got to say...

[madkaw]

Are you kidding me?

Bought a 2012 Chevy Sonic Turbo and it was due for it's second oil change-which I wanted to do. I've done nothing but drive this car, which is weird for me being a car guy. So I thought I would change the oil and poke around.

I could NOT get the oil plug off:mad:

I have NEVER had a car that I couldn't get the plug out-never!

It is a small drain plug that has a 10mm socket head. I managed to trip the head trying to break loose the nut . WTF

I couldn't budge the thing. I even tried tapping the wrench with a dead blow to break it loose. What the hell did they use to put it on -an impact wrench?

taking to the dealer to let them mess with it. It's just mind boggling that I am going through this to change oil. It makes me look like an idiot for stripping the head of the plug, but I know I was turning it the right way.

By the way, the dealer did the first service.

[Hardway]

I am so sorry to hear that Mad. That sucks so bad and is sickening to boot! I agree, makes you wonder what they put it on with. Hopefully the dealer can sort it out and not give you any grief on the head being stripped. Odd that its is only 10mm, most drain plus are like 9/16 or bigger, especially on American cars. I just did an oil change on my '06 TL and the plug was 15mm. Keep us posted.

[Arne]

I hear you. I haven't touched anything under the hood of our '10 Golf TDI. Not even the oil changes. It just doesn't look like any fun. And before the Golf I can count on two fingers how many times in the past 35 years I've let ANYONE besides myself work on one of my cars.

[SteveJ]

I try to avoid letting others do basic maintenance such as oil changes, free or not. On more than one occasion the drain plug was overtorqued or otherwise damaged. Who knows how well they let the oil drain, too. Until I am physically unable to do so, I will continue to work on my cars.

[Mikes Z car]

They over torqued the drain plug on my DD (non Z) which cracked the plastic drain gasket so it leaked a lot of oil over a few days until I took it back to them and they put a new plastic gasket on the plug. Once the oil changing shop forgot to put the fill plug back on on the diffy of a 300ZX I had once. Got lucky, I smelled the stinky rear end oil after a highway trip before there was any noticeable damage.

[Gary in NJ]

I rarely go to someone for maintenance or repairs. It's just not in my DNA. But every now and then I have to pay the man...as recent as last week.

My '04 Silverado threw a series of codes that indicated an O2 sensor had given its last bit of information to the computer. I put the truck up on ramps, soaked the sensor in PB Blaster, got out my O2 sensor socket and went to work. With every bit of muscle I have I could not budge that O2 sensor. It's in an awkward location, obstructed by the transfer case shaft. I went at it one more time...and thought that I had it moving, but when I inspected the sensor I discovered that the socket was slipping in the sensor and that I had rounded the fitting. ARRRGGG!

Looking at the situation the only thing that I could do was to cut the wire and use an impact wrench to remove the sensor from the pipe. In order to make room for the driver I would have to remove the the transfer case shaft. It's 30 degrees outside...I'm not happy... EFF THIS! I admitted defeat and the next day I dropped the truck off at the local Chevy dealer. My head was hung very low. I had failed.

Shortly after dropping off the truck I got a call from the service manager. "That O2 sensor is stripped". I said "I know and I'm sorry". He said, "no not the socket side, that's no problem. It must have been cross-threaded from the factory. We don't want to put an impact driver on it because more then likely we'll destroy the down pipe and that's an $700 to $800 part. Can you authorize an extra 30 minutes of labor from what we quoted?" Why yes, go right ahead I said with a big smile on my face

They were able to remove the O2 sensor and save the down pipe. Had I followed through on my plan I would have been PISSED-OFF.

So dealers do serve a purpose, even for us wrench-heads. Every now and then I have to remind myself that I might not be the best mechanic for the job.

So Steve, could you have removed the drain plug yourself? Sure, but it might have cost you an expensive aluminum pan. Sit back and enjoy the fact that you couldn't fix some other bond head's mistake. You did everything right.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Gary in NJ

[madkaw]

They got the plug out and replaced it under warranty.

I had called the dealer who sold me the car and told him the story. He has seen and drove my Z - so he knew that I wasn't a car idiot. He marched over to service to tell them just that.

As much as I enjoy doing this stuff, I will probably go back to the dealer for oil changes . It's a PITA to rotate tires and the dealer only charges 40.00 for oil change and rotation. The dealership has a good reputation around here.

Plus the engine requires Dexos additive which is only in Mobil 1$$$$$

It's my DD - not my Z - so they can change the oil.

I still have 3 other cars to maintain - that's enough:)

[SteveJ]

The flip side, Gary, is that I have learned a lot from my boneheaded mistakes.

[Gary in NJ]

Yeah, me too. Best teacher I ever had.