Anybody ever used an O-ring on an oil pan plug?

[CalG]

Just a note on the topic


If you are qurious, put an o-ring on an assembly like a drain plug, and snug up the plug bolt.

leave the assembly set fro a day or two, and come back to it. Look very carefully at the o-ring, then loosen up the plug bolt. Again look very carefully at the o-ring. You might notice that the o-ring has taken a set that includes a BULGE caused by friction and compression. That means part of the o-ring is in tension, and another part is in compression. All the while, the whole o-ring is being compressed side to side.

Now consider the ORB. The very common O-Ring Boss seal. My Go to hydraulic fitting configuration. What makes an ORB seal work is the shape and volume of the cavity allocated for the o-ring.

It just WORKS, because it is made to work.

An o-ring sealed oil pan drain plug could be made to work as well, all it would take is a confinement washer the correct thickness and internal diameter. They are called "Supporting Washers" for those interested.

Sealing engineering is fun Static and dynamic. Leather is still the best! Go Chicago Rawhide!

 

[civilian]

On a Jeep Cherokee, 1985, with a Renualt (sp?) diesel, the oil drain plug utilized a copper oring. The ring was like a rubber oring in cross section, but the copper was hollow. So when you tightened the drain plug, the copper oring flattened to seal. A new copper oring was to be installed every time you drained oil. Jon