Hello. I have owned my 1998 Honda Civic HX for 3 years now. In October, Jiffy Lube misthreaded my drain plug into my oil pan and started a leak. I had them rethread it but Firestone today, while doing an alignment, saw that it is leaking again. Because my oil pan is aluminum, someone told me they could do this 'piggy-back' thing where they thread into the pan a steel component that would stay stationery and then the oil plug, which is also steel, would be inside the steel component...this would make it so that from now on whenever my oil is changed, there would be no more threading into aluminum. I do not want to put the money into replacing the drain pan and was wondering if anyone out there has a comment on this above mentioned procedure..should I do it or not? Thank you for your help.

 

You need a new pan and the monkeys at Jiffy Lube should pay for it. If you have documented that they had to repair the threads, then that pretty much shows that they did the damage. I would not let (or expect) the guys at firestone do any sort of magical fix.

 

^^That.

The douches at jiffy lube do not have any regard to torque specs. That's direct issue. Oil changes are easy, you should do them yourself!

 

I saw a youtube vid where a guy fixed an oil pan that had the threads ruined by getting a bolt that was longer than the original drain plug. that must mean the threads in the oil pan are actually longer than the drain plug at least on the model of car the youtuber was working on. don't know if it would work on your car though.

 

Thanks for your input. I am going to try the route of taking it back to Jiffy Lube. I got corporate involved and the district manager was the one that did the fix. I purposely took it back to the same franchisee's store this last time to keep it in the family of the district manager. Because I am a girl, I think I will have a harder time with these guys because I really do not know a lot about cars. Months ago the store manager at the offending Jiffy Lube told me it was not their responsibility if pans became cross-threaded, but I dont know if he was telling the truth.

 

Keep on their asses to get it done right. Get help in pressing the issue. If you get someone else trying to fix it,it lets JL off the hook. Good luck.

 

Another thing to consider is that usually Jiffy reuses drain plug washers or uses improper ones. I dont think they know that honda requires aluminum crush washers. On my dad's old accord they'd use cheapo fiber washers that would always crack and leak. Hopefully its only that, but if the threads were stripped when did they did the first oil change, they should have told you right there. They're big boys and should be able to identify stripped threads easily without the owner having to come back with a leak.

Go get an estimate from a decent shop for replacement of your oil pan so you have a number to work from. If you feel the pan wasn't in good condition to begin with, maybe you can come to a middle number to be done with the hassle. You'd be surprised at how quickly they'll pay out if you just say, it cost's $400 for a new pan, and if they cut you a check for $300 you'll go away.