Oil pan bolt
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,193
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Oil pan bolt
Had the oil changed yesterday. When it was up on the lift we noticed the bolt for the drain was pretty scraped. Guess it bottomed out pretty hard. It just missed mashing it which would have been a bit catastrophic. And the car isn't lowered at all. Something to check once in a while.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2013
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From: Little Rock Arkansas
Although the pan for the LS1 in the C5 is fairly shallow due to the sump it still sits above the bottom cradle line at it's forward most point, so I'd assume any bottoming out would probably hit that first. I'd even go further and think the stock exhaust has potential to scrape due to how low it sits following the collector (it "hangs" below the car).
Do you do your own oil changes? If not, are you sure the bolt wasn't improperly removed? The last time I changed my oil my oil drain bolt was in very good condition and that's with a considerable amount of mileage (for a C5 at least). Cleaned the threads, and on it went. I also never use a 12 point socket on oil pan bolts due to their torque; always a six point.
Do you do your own oil changes? If not, are you sure the bolt wasn't improperly removed? The last time I changed my oil my oil drain bolt was in very good condition and that's with a considerable amount of mileage (for a C5 at least). Cleaned the threads, and on it went. I also never use a 12 point socket on oil pan bolts due to their torque; always a six point.
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It sounds more like it could have really drug over a speed bump rather than bottoming out during normal driving. Thanks for the heads up on this.
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That’s a new one to me, but not saying it can’t be done.
I’ve had three C5s, all at stock height, and never had a problem with the oil drain bolt getting scraped up from bottoming out or hitting something. Just saying.
I’ve had three C5s, all at stock height, and never had a problem with the oil drain bolt getting scraped up from bottoming out or hitting something. Just saying.
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