Greetings!

I recently had the engine oil and filter changed on my 2005 4.2L V8 S-Type. Due to the cold weather and snow conditions I elected to take it to my local mechanic in lieu of doing the change myself. This would be the first oil change since I purchased the vehicle so I have not yet had the experience myself. After reading recent postings on the general subject it appears that the drain plug has an "O" ring that should be replaced. Is this correct? Hopefully the mechanic did replace it - do they normally come with the oil filter?

After approximately 2 weeks I noticed a few drops of oil on my driveway. Naturally I will take it back and have them look at it but the question is.........

What is the torque spec for the drain plug? How tight should the oil filter be?

Thanks in advance,

 

Drain plug should be changed at every oil change - some people do this, some do not, it does not make much difference. Torque is 25 Nm for oil plug and 18 Nm for filter, but in reality both are just hand-tight.

 

+1 (but note that's kinda snug rather than very tight! - a leak is more likely from over-tightening for most people, I reckon)

If the O-ring is OK you can get away with not changing it if you don't over-tighten. I don't know how many times you could keep reusing it.

 

I have 123K miles on my 2005 STR and never changed the O ring on the drain plug. I have changed oil on hundreds of cars and have never torqued the drain plug.

I just find a snug is all that's needed.
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I am hoping it was not over-tightened and just needs to be snugged up but was curious as to factory specs. Of course without getting it up in the air and removing the belly pan [seems rather easy] the oil could be coming from other places. The only times I actually use a torque wrench on drain plugs and filters are when changing oil on my motorcycles.

 

Taking a look has to be worthwhile if you can do that.

It's worth getting used to how it all looks anyway

You might even see a little something that you can tweak to save a repair later.

 

I wouldn't trust some mechanic to change oil in my car.

 

Maybe you'd be out of work if everyone thought that?

 

I have found that most seeps are from the oil filter and not the drain plug. As you said get the car in the air and take a look.

Who knows maybe you do need to change the drain plug O-ring??
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