Well today was the day it finally went. My APS oil pan was stripped by my installer day one and it held oil with out major leaks until now. As i changed my oil before storing my Z over winter, i threaded the drain plug bolt back in and there was nothing but metal shavings all over my hands. Lets just add this to the list of things that **** you off...

Anybody have any ideas on what i can do?

1. tap it to a bigger plug i can get at AutoZone?

2. Helocoil the oil pan to fit the original plug? (keep in mind you can never find crush washers this size)

3. Buy a bran new APS oil pan and replace it?

4 Other?


I need your help guys! I'm glad my Z isn't my daily driver!

 

you should of had the installer replace it from the get go. they screwed up the hole. i'm usually **** about anything that deals with the engine. plus oil is a big issue with our cars.

but to answer your question, a quick fix is to take it off, retap it and put in a larger plug.

 

I didn't feel like changing my oil so I took it to Nissan and guess what.. they stripped the plug. Just tap it and but a bigger plug in thats what I did and have had no issues.

 

go with option #1. that is the easiest and cheapest solution.

 

but when you do this option grease the tap to capture the shavings or better yet remove the pan, and tap the hole off the car.

 

I say remove the oil pan and drill and tap it for the next size plug.

 

^ yea, i think this is what ill do. if it leaks/ doesn't work ill be forced to get a new oil pan.

Any aps owners have this same problem?

 

**** that make the dealer pay for that ****,

 

You can install a fumoto drain valve (flip a switch and it drains your oil). That way once it is set, you never have to worry about re-tightening again or getting another crush washer again - ever - theoretically...

 

Definately more prone to stripping, vs. stock. Simple fix, however. Good luck.

 

I had mine stripped by an oil change place and had to take it back to have them Helocoil the oil pan to fit the original plug. It has worked like a charm since then.

From now on I am changing my own oil as this is a problem with the APS oil pan.

 

got mine used
was STUCK in the PAN
stripped but wouldn't come out.....


Drilled and tapped to huge *** subaru size
drains faster and WORKS!!

 

mine stripped too a few weeks ago.. i got the next size up self tapper from napa... definately have to pull the lower oil pan off, clean it up, TAP the lower oil pan with it off the engine, clean it up and throw it back on with the larger oil drain plug...

problem fixed

 

seems like it'd be easy for that switch to get accidentially flipped and oops...there goes all your engine oil spraying onto your rear tires causing you to lose control, crash, and sieze up your motor simultaneously...sounds like a great time!

 

I had the same problem with my ARC one

None of the pans on the market are really great from a design standpoint - why no one though to use a steel insert for the threaded portions is beyond me. Surely it couldnt cost that much extra relative to the price of the pan!

Anyway, what I did was go to a hardware store and get a larger threaded bolt. Used the next size up tap and die set, redid the threads (went to something courser this time since it will never come out again) and viola, all done. Just get a bolt with a very short threaded section though!

On the ARC pan at least, there are 2 drain plugs, one on either side...so I am going to replace the other bolt with a Fumoto drain valve at the next oil change so I never have this problem again Looking at the APS pan, looks like just 1 drain plug. I'd retap it and get the valve as well for yourself to avoid stripping it in the future.

There is no way I could see for the valve to accidentally go to the "open" position - it has a built in safety lock. There is also a clip that can be purchased too that keeps it in the locked position at all times until the clip is removed.

 

I was worried about that on the fumoto, but you could add a threaded male/male fitting to the outlet side of the fumuto, and then put a threaded cap on the outlet. that would solve any concerns.

Something like this -8 AN Cap and fitting

 

Ha - you'd think they would've thought of that - and well, they have

There's a safety on it. You can even get a double safety with a hose clip to prevent the safety from disengaging, which they target at the off-road crowd.

 

Same thing happened on my APS oil pan. I had it helicoiled at a local machine shop, costed me 23 bucks or so. Just make sure they know what they are doing or the helicoil will come out with the plug next time you change your oil.

 

geez looks like this is a real problem with aftermarket oil pans. Ill have mine tapped to the next bigger size tomorrow.

 

anyone have issues with the Greddy oil pan?

I have the stock pan with an AAM pan spacer, but was thinking of either replacing those with the Greddy pan, or just replacing the stock pan with the greddy pan.