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Stuck Oil Plug - Ugh

2075 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  TQA
Okay, I'll try to be brief, take full resonsibility for my screwing up (pun and all), and hope someone can offer a solution.

Several months after changing the oil on my Yamaha 9.9 (model year 2000) this spring I noticed a little oil leaking from the drain plug. When I put a box wrench on the plug to snug it tight I must have turned it too hard. The lower half -- the part with the brass head and some of the plastic surround -- came off. The upper half, which is completeley plastic and has a weep hole in the middle, remained in the oil pan. Somehow, I was ready with a container in the event I happened to turn the plug the wrong way; as such I was able to capture all of the oil as it drained out the weep hole.

While ordering a new drain plug I asked a local marine tech how to best remove the upper half. I tried his suggestion today -- using a bolt extractor. A little one that fit the weep hole only made the weep hole bigger. A larger extractor actually achieved some gripping effect but wouldn't budge the remaining part of the oil plug. I'm fairly strong but, as I may have crossed the threads (hence the initial leak) I was afraid of damaging the oil pan itself. I decided I ought to back the extractor out and seek your advice. If you think I should get really aggressive next time, enjoy a little laugh as that larger extractor now needs a replacement -- the first one is sitting under 9' of water.
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A good tip when ever you find yourself needing to drill and tap a situation like this, use grease to lubricate and catch the shavings on the drill bit, and tap. The grease will prevent the shavings from falling into the gearbox. Go slow, and use a new bit if you can.
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