Dredwolf
11-29-2017, 09:23 PM
Yes, I know I need to be doing more with my XJ and WJ, but as those of you married will understand, there is usually a priority given to the vehicle driven by the Mrs. And I had been looking at the lever-style oil-drains for years, wondering how well they work. This was an excuse/reason to buy one.
Anyway, the oil pan on the 2003 Explorer (yes, I know the Exploder joke, three timing chains in the 4.0 is terrible engineering, been there, done that) is rather small and flimsy. In fact, it's only saving grace is that you can change it without pulling the engine or dropping an axle. And it's real common to have issues with the oil drain plugs leaking, even with a new pan, plug, washer, o-ring, thread seal tape, 154 checks of the torque specs, RTV, stop-leak, prayers, and a blessing of the part by any number of impressive religious figures, the blasted thing will still leak.
So maybe I can stop needing to remove the plug. It looked like there were two major players in the market, Fumoto and EZ Oil Drain.
http://www.fumotousa.com/
http://www.ezoildrain.com/
While not as elegant as the Fumoto locking clip, I liked the simple metal squeeze-style hose clamp you can use to secure the EZ Drain against accidental opening versus the plastic clip for the Fumoto.
So I bought an EZ-106 valve, hose end, dust cap, and some of their hose clamps to secure it, and changed it out with the leaking drain plug tonight, only losing less than 1/2 quart in the process. Since the leak was pretty bad, I checked the oil level and topped off again. It's been installed for 3 hours now in a warm engine, and so far :pray:, no drips on the cardboard. I'll snap some pics tomorrow, but I think this is going to work well. I'll check clearances on the rest of the vehicles, and if possible, switch over to these. I change all the oil in my "fleet", and due to miles traveled, the WJ gets an oil change every two months.
Anyway, the oil pan on the 2003 Explorer (yes, I know the Exploder joke, three timing chains in the 4.0 is terrible engineering, been there, done that) is rather small and flimsy. In fact, it's only saving grace is that you can change it without pulling the engine or dropping an axle. And it's real common to have issues with the oil drain plugs leaking, even with a new pan, plug, washer, o-ring, thread seal tape, 154 checks of the torque specs, RTV, stop-leak, prayers, and a blessing of the part by any number of impressive religious figures, the blasted thing will still leak.
So maybe I can stop needing to remove the plug. It looked like there were two major players in the market, Fumoto and EZ Oil Drain.
http://www.fumotousa.com/
http://www.ezoildrain.com/
While not as elegant as the Fumoto locking clip, I liked the simple metal squeeze-style hose clamp you can use to secure the EZ Drain against accidental opening versus the plastic clip for the Fumoto.
So I bought an EZ-106 valve, hose end, dust cap, and some of their hose clamps to secure it, and changed it out with the leaking drain plug tonight, only losing less than 1/2 quart in the process. Since the leak was pretty bad, I checked the oil level and topped off again. It's been installed for 3 hours now in a warm engine, and so far :pray:, no drips on the cardboard. I'll snap some pics tomorrow, but I think this is going to work well. I'll check clearances on the rest of the vehicles, and if possible, switch over to these. I change all the oil in my "fleet", and due to miles traveled, the WJ gets an oil change every two months.