Went to change the oil on my wife's 5.7 liter Hemi Jeep for the first time after purchasing it and the stealership tighten the drain plug so tight, that I couldn't get it to budge. For me, this is first time that this has ever happened. The first oil change usually is the hardest because the service tech usually uses an impact wrench and will over-tightened the drain plug and filter. I always just hand tighten the filter and barely torgue the plug, the plug was so tight that the head of the bolt was starting to get striped. I guess I will be taking it too my own mechanic, lot less hassle, to get the plug removed, I have already purchased a new plug for him to re-install.

Man, I hope I don't have this problem when I change the oil for the first time on the D.

UPDATE: Well I worked on the drain plug again yesterday for about 20 Mins. and some more today for about 30 Mins. But, finally broke it loose! I used vise grips and nearly rounded off the head of the drain plug with no luck, so I finally got a good grip on it, almost giving up at this point, and almost out of strength, I whacked the vise grips with a mallet and bingo! It broke loose. Here is a pic of the old one and the new one I replaced it with.

 

Make sure you use a 6 point wrench or socket, instead of a 12 point. That will give you better grip on the head of the bolt and less chance of stripping it. If it is already stripped to the point of being rounded off, there are sockets you can buy with a sort of spiral tapered corkscrew inside the socket that are purpose built for removing stripped out bolts. The harder you turn it, the more it bites into the bolt. Obviously you'll want to replace the drain plug once it's out after using these, as they will most likely damage the hex head further. And as a last resort, you can take a flat file and file down each of the 6 flats on the drain plug equally until you can get the next smaller size 6 point socket or wrench(standard or metric, whichever is the next closest size) on it tight enough to break it loose. Once it's close, you may have to hammer the socket or wrench onto it. Then break it loose and swap it out.

 

What you need is a 6 point socket, as mentioned above, and a ratchet with a nice amount of leverage, at least 10-12" handle on it. Home Depot carries a nice extendable one that I used religiously. Worked great for everything from brakes to spark plugs to oil changes. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#.UEmHeaTyZRw

Second thing, if you EVER, EVER EVER EVER EVER see a technician installing a drain plug with an impact wrench, or even an air ratchet, RUUUUUUUUN! No trust worthy mechanic does that!

For the filter, all you need is a filter wrench. Any place that sells oil and filters usually carries these. I prefer these kind:


And I also have this one for filters that are smaller (connects to a ratchet):

 

DJ, thanks for the tips. It was tough for me too to get it off, but after I found my 10" ratchet is was all good - and this was after the dealer did the first oil change for me. But since it's cheaper for me to put in my own synthetic oil, I'd rather do it myself.

 

Thanks guys! All great comments, btw- the drain plug costs $7.00 at the stealership

 

I use the K&N Gold filter on my vehicles and it has the nut welded to the top for torqing to the correct spec...no need for the oil filter wrench and attachments. I think the K&N part # is HP2004...dont quote me on that though.

 

Good idea...I may check this one out.

 

UPDATED: Check out my first post. TTT

 

Yeah, I used the K&N a few times. $13 for the filter though! I've been using the Mobile 1 filter for the past couple years though. Still just as expensive as the K&N though!