# New Engine Oil Drain Plug $ 15 * pic *



## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

They're $30 in Canada!

The nice technician at Mr. Lube decided to torque the living daylights out of mine and stripped the head off the plug. He started complaining about the head being too small (10mm hex drive), so I explained to him that GM made it small on purpose so the head would strip before the threads in the oil pan do. He looked rather informed after that.

In case anyone's interested, the oil pan has the proper torque info cast into it right beside the drain plug: 14 Nm, which is about 10 ft.lbs. Not much.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Easy enough to confuse a 10 mm hex head with a standard 7/16" that is only 1/32nd an inch larger. Bet he used a 7/16" to round off that head. Ha, easy enough if you are an idiot. 5/16" is a 1/32nd of an inch smaller, but can get those to fit with a large hammer. 

Son that takes after is old man had a broken welded nut in his oil pan for the drain plug. Couldn't argue with that shop, took them to small claims court. Told my son to take his car to a Ford dealer for a new oil pan and proper oil change and for them to bill this sloppy shop for the full expenses. 

Then I see drain plugs that were cross threaded, only way I could do that is with a 460 ft-lb impact wrench held at an angle. And if a shop can't even handle a drain plug, how can they really handle a complicated job like changing a spark plug. Also seen those cross threaded.


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

And you have to buy this one at the stealership!! I had the same problem about a month ago. Bolt head was stripped and I had used a 10mm.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

giantsnation said:


> And you have to buy this one at the stealership!! I had the same problem about a month ago. Bolt head was stripped and I had used a 10mm.





Blue Angel said:


> ...the oil pan has the proper torque info cast into it right beside the drain plug: 14 Nm, which is about *10 ft.lbs*. Not much.


Note the low torque spec. The bolt head is designed to round off before the threads strip. Were you using a torque wrench when tightening it?

NickD, any shop using STANDARD tools to work on a 2012 model car instead of METRIC tools shouldn't be in business!  There are enough Cruzes running around by now, so you'd think a place like Mr. Lube would have learned about this by now and figured it out.


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## MafiaLTZ11 (May 29, 2011)

Happened to me as well. I was not a happy camper 


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

Blue Angel said:


> Note the low torque spec. The bolt head is designed to round off before the threads strip. Were you using a torque wrench when tightening it?


Yes, I used the torques specs on the oil pan which from memory was 12nm.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

MafiaLTZ11 said:


> Happened to me as well. I was not a happy camper
> 
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


Doesn't happen to me, I change my own oil.

Was in 1967 and ISO conference discovered that the KG was a unit of mass, not weight, but instead of calling it weight like a huge number of people are still calling the gram weight, they came out with the Newton, the gram accelerated by gravity. Could of easily came out with a different unit for the metric system mass just to satisfy a handful of scientist with their brains in outer space. 

So now we are stuck with the Newton where one if these equals 0.224808943 pounds. But these metric guys are weak so need a torque wrench one meter long, so the torque force became one newton-meter, or is it meter newtons, haven't figured that out yet. Probably never will.

Since a meter is 39.37" long and we use a foot or 12" to get the same force have to multiply that newton by 3.2808333 to get 0.7375605 ft-lbs or is that pounds feet, haven't figured this out either.

But since the torque on that drain plug is 14N-M only need 0.7375605 of that force to get a number in ft-lbs. Or 10.323847 ft-lbs for the proper torque. Can get that using a six inch breaker bar with a deep 6 point socket with just thumb pressure at the end of it hitting about 20 pounds.

Still prefer the old type analog torque wrenches, in particular when doing head bolts on an aluminum head engine. With the new clickers, but with a loud crack, don't know if you reached the proper torque or literally cracked the head. 

Did spend a small fortune for a digital readout torque wrench back in the 70's. Didn't think much about it, tossed in in my tool box and forgot about it. When I needed it, the battery leaked out acid and ate up the PC board. Tried to get another, but that company went out of business. Ha, still tees me off, but can't beat a good old fashion analog torque wrench. 

Locking a hex in a vise, with a socket, can hang weights on the end of it to make sure its in calibration. Many times, simple is better. 
[h=2][/h]


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

NickD said:


> ...Could of easily came out with a different unit for the metric system mass just to satisfy a handful of scientist with their brains in outer space.


I'm old enough that my mind still works primarily in the old English measurement system, but young enough that I was taught almost completely in the Metric system. When I grab a tape measure to size something up, I measure in Feet and Inches the way it should be! 

BUT, and that's a BIG BUT, once you start getting into the world of weights and measures, or start working on physics problems, you quickly see how simple and straight forward the Metric system really is... one Milliliter (mL) of water weighs one Gram (g), and displaces the same volume as a cube that has 1 Centimeter (cm) sides. Water boils at 100 Degrees Celsius and freezes at 0. This is all pretty darn handy without having to worry about ounces and fluid ounces and tablespoons and quarts and cubic inches and...



NickD said:


> six inch breaker bar


Six inch breaker bar? What kind of stubborn fastener are you "breaking" loose with a six inch bar?


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## jakkaroo (Feb 12, 2011)

mmm seems fishey.I stripped my 10mm head on what i thought was the orginal drain plug.The dealer then sold me a torx head drain plug with no magnet.Which one is the actual drainplug?since there seems to be 2 oem ones.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

jakkaroo said:


> The dealer then sold me a torx head drain plug with no magnet.Which one is the actual drainplug?since there seems to be 2 oem ones.


No idea, man... do you have the part number they gave you? I asked for a Cruze drain plug at my dealer and what they gave me was the same as the one we removed from the car.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Blue Angel said:


> I'm old enough that my mind still works primarily in the old English measurement system, but young enough that I was taught almost completely in the Metric system. When I grab a tape measure to size something up, I measure in Feet and Inches the way it should be!
> 
> BUT, and that's a BIG BUT, once you start getting into the world of weights and measures, or start working on physics problems, you quickly see how simple and straight forward the Metric system really is... one Milliliter (mL) of water weighs one Gram (g), and displaces the same volume as a cube that has 1 Centimeter (cm) sides. Water boils at 100 Degrees Celsius and freezes at 0. This is all pretty darn handy without having to worry about ounces and fluid ounces and tablespoons and quarts and cubic inches and...
> 
> ...


Gram is a unit of measurement for mass, not weight, so this screws up the entire metric system. Was just explaining where this Newton stuff came along. As far as I am concerned, should dump both systems of measurement and come out with a new one so everybody will be confused.

When doing a mechanical design on ACad, its all metric, but still use the English system when building or modifying a home with fractions of an inch. But being old fashion, prefer calling my Cruze engine a 86.2 CID 138HP engine rather than a 1.4L 103KW engine.

A drain plug isn't exactly like a cold rolled steel bolt in aluminum. dissimilar metals with electrolysis that sat there for ten years. Those are not easy to get out. But a drain plug is not only very well oiled, sitting in oil, but also changed frequently.

Getting older than ****, but still can press my thumb on a bathroom scale and hit 70 pound, 20 pounds on a six inch wrench is nothing. And that is all it takes. Crack it loose about an eight of a turn then unscrew it with my thumb and index finger. Those tips get soaked with oil, can't work around that, so bring a paper towel with me.

In regards to further metric/English systems, still using English for spark plug gap 0.7112014225 mm isn't too handy. Decimal inch is still a very power tool for bearing clearance. Spark plug hexes are still English, tires? A little of each.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

jakkaroo said:


> mmm seems fishey.I stripped my 10mm head on what i thought was the orginal drain plug.The dealer then sold me a torx head drain plug with no magnet.Which one is the actual drainplug?since there seems to be 2 oem ones.


Apparently the 1.8 uses the Torx head and the 1.4 uses the 10mm. Why? I have no idea.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

Would it be that hard to standardize the oil pan drain plug size like a gas filler neck is?

Granted, keeping it complicated makes it more obvious who the dumbass mechanics are.


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## titan2782 (Nov 4, 2011)

I have a drawer full of $15 nuts and $20 bolts from when I was building my camaro. Spending that much on a single nut really hurt.


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## firehawk618 (Feb 24, 2013)

Use a 6pt 10mm. Will help a TON in preventing future stripped heads.


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## bduffey723 (Apr 30, 2012)

I was watching them thru the glass window do my first oil change. As soon as I seen the tech lift an air impact up to the oil pan I about jumped thru the window. Needless to say I never went there again.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

When I hit any auto store in town, see drawers upon drawers of SAE hardware and maybe a couple of drawers of metric. Since when did the SAE take credit for developing the FPS system?

When I ask the counter about this, replies, we deal mostly with domestic, not import vehicles. Can only reply, how long have you been in this country?

Was around in 1977 congress passed a law, all domestically made vehicles will use metric hardware. The reason why they did this is because the Japanese would not buy our vehicles, but English was not the reason, reason was they wanted the steering wheel to be place on the right hand side. So how does our congress respond? You guessed it.

Was the same congress that outlawed the use of hydrogen, technology did exist for refining out the carbon. No some 35 years later, with a new bunch of idiots, complaining about CO2 production. They were already given the solution 34 years ago, but what is their solution today? To come out with a CO2 tax!

How can one survive in a country ran by idiots?

Ha, got into with another mechanic not too long ago, like five years, said you needed a 5.5 mm socket for the many screws, not easy to find. Ha, what's wrong with you, its still a 7/32nd's, haven't changed that yet. See the Cruze finally switched these screws to metric. For what little screws you can find. Practically all snap together now.

Probably noticed a lot easier to snap than to unsnap.


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

My dealer did my first 3 oil changes and I wanted to do it from now on. Well.. the oil drain bolt was so tight I could not remove it without stipping its head. And on top of that, those are like 20$ in Canada and an oil filter is 14$.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

My rubber washer was left stuck to the oil pan once when I did an oil change. Fell into the oil and I fished it out and put it somewhere. Then I forgot where. 

I've changed my oil 3 times since then without that gasket on the bolt and haven't leaked a drop of oil. Still wondering if it's worth it to replace that little rubber washer.


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

I found this website sells magnetic drain plugs for the Cruze for 14.99$ + shipping and I just ordered one.

Magnetic Oil Drain Plugs Automobile - Selector


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## CruzeEcoBlueTopaz (Jan 5, 2012)

gt_cristian said:


> I found this website sells magnetic drain plugs for the Cruze for 14.99$ + shipping and I just ordered one.


I used a magnetic plug for a good 25k miles and found it didnt do much good. In fact I was asked by the guy that changes my oil every month if I would go back to using the oem plug because the aftermarket plug was having some effect on the threads of the oil pan.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

gt_cristian said:


> My dealer did my first 3 oil changes and I wanted to do it from now on. Well.. the oil drain bolt was so tight I could not remove it without stipping its head. And on top of that, those are like 20$ in Canada and an oil filter is 14$.


Wow, you're getting a deal on the drain plug, but you're getting HOSED on the filter! At my local dealer my new drain plug was $30, but a filter costs less than $6 with tax!


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## EcoCruzer (Mar 4, 2011)

Dealer replaced my drain plug a couple of changes ago due to it being stripped/rounded off. No charge to me as they are the ones doing the work/damage.


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## cruze01 (Mar 25, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> My rubber washer was left stuck to the oil pan once when I did an oil change. Fell into the oil and I fished it out and put it somewhere. Then I forgot where.
> 
> I've changed my oil 3 times since then without that gasket on the bolt and haven't leaked a drop of oil. Still wondering if it's worth it to replace that little rubber washer.


I would replace it. Might just be my oppinion but I think it helps to keep the bolt from vibrating loose.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

As a comment for these magnetic drain plugs, if you are picking up anything, your filter isn't doing its job, and if your filter isn't doing its job, then you need a better filter. The only place that should legitimately have magnetic plugs is automatic transmissions since those filters don't filter extremely fine particles.


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## Bullet (Aug 9, 2013)

It all depends of the porosity of the filter. Metal particles can be in smaller size than the porosity and go through it. Then the magnet could possibly catch them. Mostly in a new engine or after a rebuild of an engine. I do not know which is the porosity of the filter in Cruze, or in which area those particle sizes varies, but for sure it would not harm if there would be a magnetic plug.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> As a comment for these magnetic drain plugs, if you are picking up anything, your filter isn't doing its job, and if your filter isn't doing its job, then you need a better filter.


Actually, oil returning to the sump after flowing through the engine will have impurities in it which will stick to the magnetic plug. It returns to the sump without being filtered.

Oil from the sump is drawn into the oil pump and then goes to the filter. I could be argued that most impurities that would find themselves stuck to a magnetic drain plug would get filtered out, but it can't really _hurt_ to have a magnet in the oil pan.

The only argument I've seen supporting the magnetic plug causing any sort of harm is in an application where it is gathering enough magnetic particles that a large "chunk" of these particles could separate from the magnet during a period of oil sloshing in the pan (agressive cornering, etc.) and cause wear or damage to the pump. I'm not sure how relevant that concern is since most oil pickups have a screen on them, limiting the size of any impurities that get through. Also, for this to be a concern there would have to be an awful pile of magnetic debris collected to get to the point where it could start to dislodge and become a problem. For most passenger car sized engines that aren't at the point of "eating themselves" WRT wear rates, and which get regular oil changes, I don't see it as a legit concern.

Another thing to consider is the type of oil pump in use since the Cruze uses a sliding vane type pump that has no "zero clearance" areas in its perimeter, wheras a gear type pump does and will "pinch" larger deposits. I can tell you from first hand experience that a gear type pump looks pretty ugly after pumping metal debris! The pump in my Corvette ('02 LS6) was pretty chewed up after pumping camshaft and lifter roller debris. I was very fortunate that I planned to replace the pump at the same time as the camshaft, one of those "while I'm in there" scenarios that balloons the cost of a project. I didn't think about the oil pump being a victim before tearing the engine apart. I think I have pictures of the pump, I'll post them if I get a chance.


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## Christrit (Jun 23, 2012)

I had this problem last night... My first 3 changes were done by the dealer... I brought the Cruze in to work to do my oil change, noticed that the
bolt was slightly rounded already..... Baffled at why it would be such a small head, I gave 'er a go and, well, needless to say I mangled the sh*t out
of it.... Went to Canadian Tire and picked up a damaged nut & bolt remover set and will give it another shot tonight...

I was able to get a replacement oil plug from Lordco, with taxes was only $3.15... m14x1.5... It has a nicer and larger head, so hoping this will
go smooth later tonight.....

To me this small plug head seems to be a bad choice by the manufacturer... Good if you are them, increasing their work load down the road....
I usually do all my own oil changes, never come into this problem before....


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## CruzeEcoBlueTopaz (Jan 5, 2012)

I have no idea why I make a post and take a picture of every little thing I replace haha


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

The drain plug issue was the reason I picked up a topsider for the oil changes works really well


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

SneakerFix said:


> The drain issues was the reason I picked up a topsider for the oil changes works really well


Hmmm, and here I waste that extra half a quart in a five quart bottle for an extra flush in an attempt to get some of that old crap out. 

Had an opportunity to see this engine in person, now 103 years old.










It had an oil drain plug, drain plugs are not exactly new. Oh, you did have to pour oil on the valve lifters every hour or so, this was a vast improvement over the years when a valve cover was invented.

What is not new, are idiots.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

FWIW I still prefer the drain plug on my eco vs the drain plug on my 2011 LS. 10mm beats the day lights out of 40 t torx. and I don't have to search hard for my 10 mm socket as I do for my torx fittings. 

Another question: why worry about torquing a oil pan bolt? We are not talking about a movable item here. It just holds oil in the pan. I have never pulled out a torque wrench on any car I have owned. Doesn't make sense to me as long as it doesn't come loose and all the oil come out. Ergo I snug it the bolt and don't worry about it. No problems in 30 years so I must be doing something right!

IMO saying you need to torque an oil pan bolt gives it a level of difficulty that does not exist for doing a simple activity, thus take it back to the dealer they have those technical tools. Do you really think they pull out a torque wrench to tighten an oil pan bolt, thus the stripped bolts.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ha, been changing my own engine oil, plus others for 60 years and never used a torque wrench. But since the Cruze has this torque specs engraved on the pan, just grab my ratcheting torque wrench instead.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I never do either


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## 88cam (Jul 10, 2012)

These are expensive even for the dealers to buy. They cost us around 9.50 each so they are not really making that much money. These do suck to get out though when they strip, before I got promoted I was the pit tech and my dealers Quick Lube and I've had to air chisel quite a few of them out.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I don't know how people get them in so tight. I've never had to fight with one that I put in myself. But I don't reef on it with a 10ft bar either


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## cruzinred92 (Dec 4, 2013)

My brothers 12 eco had this problem. I'm a mechanic myself and with that comes having to maintain all of the family vehicles... anyways I have changed the oil on my brothers since day 1 and he got a coupon for a free lof at the dealer and jumped on it. The next time I went to change the oil I ended up stripping the head trying to get it out. After fighting with it for a while I was able to get it out, took it with me to autozone and matched it to a plug there with the same rubber gasket but a 17 mm head. Has been running it for over 30k now with no issues and is a heck of alot easier not to mention a lot less nerve racking to remove. And only costed $3 and some change.

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## Danny5 (Dec 22, 2011)

You guys need to get yourselves a Fumoto valve. Never have to worry about a plug again...

Hmmm, $23.95 for my car. Nice!


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

But how do those valves hold up in salty weather?


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

money_man said:


> But how do those valves hold up in salty weather?


Good question, but I would imagine given the North American climate they would think of that when specifying the valve materials. Once I start doing my own oil changes I'll be looking into one for sure.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I've thought of them before but I've been nervous about it seizing up


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

money_man said:


> I've thought of them before but I've been nervous about it seizing up


Worst case, it seizes and you have to remove it to drain your oil, just like a normal drain plug.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

I looked at those Fumoto valves, with the lever sticking down, first thought that occurred to me was hitting something on the road, hitting that lever and losing all of your oil. 

Will stick with my drain plug and torque wrench. Simple is always better and keep your distance from idiots.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

According to this pic:










the valve lever locks in the sideways position and needs to be lifted against a spring before it can turn.

Good point though... on a car with a low oil pan this could become the lowest point on the car and could get knocked off by debris. On a Cruze that's not likely since the car has (had?  ) so much shielding underneath.


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

Danny5 said:


> You guys need to get yourselves a Fumoto valve. Never have to worry about a plug again...
> 
> Hmmm, $23.95 for my car. Nice!


Or get one of these and never need to remove it. I used to use them when i worked for MB and Rangerover. not the same item but the topsider is the one I use at home

Amazon.com: topsider oil changer


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

LOL, 45 replies, 46 now, and over 6,500 views on a drain plug. Not a plug problem, but a people problem.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Verry well, I put one on the Subaru in 2009 with the assumptin the little vale handle was gonna eventualy break off. My reason was Subaru requres crush washers each oil change and the size of the bolt hole make the oil come out in diarrhea fashion. There was no safe place to stand and not get golden showered and it always got the inside of the wheel with oil.

You also can partualy turn it to slow the flow down, also do yourself a favor and get the one with nipple. This way you can attach a tube to it and direct the oil into a transporting contaner of choice.


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## ssallen1971 (Jul 23, 2015)

So I went to take care of the oil today and I noticed 2 things... First, the shield that is on the underside of the car was cut. I think it was cut by the rental car company for ease of oil changes. The second thing I noticed is that my oil plug was rounded off... Needless to say I didnt get the oil changed today, as I have to go get one of those round bolt remover tools, and a new plug. I also have to call the dealer to find out how much a new shield would cost and if its something that I want to replace.

Steve


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

The shield cut was a result of a recall in 2012/13……likely performed by a dealer and generally not too pretty.

The drain plug has a 10 mm hex and a torque spec of 120 inch lbs. ten foot pounds….a torque easily reached using a 1/4 drive ratchet handle with a six point socket.

Some genius has decided to service your drain plug in the past…..way over tightening and likely using a 12 point socket…..you are the lucky recipient of that process.

A new plug, correctly secured with the appropriate six point socket will survive the life of the car.

Good luck…congrats on the new ride,
Rob


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## CruzIanT (Feb 24, 2016)

My 2012 Cruze's oil pan bolt was so soft that it rounded easily. Mr. Lube screwed it up and did not bother to tell me. Took it to Jiffy Lue and I was then informed as to the state of the bolt head. They had to use a vice-grip to remove it. They replaced it with a 1992 Honda Civic plug and washer and it is of a superior quality steel - at no charge, since I said screw Mr. Lube and GM. It fits perfectly. Extremely poor quality by General Motors. What a shame that North American car companies just continue to not meet high quality standards of foreign manufacturers - who by the way, are now outselling local cars.


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