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Did my first oil change and noticed the oil drain plug was different than OEM and also didn't have the copper gasket. The oil drain plug had a built-in rubber seal as seen below.
I reinstalled the same oil drain plug without the copper gasket and did not experience any oil leak. My question is, should I replace with the OEM one for my next oil change?
The simple answer is, if it doesn't leak, you're good.
Or for peace of mind, you could get yourself a new drain bolt for cheap. You could even get a fancy one with a magnet, if you want to play with sticking a magnet in your oil.
Best practice is to use a new copper crush washer with each oil change.
I bought this BLOX Racing drain plug 4 years ago for like $15.
It's pretty, but in hindsight it's kind of pointless. The only reason I got it was I was starting to round the hex head on the OEM plug, and thought to get ahead of that problem. As for the magnet, never seen anything on the magnet in any of the oil changes since.
im not a fan of the copper gasket. it requires too much torque to get tight enough so it doesnt leak. at least that was my experience. ive always used the washer with the rubber seal in the middle.
Understood. I'm more function over form. No need for bling unless it somehow improves performance. I can count on 0 fingers how many times I've had to replace an oil drain plug in the past 30 years of doing oil changes.
This nissan collapsible crush washer was a new one for me. I don't gorilla torque it when changing oil. In fact, I'll use a 3/8 or 1/2" socket to get it off, but it goes back on with regular 15mm (17mm?) wrench. All about snug and feel.
replaced them on both my cars with the Valvomax drain system, and never have to take it off again.
also got their collapsible oil drain bag ... no mess, except for a bit when i do the filter, and no dumping an oil pan back into another container to take for recycle.
Member "Ape Factory" purchased this oil change pump which sucks oil up out of the dipstick tube, which I could see as a fantastic thing if your oil filter were on top of the engine bay, like Subaru does it.
Member "Ape Factory" purchased this oil change pump which sucks oil up out of the dipstick tube, which I could see as a fantastic thing if your oil filter were on top of the engine bay, like Subaru does it.
considered the pump, but at $35 each, the Valvomax was a no-brainer. would probably have went with the pump if my riding mower didn't already have an easy oil drain tube.
i really liked the idea of Subaru's oil filter on top, but after owning 4 of them, they kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. mine were mildly modifed (with assorted slightly annoying problems), but it was my wife's completely stock, gently-driven Forester engine that died at 71k miles. Subaru has a reputation for reliability, but it is undeserved, IMHO.
I'm old school still but that ValvoMax looks nice. I currently use a Z1 magnetic oil drain plug with OEM Nissan washers and haven't had issues. I just bought a bag of them since they were cheap and that way I always have some.
