Old shop foreman told me to never use impact guns on oil drain plugs, learned why the hard way

I had this crusty old foreman named Frank at the shop in Phoenix where I started out. He always yelled at us rookies to hand torque every drain plug, said impacts would strip them out eventually. I figured he was just being paranoid, you know, set in his ways. So about 2 years ago I zipped one on a 2015 F-150 with my Milwaukee impact, just a little snug. Three months later the customer came back with oil pouring out everywhere, the plug had backed off and the pan was cracked. Frank just looked at me from across the bay and shook his head. Cost me $400 out of pocket for a new pan and a free oil change to make it right. Has anyone else had a shop rule they ignored that came back to bite them?

2 comments

2 Comments

tylerr391mo ago

Yep. Frank was right. Hand tighten only now, learned that lesson quick.

wesley831mo ago

Frank had this old saying about how impact guns on oil plugs were like using a sledgehammer on a watch... told me that same story about a cracked pan years before I ever touched a ratchet.