I changed my tranny oil on my 92 SE 5speed, and I don't know what happened but when I tried to reinstall the drain plug, I noticed on the tranny housing the threads were stripped pretty bare. The drain plug itself was fine. After pacing back and forth and hitting my head on the wall, i just decided to just force the plug back in there, get the car running and try to fix it later. Needless to say, my car has been slowly leaking gear oil. Please spare the flames for not properly removing the drain plug, or improperly reinstalling the drain plug, but I'm not sure whether it was me or the last person who changed the tranny oil, but I'll be sure to more carefully watch what happens next time.

Is there any fix for this that doesn't involve swapping out the entire transmission (though my tranny will probably is definitely inching towards needing a rebuild)? Is there a trick plug that will stop the leaking? Is there anything I can do, maybe along the lines of a sealant i can apply around the drain plug that can easily be removed the next time i have to change the tranny oil? Would it be possible to find a good tranny shop to rethread my tranny housing and just use a bigger plug? Much thanks for any advice.

Speaking of which, does any know of any good Maxima mechanics or body shops or tranny places in the San Francisco Bay Area?

 

retap it and buy a larger bolt. try ur best to tap it str8. good luck.

 

considering you would want to keep the magnet at the end of the plug..i would helicoil the drain hole and put the drain plug back in.

 

What's 'helicoil'?

 

that guy.
you drill the hole a tad larger, then tap a new, larger thread into it.. then you screw in one of those little spring looking guys and it's actually the exact same thread as the old ones you stripped out.

That kit is about $50. expensive, but it's the RIGHT way to fix them.
you'll still need to use a plastic washer or something on the end of it, but what I do is just squirt a dab of RTV silicone around the bolt hole before I put the drain plug back in.. I bought the helicoil kit specifically for this purpose (stripped drain plug) a few months ago..

call up any GOOD hardware store, or your local parts stores or mechanics.. one of them will have one of these kits for you. the thread size you need is a 12mm x 1.25mm.