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imageimageBlasted up the mountain for some spirited driving with @PaulEllis this afternoon -- PLENTY of twisties, and more than a few unguarded roadside cliffs of several hundred feet. It's like a Bolivian Poker Run!

 

"We've come this far -- let's not ruin it by thinking."  – Clint Eastwood

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  • image: The city. The man. The legend.  Paul Ellis, at the height of his powers.
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We had a great time. However, we pulled over on the shoulder of the road to examine the local bushes and when we pulled back onto the road, I bottomed out slightly. It felt like I scraped the middle of the car forward of the tranny. We continued our driving and enjoying the switchbacks until it was time to head home. About 10 miles or so later, and about a half mile from home, I exited the freeway and got caught by a traffic light. I sat there idling and then noticed a cloud of smoke coming from the back of my car. I opened the door and leaned out to look under. I could see an oil puddle spreading so I got out to see what the heck had happened. Of course I turned the car off first. I could actually see the oil draining from the sump in a stream. The drain plug seems to have fallen out just as I exited the freeway. There were a few large drops leading to where I was parked and then a big pool of oil. I didn't bother to search for the plug. With another guy's help we pushed the car to a Jack in the Box where I called my son to bring a jack, drain pug and oil. The threads were not damaged and the new plug went right in. I added the oil and fired her up. No issues at all. Seems I was really lucky to have rolled to a stop at just the right time.

I guess I rubbed the drain plug against a rock causing it to come loose. It hadn't been leaking a drop prior to that so I know it had been tight. There is no other evidence on the sump, no scrape marks etc. The plug was one of those after market ones that has a small head that hangs down lower than the stock ones that are pretty flat.

I sure did leave a mess on the road though.

Paul, I had the same thing happen on a back road to Cambria, went over a series of whoops (coasting, engine off) each time getting a little higher than the last, each time coming down a little lower than the last when: BAM, hit bottom on the drain-plug.

In my case, it just loosened it and me, who needs tools? Fortunatly, I coasted several yards (literally) to a driveway where a VW nut lives. He loanded me a crescent wrench, talked about cars for a bit and off we went.

When we got home, I purchased one of these: a Jaycee Mag Plate http://www.jayceevw.com/store/...ayCee_Mag-Plate.html

It ends up as low as the flat sump-plate drain-plug/bolt but the recessed allen-plug won't hit the ground unless you really grind off some aluminum. It also has a muy macho magnet to catch stuff the oil filter doesn't.

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  • mceclip0

One of our older members, Ricardo Baerga, lived in Puerto Rico (until he bailed for New Orleans, where he is an architect working on post Katrina stuff) and he bottomed out on a back road which took out his add-on sump.  Major no-no.  He saved the engine, but the recovery was a major PITA.  He went with a slightly slimmer profile replacement sump, but I don't know what happened with his Speedy - he went through a lot of personal issues after that and we haven't seen him on here in a while.

Very glad you caught it almost instantly and fixed it.   I swear - it's because you're driving around with "Crash McCloskey"!  

For those running deep sumps, worried about an incident such as what happened to @PaulEllis and looking for (a little) peace of mind- a later model VW drain plug (used on the Touareg, Passat, Phaeton, Polo, Santana and who knows what else) is a little lower profile and because of the round design not nearly as likely to catch on anything and undo. You could even bevel the outside edge a little bit for even less likelihood of trouble. Lower the strengthening edge around the outside (maybe leave in front of the cap nuts close to full height) for even less chance of catching. You haven't spent much money and (wait for it-) it's lighter too!

Touareg oil sump plug

 

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  • Touareg oil sump plug

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