[Mr Cracker]

This is the first time I've attempted an oil change in any car, got all excited about it and bought the required tools.

I've been going thorugh some tutorials here in the forum and I see most people have the 10mm drain bolt, but mine comes with the torx oil drain bolt.

I tried removing the drain bolt to no avail. I just stripped it. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to turn it clock-wise or counter clock-wise. There's a curved arrow right next to the bolt but I'm not sure if that signals the direction to tighten or loosen the bolt. :icon_scratch:

Also, I bought the 45 torx socket to remove the bolt, I'm not sure if this is the correct measurement for this.

Thank you.

 

[Tomko]

Lefty - Loosie
Righty - Tightie

I've never seen a torx damaged like that.

 

[ChevyGuy]

Unless this is an exotic thread, the arrow is to tighten.

What car are we talking about? A Gen2? Because I don't think the Gen1s were like that at all.

 

[Mr Cracker]

Lefty - Loosie
Righty - Tightie

This applies to every bolt right? The bolt I'm dealing with works the same as a regular flat screw or any other?

 

[Mr Cracker]

What car are we talking about? A Gen2? Because I don't think the Gen1s were like that at all.

Not sure how to determine the Gen. This is a 2010 1.8L.

 

[ChevyGuy]

This applies to every bolt right? The bolt I'm dealing with works the same as a regular flat screw or any other?

At least 99.99% of them. Certain applications can have screws that work in the opposite direction. But they're quite rare.

 

[Mr Cracker]

The arrow threw me off, I wasn't sure if that was to loosen or tighten the bolt so now the bolt is stripped .

Not sure if I should send the car in to have this fixed or if there's still something I can do about it.

 

[Philb]

Can you get a pipe wrench or a large pair of locking (Vise Grip) pliers on the plug? Counter-clockwise to loosen.

 

[Tomko]

Can you get a pipe wrench or a large pair of locking (Vise Grip) pliers on the plug? Counter-clockwise to loosen.

As well, don't forget that if you resort to these kinds of measures please be sure to also have a proper replacement to button it back up again.

 

[Mr Cracker]

Can you get a pipe wrench or a large pair of locking (Vise Grip) pliers on the plug? Counter-clockwise to loosen.

The thing is I won't be able to get a grip on the bolt with the pipe wrench or locking pliers as the bolt is flush with the oil tank.

 

[Mr Cracker]

As well, don't forget that if you resort to these kinds of measures please be sure to also have a proper replacement to button it back up again.

Yeah, good point. This bolt is going to be useless after I'm done with it. I just hope not to mess up the thread on the the oil tank in the process .

 

[Mr Cracker]

Ok, so after some googling I now understand that the 14Nm = to 14 Newton metre which is a torque unit. So 14Nm + the clockwise arrow is telling me that the bolt should be tightened at 14Nm in a clockwise direction . Now things start to make sense...:yahoo:

I just need to figure out now a way to remove the stripped drain bolt.

 

[diesel]

I ran into this problem on my transmission fill bolt, also a Torx. Some people have suggested using JB Weld to "weld" a proper sized socket/bit in there, and then using that to get it out.

 

[Blasirl]

Consider this:

Craftsman 7 pc. Drill-Out/Screw-Out Power ExtractorsSears.com

M14*1.5 Magnetic Oil Drain Plug,Magnetic Oil Sump Nut

 

[Philb]

The thing is I won't be able to get a grip on the bolt with the pipe wrench or locking pliers as the bolt is flush with the oil tank.

I may be wrong but from the photo it appears the plug is slightly raised from the pan. There may be just enough to get the pipe wrench on.

 

[Chris Tobin]

Please don't take this the wrong way Mr Cracker, but I kinda think that since you goobered this up your mechanical skill level may not be up to the level required to safely/successfully repair the problem with the drain bolt. I am not saying you can't perform the next oil change with the new "Leftie loosey, rightie tighty" knowledge that you now posses and your new tools. But, it might be better to buy a new drain plug then take the car to a shop to have the damaged drain plug removed and oil/filter changed then the new plug installed and new oil installed (you can even buy and supply new oil to help offset the "repair/removal" of the damaged drain plug.

Currently the drain plug is damaged, but the pan looks to be okay. If you have problems removing the damaged plug, I would hate to see you damage the oil pan and cause more expense and damage to your car...

 

[IndyDiesel]

I think you may be better served to take it to your Chevrolet dealer and get an oil change and a new plug. I don't mean to sound so harsh, but yikes this sort of thing can happen to anyone not understanding righty tighty and leftie loosie...Sometimes when under the car I can get confused, so when I use a socket I always get it going in desired direction before I go under the car. I am concerned if your skills are at beginner level, you may cause more damage than you desire.

 

[diesel]

Sometimes when under the car I can get confused, so when I use a socket I always get it going in desired direction before I go under the car. .

^^^ This. I always do that, so I don't have to think about it when I'm under the car. When I first started working on cars, I got it backwards once and tightened the heck out of something once and bunged it all up.

 

[Tomko]

^^^ This. I always do that, so I don't have to think about it when I'm under the car. When I first started working on cars, I got it backwards once and tightened the heck out of something once and bunged it all up.

I think we've all been there one time or another.

 

[Philb]

What gets tricky is when you have to work upside down or sideways. The worse is when you can't see what you need to turn and have to rely on feel. What works for me is to picture myself facing the bolt, nut, filter, etc. regardless of my physical orientation and by using the lefty loosy, righty tighty rule I can easily figure it out.