Ok please help this is my first post....

here is the problem:

Car: 2000 dodge caravan SE 2.4


My mom went out to get her oil change about 8 months ago and this time i decided to do it for her...I look up a replacement oil drain plug and its size was a 14mm so i used a 14mm socket on the plug and...OMG it stripped and it has kept on strippin I used a breaker bar with the craftsman easy out bolt set and all it did was keep on stripping...I asked around for advice and everyone basically told me best bet is to take off oil pan and replace oil pan gasket so you can get to the threads....Well this is my first time working on this car and i removed all the bolts off the pan but next to the pan seems to be a bracket with 15mm bolts attached to the transmission I am scared to remove these....is there anyone with maybe a walkthrough on how to remove the oil pan and replace gasket???....I am not a mechanic but I am not a idiot and have figured out alot of mechanical issues but this one is a nail bitter.....

please someone help me asap my mom is stuck and cant go nowere

 

Get the chilton repair manual. It will show you how to do it.

Some of the info and diagrams can be found at http://www.autozone.com do-it-youself section.

My van has the 3.3, so I'm not much help.

Not sure if I understand what's happened.
The head of the bolt stripped?
Or, the threads in the pan stripped?

If it's just the head of the bolt, a good pair of vice grips and a hammer. Be SURE you're turning the right way, lefty loosey.

If the thread are stripped in the pan, you'll need a new pan.

Good Luck,
PinCup

 

the head on the bolt is stripped i tried vise grips but nothing....but i heard it better to take off the pan and try to drill thru the bolt therefor removing the strength of inside that will cause it to come off very quick...

 

Weld a turkey (disposable) wrench to the old drain plug and turn it out. Or find someone stronger to clamp that vice grip on HARD after grinding two flats on opposite sides of the bolt head. Did you try real Irwin Vice grips, or the cheap dollar store/Craftsman vise grips?

 

I had a bolt round off on a belt tensioner of my jeep, in a small recessed hole with not much clearance around it, so I had emailed Iriwn to make check the meassurements of there extractor,

got one of these off of ebay
http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bol...-expansion-set


or you might need the basic set
http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bol...-grip-base-set


all I know is once puting this on, the bolt came out first try

could be worth a shot

 

dc002.4oilpan

 

Well I borrowed a set of Irwin vise grips from my job and that just kept stripping the head...it went from a 14 to maybe a 9mm lol....I also bought the irwin set with the extractors on it and it still did not want to come off...my last resort is removing the pan...but i already took off all the bolts but there is one behin some kind of structure?? I am afraid to remove it..any feedback on what that is? its attached to the transmission pan...

 

dont be afraid
you can remove the bracket out of your way