454 Crusader XL Oil Drain Plug

[390Express]

The oil pans seem to be mirror image (same from one side to the other), with a small boss on both sides of the pan, near the bottom. These bosses seem to be where the factory installs the dipstick tube (both of my dipsticks are in the middle of the boat). Is the boss opposite the dipstick tube the drain plug? It has approximately a 1/8" allen head bolt in it, but it looks like there's some welding around it, or epoxy. I can't tell if the weld/epoxy extends to the bolt or not. It's also painted shut.

Didn't know if I could unscrew the allen head screw to drain anything that may be left after using an evac pump, or if the factory somehow seals that hole with an allen head and permanent thread sealer, or a tack weld.

[Viper]

Doesn't sound normal. Don't open up a can of worms, leave it alone. Getting the oil out through the dipstick tube is just fine, just warm up the engine before you evacuate the oil. That will put more solids in suspension and the higher temp will make it easier to extract. It's the way everyone in the industry does it unless the application has drain hoses attached to the bottom of the pan for manual or powered extraction with an oil change system.

[390Express]

Source of the post Doesn't sound normal. Don't open up a can of worms, leave it alone. Getting the oil out through the dipstick tube is just fine, just warm up the engine before you evacuate the oil. That will put more solids in suspension and the higher temp will make it easier to extract. It's the way everyone in the industry does it unless the application has drain hoses attached to the bottom of the pan for manual or powered extraction with an oil change system.

I'm kind of trying to avoid a bigger can of worms, from running whatever is in the bottom of my oil pan through the motors. Attached is a pic. I'd really like to try to take it off, and see if I can get anything else from the pan. If there's any water in the pan, it would have settled to the bottom, which is the primary reason I'd like to remove this plug. I may try to remove it with a regular allen wrench. If it comes off it comes off, shouldn't hurt anything. I won't be able to get much torque on it. If it feels like I have to reef on it, I'll leave it alone. I believe this is the port that people attach electronic extractors to, correct?

Pic

[Viper]

Yes, this is where you would hook up a permanent extractor system.

[waybomb]

That looks as if somebody welded the plug to the pan bung.

As for sucking oil out through the tube - all my Carvers were done using this method. And fwiw, my last Benz had 357,000 miles on her ( a gasser, not a diesel ) when I sold it, it's still running around and not smoking, and every oil change was with a manual topsider. And the FSS had me change the oil every 18,000-20,000 miles using Mobil1 gold cap (now a gold label). You will get everything out that needs to come out.

There is a lot of misleading marketing information out there that many take as fact.

[390Express]

The bung is attached to the pan with who knows what. The pan is aluminum and the plug is brass. I'm guessing the bung is brass also? Could be aluminum?

The plug came out easy with an 8mm allen socket, and went back in with no leaks. I plan on installing an oil draining system (a simple mechanical system with a shutoff valve and a cap when I'm not using it), but that will likely be a next year project. I'm finally getting close to at least having the bugs worked out from sitting for 2 years. I should be finally able to test which systems/components need replacing this weekend or next week.

Many thanks to all that have offered help!