02 maxima. Just changed my transmission filter and as I was replacing the 500 bolts that hold the transmission pan on, I had 1 that wouldnt tighten. It is in there all the way, it is not going to come out of the pan but when I try to tighten it, it just keeps spinning and spinning. This pan has 21 bolts, I did not see any leaking after driving it after I changed it, so my thing is should I go try to find a new bolt and see if that fixes it or what?

 

You might want to consider that you removed the wrong bolt. Hopefully not the one with the black arrow beside it that says DO NOT REMOVE.

 

Is it one of the actual pan bolts? Or one inside the pan near the filter?

 

It's stripped. This is a common problem. Some were overtightened from the factory, iirc. You'd have to extract it, and tap the threads. If it's too chewed up, then you'd have to tap to a larger size.

If it doesn't leak, I wouldn't worry about it. Keep an eye on it and check the tq of all the bolts in a week.

 

^^^^^ what he said if it's not leaking don't mess with it. I wouldn't try and tap a bigger hole that's cast aluminum and very brittle it can and will break and chip very easily.

Is this maxmechanic guy serious or just a troll? What's he the new nissan tech lube guy in some stealership and now thinks everyone that works on their own car is dumb?

 

Not even that. He takes his car to the dealer for service but randomly quotes the FSM here pretending to know something.

 

I just got done reading the now famous post. What a tool.

 

i didn't know he had one that stood out above the rest

 

True

 

Check out my sig!!!

 

doh

 

 

That's hilarious.

 

Did the OP flush out the oil cooler lines?

Anyone got the exact tube size that replaces the original cooler lines on the A33?

 

I don't think so but iirc they're standard garden hose size, nothing fancy

 

But can you suck a golf ball through it?

 

Back to OP.
Remove the bolt and insert a strip of small copper wire into the hole, naturally vertically, install bolt and it will tighten down.

 

If it doesn't leak, leave it..

 

Im pretty sure my oil pan is leaking from the drain bolt i need to get a little gasket but i want to replae the whole pan its self. How was it to remove all the little bolts? Because i was thinking of buying all new bolts?

 

Bolts are pretty easy to remove. I reused bolts and added threadlocker because I was too impatient to wait a few days for oem ones to ship to me (I didnt realize they wouldn't be a stock item at the stealer). So far no issues, but its only been a couple months

 

Could the one bolt be a smaller bolt? Are all the bolts the same size?

 

Just 1 more question
If you kept track of which holes you removed the bolts from then torqued them onto exact holes they were removed from
Do you think you would've had this issue?

 

all the pan bolts should be the same size (unless something changed from gen 5 to 5.5)

it would be difficult to track exactly where each bolt came from when you take them off. not impossible, but you'd have to be very organized and meticulous about doing it. when you're under the car taking 20+ identical bolts off you're not going to want to stop after removing each one to label it to put them back in the exact spot.

 

Well, there's size (diameter/thread pitch) and there's length.

There are only a handful of sizes on the entire car. None of them are close enough to accidentally thread into each other.

Length is another issue. A short bolt in a long hole can strip if it only catches a few threads before torquing. It's usually obvious because the bolt will go almost all the way in before it catches the threads. Even if you're working on something you can't see it won't feel right.

Usual causes of stripping are:

* Over torquing- Especially with aluminum.
* Not following a pattern- If you torque the 1st one the force on it increases as you torque the rest. It can also make it easier to cross the other bolts.
* Crossing threads- Forcing a bolt in with crossed threads will usually lead to stripping or breaking. Once the 1st thread gets damaged it'll be virtually impossible to get it in straight. At that point you need to clean the threads up with a tap.
Many people don't think about this next one.
* Using a damaged bolt- With steel, the female threads will straighten out any small dings in a bolt. With aluminum a damaged bolt will cut the female threads as it goes in. If you step on, or even drop, a bolt you can ding the 1st few threads. If you put it in like that you're cutting every thread in the hole. I keep a small jewelers file close by to touch up any threads that don't look right or don't immediately catch the female threads.
* Previous monkeys- All of the above can be caused by previous people covering their mistakes.
* Self tapping bolts- Not so much on Japanese cars but the Euros use a lot of self tapping bolts. It saves on production but those bolts are easier to cross and quicker to damage threads.
* Sometimes it just happens- I was installing a water pump on a very expensive turbo Porsche last week and one of the bolts wouldn't torque. It went in straight and the bolt wasn't damaged. I was tightening them by hand with a 1/4" ratchet. It just never stopped turning. I drilled/tapped the hole and installed a Helicoil. Better than new.

No. It's a good idea to bag and label the fasteners from different components but it should be obvious if one is longer or different. As long as the bolts are the same size and length it's not important to put them in the same hole.

 

Totally forgot about helicoils. I love them. Ever have a spark plug back itself out and strip the threads...

 

Good point Sometimes even though they seem similar even the washers can distinguish one bolt from another.