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Oil pan with a rubber plug in the middle?

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Old Nov 11, 2018 | 05:05 PM
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Oil pan with a rubber plug in the middle?

I have an 02 I35, I was recently told by the people that installed my water pump that they had to change the oil also, and in the process they saw a rubber plug on the oil pan and said there was a hole in the rubber plug. I find it hard to believe because my other oil pan didnt have the rubber plug in the center in addition to the oil pan 14mm bolt. Does anyone else have this rubber plug on the oil pan along with the normal oil pan 14mm bolt?? Could it possibly leak or be loose?
Old Nov 12, 2018 | 05:42 AM
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Originally Posted by maxinout93
I have an 02 I35, I was recently told by the people that installed my water pump that they had to change the oil also, and in the process they saw a rubber plug on the oil pan and said there was a hole in the rubber plug. I find it hard to believe because my other oil pan didnt have the rubber plug in the center in addition to the oil pan 14mm bolt. Does anyone else have this rubber plug on the oil pan along with the normal oil pan 14mm bolt?? Could it possibly leak or be loose?
Definitely not from the factory, either its an aftermarket pan or someone drilled into the oem one, id imagine its the later. The drain bolt isnt the best since you can never get all of the oil out due to it being on the side rather than the bottom, the previous owner must have added the rubber plug to get that tiny bit thats left over.

as far as whether or not it leaks? Of course its possible lol. Id either replace the pan since its cheap and easy, or glob some black rtv (oil resistant) on the plug and seal the sucker for good.
Old Nov 13, 2018 | 05:29 AM
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[QUOTE=Slamrod;9187470]


Definitely not from the factory, either its an aftermarket pan or someone drilled into the oem one, id imagine its the later. The drain bolt isnt the best since you can never get all of the oil out due to it being on the side rather than the bottom, the previous owner must have added the rubber plug to get that tiny bit thats left over.

as far as whether or not it leaks? Of course its possible lol. Id either replace the pan since its cheap and easy, or glob some black rtv (oil resistant) on the plug and seal the sucker for good.


Well thanks for your response man, i guess for a peace of mind ill replace it since it not really expensive, because i thought they came like that from the factory.
[/QUOTE
Old Nov 13, 2018 | 11:13 AM
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take a picture just curious
Old Nov 13, 2018 | 09:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Donkeypunch
take a picture just curious

I dont have recent pic, but i do have a pic of the oil pan in another thread i made, (Coolant leaking near bottom of oil pan) There is a pic there, If you look right at the bottom of the oil pan you will see somthing black sticking out from it, that is the plug im talking about.
Old Nov 14, 2018 | 09:44 AM
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Took a look, if i were you id replace the lower oil pan completely. If you were to go over a large speedbump or something similar you could potential scrape the oil pan; it wouldnt normally be a big deal but in your case it would probably pull the rubber plug out - you wouldnt know that all your oil drained as you drove until it was probably too late.

if the plug didnt protrude so much id say just rtv it up but since its sticking out a solid inch id say play it safe and replace the whole thing.

Last edited by Slamrod; Nov 14, 2018 at 11:18 AM.
Old Nov 14, 2018 | 10:18 AM
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I totally agree with Slamrod.
Old Nov 14, 2018 | 07:52 PM
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Well im gonna take you guys advice, better safe than sorry lol, only reason i didnt bother it was because i thought that they came from the factory that way.
Old Nov 18, 2018 | 06:43 AM
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Just looked at the picture and, yeah, that's crazy. I can't imagine anyone thinking that was a good idea.
One of my cars has a big scrape on the bottom of the pan that would have torn that thing off. I don't even remember what caused the scrape but having one of those would have made it very memorable.

There's no gasket used on the oil pan so make sure you use a high quality RTV on it. Don't go cheap here.
Old Nov 19, 2018 | 06:25 PM
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ok will do about the rtv
Old Nov 24, 2018 | 09:45 PM
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Junkyards punch a small hole inside the oil pans to drain into the collection tank..then they plug it with rubber to keep the small amount left over from dripping.
Old Nov 25, 2018 | 05:18 AM
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oh ok that explains it all then, because i got the pan from the junkyard.
Old Nov 25, 2018 | 09:14 PM
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That's how sorry a$$ shops repair punctured oil pans...I see this on many junkyard cars...both engine and tranny oil pans! These shops suck!!! Just replaced a 2008 Titan starter they were quoted $1300 parts/Labor!
Old Dec 3, 2018 | 05:54 PM
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Originally Posted by CMax03
That's how sorry a$$ shops repair punctured oil pans...I see this on many junkyard cars...both engine and tranny oil pans! These shops suck!!! Just replaced a 2008 Titan starter they were quoted $1300 parts/Labor!
I can only wonder if that's what caused my engine to die last week? I mean it was still full of oil , just had smoke coming out the oil cap like I've never seen like sumthing burned up. Now it will fire right up but knocks.
Old Dec 5, 2018 | 05:30 PM
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Originally Posted by maxinout93
... just had smoke coming out the oil cap like I've never seen like some thing burned up. Now it will fire right up but knocks.
Smoke coming out from the oil cap usually suggests bad valve guides and seals or bad rings. You have a knock, so I'm wondering if you have a spun or bad rod bearing.
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