Hi Scotty,
I have a 2016 kia optima hybrid. I wanted to do the oil change myself and had a friend helping me. (Or so i thought) In helping me, my friend manager to round off the oil plug. It's actually not even round so much as egg shaped. I have tried everything I can think of to remove it but it almost seems like it has locktite on it. I have tried vice grips, bolt extractor, torque wrench, absolutely nothing is working. Can you please give me some suggestions as to what i can do? I don't really want to have to drop the entire oil pan if i don't have to since that seems like it would be a much bigger job. But i do want to get the oil changed. Some have suggested using a torch but I'm very hesitant on doing it that way...i could really use some advice.
Thanks for your time.M
ichelle
Assuming the pan is steel or aluminum, not plastic, you could try a torch. Heat up the plug itself itself, not the oil pan. Do a few heating and cooling cycles and tap on it to see if that frees up the drain plug enough to get it off with vise grips. Some years ago I got a stuck transmission drain plug loose that way.
STOP!
It's probably jammed in there because the last person to change the oil stripped the threads.
So back off. Leave the plug in there until you come up with a game plan for what you will do AFTER you remove the plug. (and of course won't be able to put it back in, resulting in it not holding oil, and thus making the vehicle undriveable)
So either get a new pan and plug lined up, or have your re-threading tools ready.
Try a pipe wrench with a cheater pipe. If that doesn't break it loose then you'll have to use heat
I always used judiciously applied heat and a large pair of Channel Lock pliers to get them off.
