair of vice grips, and crimping the end of the bolt's threads.... making it so it cant thread off inside the motor...

 

RedHeep

NAXJA #1499

Location

Landenberg, PA

• Nov 1, 2011

• #12

Or avoiding it completely.

I've dropped the drain plug in the oil pan a few times over the years, but I've never left random pieces of metal in the pan.

I think I'd stick to regular drain plugs.