F350 Diesel Oil Change

I had the oil changed in my 2005 F350 6.0L diesel a month ago. I had it done at Sears because I was travelling and the local Ford dealer couldn't do it for 4 days. I now have an oil leak coming from the drain plug. The bottom of the oil pan is stained from about 1 inch in front of the plug to the rear of the pan and up about 4 to 6 inches. It is also stained clear to the left and right sides of the bottom of the pan. There are no oil stains on the upper portion of the pan. To me this means that the leak is coming from the plug and not above in the main engine area. I'm still travelling so I don't have any tools with me. (Yes, I could go buy some.) I tried tightening it by hand, but no success. I haven't personally changed oil in my vehicles for over 10 years now (3 vehicles ago), and I recognize that lots of things have changed since then.

By the way... I've only ever had the oil changed at a dealer since I bought the truck, 47,000 miles ago. I wanted to use the dealer but I couldn't wait, so I was stuck using Sears, Wal-Mart, etc. No way was I going to trust this vehicle to Jiffy Lube, etc.

So... I have a question, before I go back to a local Sears automotive... Does the drain plug have any kind of gasket or washer on it?

Reply to
rvfulltime
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The NUMBER 1 problem with having your oil changed at any quick-lube place (no matter where it is or what the companies name) is that they generally hire young inexperienced under paid employees whom have yet (if ever) to develop a GOOD work ethic. This leads to the NUMBER 1 problem customers of these quick-lube places have, which is a cross threaded (or simply over tightened and stripped) oil pan drain plug. The only place I ever would allow another to do my 6.0 diesels oil change would be at the Ford dealer, so if they happened to strip the oil drain plug, they will have all the resources to replace the entire oil pan to repair it correctly. Hopefully your drain plug is just loose, or missing the gasket, but that is not likely.

Good Luck

Reply to
My Name Is Nobody

If your drain plug is leaking that little, you should have no trouble getting home and having your local dealership take corrective action.

The drain plug may have a washer that the quick change guy filed to replace, or the drain plug may have been cross threaded -- either of these is common at quick change places.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Thanks. I went out and bought a wrench. The plug is not loose. It appears to be on straight. It's definitely leaking. I'm not in a situation where I can remove it. This really ticks me off. Your idea of it being over tightened sounds about right.

I'm on an 8 month road trip. There was only one Ford dealer in Grand Junction and they could not schedule me in to do an oil change in the 3 day window that I had.

Reply to
rvfulltime

Sorry to hear that, I suggest you carry some spare make-up oil, and wait till you have the time to have it addressed at a dealership, and pray that it is just a missing gasket. They do sell oversized plugs to fit into the screwed up hole, by the way.

Again good luck with this.

Reply to
My Name Is Nobody

The leak started when you had it serviced at Sears. Stop at the next Sears and have them solve the problem.

Tom J

Reply to
Tom J

Sears won't have the skills to solve the problem. Even if they admit responsibility, without some level of competence adequate to do the work, it would be a mistake to let them play with it.

Reply to
Joe

Yeh, there's one about 18 miles away in Tucson but I'm back on the road again on Tuesday. Then how do I prove Sears was the one that messed it up? And will the accept responsibility for work done in Grand Junction? Those are just rhetorical questions. And I've had dealers screw things up too. In fact, someone in GJ told me they won't take their truck into the GJ dealer for service any more, they drive to Delta. In theory the dealer should be hiring better people, but that's just in theory.

Reply to
rvfulltime

I wouldn't even touch it till you get home. Keep topping it up. If the threads are goobered and you're on a schedule you don't want someone taking apart what they can't put back together.

Reply to
devlin

While it sucks to have a leak from the drain plug, you're making a pool from a drip.

Finish your trip, then stop in to your local Ford store. The quick change artist failed to install the gasket on the plug ...

The plug can be "too tight", but too tight will not cause a leak, it'll cause difficulty in getting the plug off next time the oil needs changing.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

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