I'm sure that I caught sight of a roughly the same issue that someone reported in this section, the car was a Golf, but I can't find it now.
Anyway, the car is an August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, and so it has an alloy sump pan and a steel drain plug and separate folded alloy sealing washer.
At its last service a year ago, the sump plug felt a bit "stiff" but only after being unscrewed approx a 1/3 of its thread engagement, then it kept feeling a bit stiff for about teh next 1/3 and then eased off for the final 1/3 of its thread engagement - what I'm meaning is that after it has been "slackened off" I can't now unscrew it fully using my fingers.
Apart from the first 2 or 3 services, I have been the only person servicing that car and always used a torque wrench and a new sealing washer - the folded alloy type as fitted at factory.
I have always swopped over the drain plugs at oil change time, I bought a second plug for both our cars really just in case I drop the "old" one in the oil basin, and having a spare one means that I can retrieve the old one if I drop it, after decanting the old oil into an empty oil container, and so not right away so that I can refill the sump.
The only thing that I can think has caused this that I am reusing previously used steel drain plugs and the "pacification" coating is wearing off - although it doesn't look like it. I've bought a new steel drain plug for next year's service and run a tap down that hole to clean the thread up before fitting back in a used drain plug - but obviously I can't end up doing this every few years or the threaded hole in the alloy sump will end up loosing too much material. When I inserted the tap, it did seem to be cutting as it went quite far in, as if the threaded hole had not been fully tapped right through the full thickness of the sump casting - I didn't expect that, only I did expect that it would cut the alloy slightly at the point where the drain plug was catching slightly, but not further in.
Our last 2 cars, a 2000 VW Passat 4Motion and a 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16V, both had alloy sumps and the older bolt/retained washer - which I maybe reused once of twice then replaced - but over a period of 13 years neither of these car's alloy sumps ended up with any issues with the threaded hole in the alloy sumps.
Has anyone else had this happen to their VW Group cars with alloy sumps and a steel drain plug?
Anyway, the car is an August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, and so it has an alloy sump pan and a steel drain plug and separate folded alloy sealing washer.
At its last service a year ago, the sump plug felt a bit "stiff" but only after being unscrewed approx a 1/3 of its thread engagement, then it kept feeling a bit stiff for about teh next 1/3 and then eased off for the final 1/3 of its thread engagement - what I'm meaning is that after it has been "slackened off" I can't now unscrew it fully using my fingers.
Apart from the first 2 or 3 services, I have been the only person servicing that car and always used a torque wrench and a new sealing washer - the folded alloy type as fitted at factory.
I have always swopped over the drain plugs at oil change time, I bought a second plug for both our cars really just in case I drop the "old" one in the oil basin, and having a spare one means that I can retrieve the old one if I drop it, after decanting the old oil into an empty oil container, and so not right away so that I can refill the sump.
The only thing that I can think has caused this that I am reusing previously used steel drain plugs and the "pacification" coating is wearing off - although it doesn't look like it. I've bought a new steel drain plug for next year's service and run a tap down that hole to clean the thread up before fitting back in a used drain plug - but obviously I can't end up doing this every few years or the threaded hole in the alloy sump will end up loosing too much material. When I inserted the tap, it did seem to be cutting as it went quite far in, as if the threaded hole had not been fully tapped right through the full thickness of the sump casting - I didn't expect that, only I did expect that it would cut the alloy slightly at the point where the drain plug was catching slightly, but not further in.
Our last 2 cars, a 2000 VW Passat 4Motion and a 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16V, both had alloy sumps and the older bolt/retained washer - which I maybe reused once of twice then replaced - but over a period of 13 years neither of these car's alloy sumps ended up with any issues with the threaded hole in the alloy sumps.
Has anyone else had this happen to their VW Group cars with alloy sumps and a steel drain plug?
