ibrahimx2001 Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Hi all, yesterday me and my brother did some work on my 330ci and one of the jobs was an oil change. Basically, we drained the oil out and changed the filter, but when my brother tightened up the sump plug I believe he may have over tightened it and it made like a crack sound. Now the sump but basically just spins in the hole. It doesn't tighten up or loosen? my question is is there anyone around who has or can point me in the right direction with getting the sump re-tapped and a new plug as I don't want to go down the route of changing the sump pan itself? I'm in north London if that helps. Ive temporarily tightened the nut as much as possible and silicone the hell out of the plug last night and this morning topped it up with oil so I can drive the car back home. I had the car running for about an hour and checked for any leaks but all was good until I got home and parked her up as I can see a few drops of oil underneath her now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Helicoil is gonna be your answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibrahimx2001 Posted October 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Thanks for the reply Trevor, but what is helicoil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibrahimx2001 Posted October 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I've just watched a video on helicoils and looks good to me. Is there anyone on here who has more confidence than me to tackle the job? obviously I'm willing to buy them a drink or two Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 It rethreads a hole, basically. Be careful of bits of swarf entering into the sump though as the new thread/hole is cut If it were my car, I'd be tempted to pull the sump and get it done off the car/replaced with a good one. (I took the sump off the e30 with it in the car - while a depressing thought, it's not the end of the world - I suspect the e46 will be easier.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibrahimx2001 Posted October 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I watched the video below and thought forget that https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=V47Mx_We79U i have about 5 litres of the old oil in a bottle and was going to pour it in after the retapping was done with the drain plug off to try and flush out as much of the shavings as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Removing the sump on a six pot e46 is a mission. ibrahimx2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibrahimx2001 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 I've ordered a tap and die set now. Hopefully this will arrive soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 How'd this go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibrahimx2001 Posted November 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 I received it and basically drilled out the sump hole and used the re threading tool to make a new thread then fit a helli coil in. After that it was just a matter of flushing the sump with the old oil (I used another 1 litre of fresh oil just to make sure there was no more metal shavings in the sump) fit the new sump nut and finally filling with new oil Trevor, TriggerFish and R11CH 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 Nice job. Good save. ibrahimx2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
