Appreciation post: the old timer who told me to stop using impact guns on oil drain plugs

I used to zing every drain plug on with my impact gun, thinking I was saving time. Then a retired mechanic named Jerry pulled me aside after I stripped a pan on a 2015 Honda Civic. He said, "Hand tight only, then a quarter turn with a wrench. That's it." I thought he was an old dinosaur stuck in his ways. After fighting my third stripped plug in a month, I finally gave his method a shot. It took me maybe 10 extra seconds per job, but I haven't had a single come back or complaint since. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit from over-relying on power tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

max4721mo ago

Man, I dunno, some people act like stripping a drain plug is the end of the world. Yeah it's annoying but it's not like it takes that long to fix with a rethreader kit.

matthewgonzalez1mo ago

Talked my buddy Dave into trying Jerry's method and he called me a week later laughing. Said he'd been zinging oil pans for 10 years and never thought twice about it. Now he swears by the hand tight plus quarter turn and says his wrists hurt way less at the end of the day.