[V6-12v] Oil drain plugs

[Jamescarstuff at aol.com]

I guess what compels me to tighten it to that torque is that the workshop 
manual states that torque, and I assume they must have some reason for it 
(especially since the 4 and 5 cylinder Audi 80s of the same year are only 30Nm. I 
agree with you in principle, however, that it does seem tight for a plug that you 
wouldn't think had loads of pressure applied...

In a message dated 2/8/04 1:50:30 am, apowell at gocougs.wsu.edu writes:


> About the oil drain plug...
> 
> >The specified torque for the drain plug is 40 Nm (30 ft lb). It's
> >definitely beyond snug to me.
> 
> What IS it about oil drain plugs that seems to compel people to tighten them
> so hard?? This is a lot more than should be necessary to tighten a copper
> washer. And it seems like anyone who changes oil tries to apply 100 lbs/ft
> to the drain plug when re-installing.
> 
> All this part has to do is prevent leaks - and it's not holding against any
> pressure, just a gallon of oil sitting there.  I've never been able to
> figure out why this causes so many problems..