Here is the story:

Wife has always taken in her car to the dealer for service....she took it in recently for an oil change and to have them investigate a clunking noise in the front drivers side when coming to a stop.

The dealership called to say that the oil pan threads were stripped and that to replace the pan would be 500.00+
They also stated that due to the car having 100k miles and having the oil changed every 3-4k, that is was only inevitable that the threads would wear out.

I told them my Chevy truck was a year older and that I have always changed the oil myself...and have yet to run into an oil pan thread failure...and that I had never heard of this unless you crossthreaded or overtightened the oil pan bolt.

Has any Pac owner run into this problem?
I think THEY damaged my pan.....they are the only ones that have changed the oil since day 1.
I have records to show that throughout the life of the vehicle, this Dealership has been the only shop to service her.

Im scheduled to talk to the Service Manager on Monday, July 26, to find out if THEY are going to replace my pan at their cost.

Im asking the PAC family here to tell me if this can actually be what they claim.....or if Im right to assume that the oil pan bolt was damaged by them.

When I change the oil on my Chevy truck, I also change the washer...when I asked about the washer for the PAC, they said that the Chrysler oil pan bolt had a built in washer.
Are they suppose to replace this bolt/washer combo at every oil change....or is it good for the life of the car?

In regards to the clunking noise, it is still a mystery....once the oil pan issue has been resolved...I plan on taking the mechanic for a spin to show him what Im talking about....he stated that he heard it, but is not sure what is the cause.
He ruled out the motor mounts(recently replaced) and brakes.
I dont think its the tranny....it is audible when coming to a stop, more so when you come to a COMPLETE stop.

Could it be a front suspension issue, Im kinda leaning toward a bad strut?

 

as a professional mechanic, I would presume that it was the mechanics fault. My pacifica has ~97k miles on it and the oil pan bolt & threads are fine. it doesn't seem logical that chrysler would use an oil pan that would need replacing after 100k miles of oil changes. so yeah, most likely it was the service departments fault.

as for bolt replacement...that is an 'on condition' item and usually will last many oil changes before the rubber seal/gasket wears out and begins to leak (assuming that it is not overtightened).

 

Stripped threads are commonly caused by not inserting bolts at a correct angle and/or over torqueing.

 

Thanks guys for the info...I didn't buy their excuse that it was normal for the oil pan threads to wear after numerous oil changes.
24 hrs. until I meet with the Service Manager about REPLACING my oil pan and NOT fixing it with a helicoil...at their cost.
Wish me luck.

 

Well, just got off the phone with the Service Manager....and he is stating the same reason that the Service Tech gave me.
They sound like they wont replace the oil pan....but offered and oversized bolt replacement.
The FIGHT is on.
I may have to get a fix for now until I can pursue this further....wife needs her car for work.
Im steering away from the oversized bolt....and considering a helicoil installation.
Is there ANY info out on the "net" that shows that over numerous oil changes, the combination of steel oil pan bolt and aluminum oil pan will result in a common failure??

This Manager with his vast 15 year experience states that it happens.

What HE doesnt get is that HIS dealership is the only people that have touched this bolt/pan since day one....and that I find fault with his mechanics.

 

Keep up the fight. There is NO reason the bolt should strip outside of the fact that they either cross threaded it or overtightened it. I've seen so called mechanics use impact guns to start a bolt or nut instead of the correct way which is start it by hand for a few turns first. BUT there is NO reason to use an impact gun on a oil drain bolt except for laziness.

 

Honestly, I would prefer to use the oversized on the oil pan drain. I deal with helicoil inserts occassionally and trust them in certain circumstances (actually some of our aluminum parts are manufactured with helicoils inserted), but I think that the regular R&I of the drain pan bolt would risk damaging/pulling out the insert.

I work on corporate jets and the vast majority of our parts are aluminum secured with steel bolts. Very seldom do we have a steel fastener wear out/damage the threads in an aluminum component simply from removing and installing. Usually it is from a technician over-tightening or misaligning/stripping the threads.
Ocassionally we have an issue with seized bolts that will break or strip the threads in the aluminum component. But that usually only occurs with components that are NOT routinely removed and in an arear that may see water moisture causing the corrsion. But this seldom happens in an area that has oil, similar to the oil pan drain threads.

 

Update:

I met with the General Manager, explained my case to him and of course he stuck by the aluminum pan/ steel bolt excuse...and this coming from a "muscle car" builder.
He, along with his service crew cant seem to understand that my complaint is that THEY worked on the car from day one, and that the damage was done by them.

He looked over the total cost on the invoice of 853.00 and said the best he can do is 382.00(cost of the oil pan)....he would eat the rest.
Reluctantly, we agreed so that we could 1. get our car back, 2. not **** him off and him charge us 853.00.

Prior to meeting him, I filed a complaint with our local news channel, they have a "Call 3 for help" segment that helps people get a resolution to their problem by making it public.
Also, I got the help of a former neighbor who used to work for California Consumer Affairs(auto repair).
I spoke to a contact they provided and the gentleman is eager to file a case against the dealership.

I think in this case that because ALL the oil changes were done by the dealership, they should have no excuse for the damage.