Changed oil in mt 8.3, new plug and gasket and it has a slow leak. The old one did the same. Any ideas? I cleaned everything well, never seen this before, sure don't want to drain it all out again. Not a bad leak, just a drip or two overnight
Look for the posts about using a vacuum to keep the oil in with the plug out. Be careful to not strip the threads on the oil pan
This is why Femco Compact oil drain plug is so popular.
And Femco is even more practical for aluminum oil pan with steel drain plug.
Prevention is the word of the day. . .
Maybe the face of the oil pan drain has a scratch on it and a file should fix it. I believe your oil pan is
steel so maybe be you could tighten it tighter.
Get a fumoto or femco and have ready, it's only going to get worse.
Would it be dumb to use thread tape (temporarily) on it.
Also consider Stahlbus Drain Valve; Curtis Drain valve; Saf-Air drain valve; ValvoMax drain valve; nospillsystems
Summary from another forum: spring loaded (Unique, Valvo Max) or lever type (Fumoto or EZ Oil)
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/no-mess-oil-drain-valves-clearing-up-some-confusion-513472.html
If it is leaking from the threads no matter what valve you get you will have to address that aspect,you'll need to clean the threads
so they are oil free and use a sealant that will work with oil.If you have to drain the oil again so be it,get clean containers and
put the oil back in.
I'll try some Permatex right stuff on it. It's a fantastic
The threads on drain plugs don't seal, it's the gasket between the lip of the plug and the oil pan
that does the sealing.
And since there is a new gasket, there must be some scratches on pan plugs surface
The point is if you can get the threads clean and use sealer it will help with the leak,yes we know the gasket does the sealing.
Ya, a couple of possibilities:
Pan sealing surface not smooth.
Pan plug sealing surface not smooth.
New gasket surfaces not smooth.
Improper plug torque-- either too little or torque affected by issue with plug or pan threads.
Permatex Right Stuff on the threads and gasket sealed it up! No drips now.
Yes. And I used the permatex stuff on my 8.3 timing case seal ( outside ) and so far so good. Inverted a 5,000.00 repair bill from Cummins NW , at least for now.
Cummins oil pans are aluminum and don't have that much depth so easy to develop a leak or strip. Aluminum pans are fine but need to be designed like Mercedes does on their pans. Ours has at least an inch of thread so stripping is next to impossible.
But that's not much help is it? I would make sure the mating surface is flat so a washer will seal. But you will either need to drain the oil or use a vacuum cleaner if you don't want to or just changed the oil.
Our U300 has a Detroit 2 cycle and a steel pan but while I knew it would never leak, there is too much of a chance of a spill and a big black mess to clean up in the garage and on you. So, I ordered a quick drain plug for our Detroit. If the drain is on the side of the pan, you can use the kind that has a valve on it but If your pan's drain is on the bottom where it can be hit by road debris, etc, you need the kind that does not stick down much. With a quick drain/no spill drain, you can start and stop the flow without spilling a drop.
So, I took my shop vac and used duct tape to attach the hose to the engine's oil fill tube so there would be no vacuum leak when I turned on the vacuum cleaner and the hose could not fall off while I was in the middle of installing the new quick drain. With the vacuum cleaner on, I slowly removed the plug, checking to see if there were leaks, especially when the plug reached the last of the threads. There was none so I totally removed the plug and sure enough, it was sucking air into the pan and not a drop was lost. Naturally, it's much harder to file the pan's oil drain boss flat this way but I didn't need to do it on my steel pan.
So, make sure to order the correct no spill drain for your exact engine. Members here should be able to give you the part number. Here are several Cummins quick drains: CUMMINS - EZ OIL DRAIN VALVES- THE EASIEST OIL CHANGE! (https://www.ezoilchangevalve.com/cummins.html). As you can see, you just use a fitting to attach a hose to and thread in into the quick drain. With the little valve handle, you can fill a gallon container, shut off the flow, use a different container and repeat as many times as necessary to empty the pan. No spill, just pretty light (7 pounds) one gallon containers to put in a car to take to your auto parts recycle tank (if they have one) Many NAPA locations do.
Pierce
It appears that 8.3 Cummins have a steel pan. What Cummins have aluminum pans? Sorry about the misinformation.
Pierce
ISM is a magnesium pan. Mine was at least triple the recommended torque, or it was glued in? Quick drain plug lives there now proactively.