[How To] Sump Plug Repair TDCI - 2.0L QXBA DW10 140PS

[cobrin]

You’ve heard it from your mates/friends/family members, read it a few times on various Forums or perhaps even discovered it yourself on your first oil change that you’ve done yourself.


Someone or Workshop has cross threaded/stripped cracked the sump on the sump plug.


That was me a day after buying the Mondeo and driving it home some 1700kms. The allen head plug was somewhat worn to accept the correct allen key and worse still was tight all the way out. I replaced the plug yet it always felt wrong on fitting it and when it finally bottomed out it had that gut wrenching feeling like ‘AWE!!! it’s gonna strip free’ .


I tried teflon, fibrous, smart-o-seal washers and they all made it easier on the plug but in the end it never gave me any relief to my anxiety (as little as it were). So Jan 2020 (after I completed that service I ordered a repair kit. An M14x1.5 Helicoil kit. It arrived but I had to wait till the next service to get it done. That’s fine I’ll wait till then. That day was Sunday 11Oct.20 but it didn’t go to plan, far from it I made it worse.


The drill bit is too big for any typical consumer drill chuck. They typically take 13mm’s max. So I trundle off to Bunnings and get a a reduced shank 14mm drill bit. I start to drill and it’s a bit confined but it’s going well. I get near the end and instead of the drill bit cutting through it pulls the drill bit into the sump and kicks the drill off it’s perpendicular to where I’m holding it and ovals the hole….OMFG!!! cuss cuss cuss, I decide it’s sump off at that moment. It’s Sunday and the car won’t be going for the missus come Monday.


I had removed the sump and cleaned it completely. For an engine that’s done over a quarter of a million kilometres and serviced every 15K kms it were clean and no sludge or carbon build up that I thought I’d see. It didn’t take much effort to clean let alone product to clean it with. A paintbrush and SCA Shift-it degreaser diluted 1:3 is all it took. It’s caustic so wear PPE.


I have a coffee break and search local Engineering and Machining/Fab workshops and send out some emails. The next morning I get a reply from one (and to this day only one) so I take it in for them to try and strike an arc to see if the sump will take a weld. It’s not just an aluminium sump it’s got a decent amount of magnesium. Magnesium strengthens aluminium and also makes it lighter, but it doesn’t like to be welded as it melts to easily and blows holes in it.


Yay...it took a weld so it can be welded. I did have a backup plan and were going to go a larger plug if need be. I had it welded and machined and it looks like no one ever touched it. I go to fit the old plug and it stops and binds up two threads into it….I spring for a new plug and it’s all good, so happy. It was easy to remove this sump and I mean easy. The turbo charge pipe is all that needs to be removed (two hose clamps and one mount bolt), you can access everything and drop the sump without issue.


I seal it all up and give it 2.5hrs to cure, I’m using industry spec sealant and although 15mins would suffice I headed out for some fitness activity that took 2.5hrs a bit of time for me (I’m losing weight you see). I finish off the service and do a shakedown run and no leaks it’s all good, I’m happy it’s done after all this time and more so that the quality is how it is. That was Friday but I wasn’t going to give it back to the missus till Saturday to give the engine bay a clean down and put the lower engine cover back on.


But it doesn’t end there….


For now onto the repair.

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[cobrin]

Sump Plug Repair – How I did it…


Safety:
Jack up the front of the vehicle and use wheel chocks
PPE
Safety is your call.


Tooling:
Basic ¼” Dr socket set w/extension
Allen key
Ring spanner
Pry bar or large flat screwdriver
I use packing boxes to lay on and stop oil dripping onto the floor. (it’s comfy too)
Scraper or stanly knife blade


Consumables:
Rags
Brakeklren or Contact Cleaner
Brush
Degreaser


1. Drain the sump.


2. Remove the turbo charge pipe to the intercooler. One hose clamp one mount bolt as seen in the Pic marked with a yellow dot.




Mid way there is another mount bolt but this only needs to be loosened, the charge pipe is slotted so you can pull it down to remove.


Next is the hose clamp from the turbo charger. I couldn’t access the clamp marked in yellow because of it’s position but I did remove the other on the turbo end and removed the charge pipe with the hose on it. The pic shows where I positioned it when fitting it back. That clamp also clamps the hose so you can’t move the clamp around. You’ll see what I mean if you ever do this job. Now remove the Charge Pipe and push any hose end out of the way to clear the area.


3. Remove the AC Compressor lower mount bolt. Marked in Yellow remove this bolt, The spacer marked in Red leave it there, that comes out with the sump because there’s no room to remove it with the AC still firmly mounted above. I did remove it from the sump before taking it to the Engineering place. Less risk to break off or lose. Just remember to put it back on before fitting the sump.


4. Now you can freely access the allen bolts to remove the sump. Remove two standard bolts (marked in orange) that bolt to the sump to the transmission. There are four rubber plugs as marked in yellow remove those (pretend the charge pipe is removed). Deep inside there are 4 sump bolts.


5. Now it’s time to remove all the sump bolts. I simply used an allen key, and with my ring spanner from the two standard bolts from the last step I put it over the ‘Ll end of the allen key to gain leverage and cracked the bolt free. I continued on to loosen all the bolts before removing all but two to hold the sump in place. I used a pry bar to lightly separate the sump from the block (look for the provisions on the block and sump to separate the two) it doesn't need much force at all it separates easily and smoothly. Hold the sump and undo the two remaining bolts and manoeuvre the sump out and it’s off…
Note: There are only two bolts that are longer, all the others are the same size so it is easy when it comes time to refit the sump just remember their locations I’ve got a pic showing it later on.


I use a blade to scrape off the remaining old sealant and clean up the surface spaying Contact Cleaner and wiping it down with a rag. It dries instantly and cleans up well. I used a rag to blot the engine internals to stop oil dripping on me and the floor/cardboard. The oil pump cleaned up well with just a spray and a rag.


6. Here’s the sump, the face marked in Yellow (bolts to the trans. housing) doesn’t use sealant because of the bolts further up. Interestingly that’s the area where I get my oil stain at the rear of the engine that I keep cleaning every service interval. I reckon I’ll remove those plugs when cleaning that in the future.


Here’s the other side, the two yellow marks are where the two longest sump bolts go. Pretty easy to remember. You’ll see below that on the corner I’ve removed that AC spacer before it’s gone to the Engineers.


Okay and here’s the Finished repair, welded drilled and retapped M14x1.5. Looking good and a pic from the inside and new sump plug to complete the repair.


Whilst I’m in there I’m happy to check on the internals and I’ve seen plenty of CAT Komatsu Cummins Detroit engines and this one looks pretty good. I really do like what Nulon is doing over the last 150K kms that we’ve driven and good to see considering it’s at ~260K kms on it.
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[thebigd]

Great report mate !
As an industry rep that calls on Engine Rebuilders daily, I would be super happy with those internal pics. Looks pretty clean in there.
Cheers...

[NZ XR6]

I was lucky as my MB only suffered twice at the hands of Ford dealers. They still made such a mess of the hex that it looked more like a Torx!

It's best to remove the sump if you can, otherwise you will end up with bits of metal in the sump. I doubt they would ever do any harm, but best not to take the chance.

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