[Shop-talk] Oil plugs, WHY?

[Mark Andy]

Howdy,

Re: controlling the flow of oil...

I have something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Discharging-Motorcycles-Automobiles-Equipment/dp/B08PFVR7CS/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=oil+catch+director&qid=1609770211&sr=8-9

Basically it's a formable sheet that you can bend into whatever shape, that
you can set on crossmembers or whatever that would otherwise get soaked in
oil.

The one I have works reasonably well for directing oil flow.  Not sure how
the one I linked to performs (I got mine probably 20 years ago), but it
looks like the same thing?

Mark

On Mon, Jan 4, 2021 at 9:22 AM Brian Kemp <bk13 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> I think they are horizontal for extra protection against ground impact.
> If they stuck out the bottom and you went off road or drove over a concrete
> stop in a parking lot, an oil drain plug could take a direct impact and
> perhaps have greater damage than hitting a frame rail or suspension bit.
>
> I share your frustration with the oil filter location from my Honda
> Odyssey.  Changing the filter caused oil to come down directly on the frame
> rail.  My solution was to take a foot square of alluminum foil and make my
> own deflection device to catch all the oil and direct it to the drain pan.
>
> Brian
>
> On 1/4/2021 5:14 AM, eric at megageek.com wrote:
>
> OK, this is half vent and half "can someone explain why the heck do they
> do this to us?"
>
> I notice that just about EVERY modern's car drain plug drains horizontally
> and not vertically (where the plug come straight down from the bottom of
> the oil pan.)  This make's oil changes SO much harder and messier.
>
> Then, I've even seen (2018 Ford F150) where it has a frame rail right in
> front of the oil hole and it splashes the nearly 2 GALLONS of oil
> everywhere.  Then, the oil filter has a 'slide' under it to redirect the
> oil to the front of the frame, which is nice, EXCEPT that it doesn't go all
> the way back to under the oil filter!  This means that some oil drips under
> the oil filter while more drips in front of the frame rail about 2 feet
> away (meaning no single oil pan can catch both.)  I'm seeing this in more
> and more cars that have stupid oil drains.
>
> Now I get that engines are sometime designed in a vacuum and the frame
> builders don't care what is in the way, but it just seems that for optimal
> oil changes, a plug should be at the bottom of the pan.  With all the
> environmental concerns, I would also imagine that any way to prevent oil
> spills and splashes would be ideal.
>
> Can anyone explain this?  Or is it just a case of designers really HATE
> mechanics?
>
>
> "Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational
> being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph
> Waldo Emerson
> -Who is John Galt?
>
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