trying to do a sodding oil change this afternoon...

[princeperch]

.. but can't get the nut loose enough to drain off the oil.

I've doused it in DW40 to see if it will loosen but it seems to be bloody tight - too tight.

Am I buggered? Will I probably need some kind of pneumatic ratchet to get it loose?

[m4tthew]

Big lever bar?

[MX-5 Lazza]

Have you run the engine up to operating temperature?
If not, that might help enough (you should to drain the oil anyway).

[princeperch]

getting the engine really hot will help the nut come loose?

I bow to you knowledge Lazza. It was hot when I bloody started but not any more, so i'll give it a run.

It a sod to know which way i'm meant to be working with at the moment so I'm working on the premis lefty loosey righty tighty at the mo.

[princeperch]

for the avoidance of doubt I assume I am attacking the right nut?

There is a nut to the left of this one on the transmission tunnel but this has to be the right one?

It's been soaked in WD40 for hours now and still wont shift. Getting a bit pissed off with it all now.

Sorry about the crap pic but i'm not much feeling like David Bailey at the mo..

Edited by princeperch on Tuesday 29th July 14:35

[princeperch]

fking great, now i've busted one of the socket heads and taken most of the skin off my knuckles.

what a waste of a day.

Finally got the bloody thing off - my god it was almost as good as sex when that bolt finally came free (though not quite)...

Edited by princeperch on Tuesday 29th July 16:03

[MX-5 Lazza]

Glad you got it off eventually! The engine-hot thing would only help a small bit - aluminium expands more and quicker than steel so it can help but if it's been tightened too much or hasn't been undone for a long while and has welded itself on then it'll be a bugger anyway. Just make sure you use a new washer when you refit!

[mum mode on]
Are you using the sump to jack it up? It's not very strong you know...

And I hope you are using axle stands...
[mum mode off]

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Tuesday 29th July 17:01

[swansea v6]

In order to get the seized the oil nut off mine, i did the following.....jacked up the car, placed suitable sized socket and rachet bar onto the nut, with the rachet hanging towards the floor....then I slowly lowered the jack so that the rachet bar was being forced into the ground at a slight angle. The weight of the car coming down forced the nut loose......no skinned knuckles and minimal fking fking fking hell bks...

sorry if that doesn't make sense its been a long day,,,,,,,,

[skinny]

that's what happens when you take your car to a garage for an oil change, they use a windy gun to tighten up the sump nut! i've heard of bolts being in so tight that the sump cracked and broke rather than releasing the nut!!

they really don't need to be that tight - i just nip mine up 1/4 turn after getting tight, never had any probs

[anonymous-user]

Buy one of those oil suction pumps then you never need to remove the plug again, just stick the extractor down the dipstick hole and go make yourself a nice cup of tea.

[franv8]

skinny said:

that's what happens when you take your car to a garage for an oil change, they use a windy gun to tighten up the sump nut! i've heard of bolts being in so tight that the sump cracked and broke rather than releasing the nut!!

they really don't need to be that tight - i just nip mine up 1/4 turn after getting tight, never had any probs

Couple of things -

Garages sometimes use a pump to do the oil change, so they may have not taken it off and it could have seized there with time.

If you buy a Mazda standard filter, it comes with a new sump plug washer, it's a soft deformable metal and means you don't have to go mad tightening the plug to prevent leaks.