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By vurjt, February 7, 2012



I have a 2004 LE with 255,000 miles on it. Was changing the transmission fluid today as I have on four previous occasions. I removed the drain plug and drained the pan, then when I went to replace the drain plug it would not tighten, just spins. I removed the pan and there's no nut inside the pan so I'm thinking the there is a nut or threads sandwiched between the inner at outer pan skin where the plug screws in??? Has anyone had this happen and how to fix it. Right now I can't back the drain plug out either. BTW: the pan was amazingly clean even at this high mileage. Thanks for reading and replying.

No nut on the inside of the pan, just a raised section of metal with threads cut into it. Sounds like either the threads on the pan got stripped or the threads on the drain plug got stripped. Most of the time, it is on the pan side. Look at the drain plug and see if you can see any metal bits sticking inside the threads.

Not many options here. One is to use a thread repair kit - basically you enlarge the drain plug hole, use a special insert to insert - you now have new threads. Drawback, generally have to take the pan off, as there isn't enough clearance to safely drill out the old threads. Another option is to use a temporary rubber plug - uses a special tool to insert/remove - pretty quick to use, drawback is that it is temporary at best - if it drops out, you'll be in trouble.

At this point, since the drain bolt will not back out - you'll have to drop the pan completely and see what is going on there. You might be able to pry on the bolt slightly as you try and remove it, that will grab whatever threads are there and back off. Unfortunately, this will also destroy whatever threads are there, as you are effectively trying to cross-thread it off the pan.

Update: Got the old drain plug out and had a local shop re-thread the hole. Installed a larger drain plug and copper washer. I'm going to reinstall the pan tomorrow as I am waiting on the OEM pan gasket at the Toyota dealer. I did not like the flimsy cork gasket that came with the filter kit I got at the parts store. The one that came off of the pan originally is much thicker and sturdier than the cork one.



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