Driving down the highway a truck ran over something and it hit the coach. I pulled over and looked and could not find anything wrong. I got to my destination went to unhook the toad and found oil droplets on the toad, back of the coach and on the road debris shield for the toad. At first I thought it was tar oil from the construction zones we passed. I lifted the coach and crawled under and seen oil leaking from the no-spills compact drain plug. Whatever hit the coach hit the plug. It is only brass and I think it was hit hard enough that the plunger is pushed in enough to cause it to be in drain mode. I took the safety cap off to check it out and it was draining rapidly. Big mistake. I was able to get the cap back on to where it was a drip again. The good thing is I have the original plug with me. I didn't know if it was possible to remove the brass plug quick enough to change out the plug and then add oil. The other option is to drive it to Speed Co which is 2.5 miles away and hope the cap stays on. I also thought about purchasing some of the epoxy putty and put it around the cap and hope it holds it in place and slow down the drip. Attached is my plug and it's drawing.
Thanks for any advice in advance, John
We have the same drain, John. Be happy you did not have the Fumoto system as it sticks down lower. I also was not aware that the spring closure could be forced open and run out when brass cover is removed. How about draining into an emptied-out clean Rubbermaid container, changing plug and pouring oil back in. Just read about owning a spare drain hose as draining without it is very difficult. Let us know how it works out.
John,if it's near the time to change oil just change the oil and repair the cap,sounds like something that was on the road got tossed
up and hit the plug,so maybe the fumoto would have worked better.The only way epoxy is going to work is if you get all the oil
off with brake cleaner.Remember if you have somebody work on it remind them it's an aluminum pan.
ps,what's speed co?
SpeedCo is a Truck Lube Service Center owned by Love's.
Speedco (https://www.loves.com/speedco)
How about buying a new exact replacement Fumoto-style drainer like you now have. If you are parked for a week or so, it would arrive (or pay extra for expedited shipping) and you could wait to replace the plug. Better than playing around with the aluminum pan by screwing in your original steel drain plug, then putting in a new drainer.
Yes Barry,
When it hit the plug on the corner it bent the plug and pushed the plunger. I think I am going to try a hose clamp around the plug cap to help it stay on instead of the epoxy putty. We will try tightening the heck out of it.
Do not over tighten, all metal plugs including Femco & Fumoto will strip the aluminum pan, and quickly, with major problems, not easily fixed.
Advantage of any drainer on M11 is you will STOP working the aluminum pan threads. Be very careful. Take your time.
I would like to replace the valve but I'm only here for the night. Working my way back to Illinois from Florida. For now I will have to use the old plug till the next oil change. Barry taking your advice, I have a large rubbermaid in the bay. Will swap out the plug in the morning. Hopefully I can remove and replace the plug without losing too much oul. I will replenish what was lost. I'm glad the damage wasn't any worse. I will double check everything in the morning.
John,do what you plan on doing,but clean the cap area and use something to seal between the cap and the drain valve.Their site shows a 0-ring,maybe that got broken.Like Barry said,be careful of those threads.Looks like their is not much thread for the cap,
could you possibly get some teflon tape on the cap threads?
John,
Go down to the local Wmart, Ace, or home improvement store. By a small shop vac.
Now take shop vac. and duct tape the end of hose into the hole in the valve cover after you remove the oil fill plug in the valve cover.
Turn on shop vac.
Let it pull a vacuum on the crankcase as you crawl under the coach.
Check crank case vent hose to see if you need to plug it to keep from loosing your vacuum. Remember to take plug out when finished.
Remove the No Spill drain plug and install the OEM plug. The vacuum will keep the oil in. You will loose a small amount.
Save the No Spill as they may want to look at it to see what could be done to prevent this from happening and should warranty it. They are a good company to work with. I have never seen that happen to one either.
Check oil level, add as needed, and go on with your trip and do an oil change when you can get home.
Mike
Like John44 says:"Teflon tape! Teflon tape! Teflon tape!"
Anyone, if I put the original plug back in what would be the torque rating for the plug?
Thanks, John
Their is no option to putting teflon tape on the cap without losing a lot of oil. The bad thing now is that it's raining.
Sorry, John. Meant you should put tape on if you used Mike's vacuum idea or if you had it done by a shop. Aluminum pan threads can strip very easily and/or corrode if in contact with steel.
I can confirm that this works. That's how I installed my drain valve. Didn't lose a drop of oil.
Absolutely great idea!!! Our quick drain is sitting in front of the computer screen just waiting for something like this. I slipped last time and got about a gallon on the floor of my pit.
Pierce
How could the plunger inside have gotten any damage with the cover on? Looks like a faulty valve issue.
John,
Good and snug is all you need as the gasket does all the work. As other have said too tight will pull the threads in the aluminum pan. The OEM plug is steel and has a magnet inset that is there to collect microscopic particles. On some M-11 pans the threads of the plug extend too far into the pan (1 to 2 threads) with the magnet inside the particles collect in the root of the thread over a period of time. How long this takes to build up in the thread roots depends on the engine health. If this happens you have to work the plug back & forth to work the particls loose to be able to remove the plug. You won't have to worry about this over a short period of time, as this is just a side note FYI.
Mike
If you strip the aluminum threads you can get an insert kit from Cummins.
Drill it out, tap it and install the insert,then use the original magnetic steel plug. It won't stick out very far.
Use two wrenches when removing the plug for an oil change, one to hold the insert and one to remove the plug.
There is NO NPT on that fitting! Do not use any Teflon tape.
Well after a late night we were able to slow down the leak with the cap. We put a bin underneath to collect anyoil dripping. Went to Walmart bought some oil and a tarp. It rained all night and still is. Got the brass valve out and installed the original plug and refilled. All is good. I look around to see if anything else was damaged and could not see anything. It hit just right on the edge of the valve causing it to bend the edge and push the plunger. We are back in business and ready to leave this muddy place. Attached are pictures of the damaged valve. The hit also caused the valve to loosen from it's torqued setting of 50lbs. Thanks everyone for their ideas and support.
John,
At least what ever that was, that you hit, didn't puncture the oil pan. From these pics. that was quite a hit that cold have been a lot worse.
Mike
Mike that is so true. I am counting my blessings. I'm also glad I had the old plug with me. Things could have been worse. On our oil pan we have some plugs on the side. Just wondering if that would be a better location for the valve.
John, that plug on the passenger side would still leave over a gallon of oil in the system. I just looked to see if it would be better for me also.
Ok Chuck, thanks!
OOPS, I meant Femco-style (not Fumoto) as a replacement.
Originally there was Femco, then the produce was sold by NoSpillSystem, now I see Femco is back. Both have competing websites NoSpillSystems.com AND FemcoDrainPlug.com. Does anyone know what is going on with Femco products? Are their products interchangeable?
Barry,is your drain on the side or bottom,I have my fomoto on the side and it does drain all the oil.
John44, Is the side the same size as the plug location?
John or Carmen, Please call when you have time.
Gary O
On mine yes but yours is totally different.
John44, Thanks.
John, we installed our femco on bottom, but our engine is different than yours.
I looked at our oil pan and our only drain plug (Femco Compact) is on bottom AND on side at the same time. In other words the drain plug is on bottom EDGE. We do not have a typical-looking bottom center drain plug.