I've changed oil 5 times now in my new Oddy....have never
torqued the plug and never had a leak. I DO however change
the washer everytime.

Speaking of the drain plug....I've had a heck of a time threading
the drain plug and oil filter when putting them on. This is
the first honda that I've owned and never had a problem "finding"
the thread in my other cars. Honda seems to make cumbersome
fine threads. Or maybe I'm just cumbersome.


Anyhoo, I dont torque....I just get it on as snug as I can with
my socket wrench....

 

I dont torque either. 29 lft- bs is not much torque. What I do, since my wrench is app 8 in long, I try to apply as much pressure on the wrench as if i was lifting a 45 lbs sac of potatoes with one hand. 45 lbs x 8 in leverage / 12 in per ft = 30 lbs torque.

I read posts about the oil drain thread being sensible on Hondas: make sure you do change the washer also. You want the 0.50 washer to take the pressure not the 200$ oil pan.

 

I just tighten the plug until the washer starts to flatten and deform a bit, which to me means it has a tight seal. That's why I replace the washer every time.

 

I'm not a good judge at it so I use the torque wrench.

 

I don't change the washer or use a torque wrench... maybe years of tightening bolts (and breaking a few) has just allowed me to figure when to quit (tight enough, but not over-tight)... never had a leak. Afterall, it isn't pressurized, it's just sitting there.

On the filter, i put a magic marker line on the bottom and spin it on, after contact, tighten about 3/4 more..... note, i took the advice of another poster months back and took a dremel and cut out a piece of the splash guard so it is a straight shot to the filter...

Also, i pre-fill the filter so the engine gets oil faster when i re-start after changing... i use castrol syn-tec changed every 5k...

 

note, i took the advice of another poster months back and took a dremel and cut out a piece of the splash guard so it is a straight shot to the filter...

I took the advice of a different poster here and use a bungee cord to tie back the splash guard during the oil change.

 

No - never any problems.

 

Since I already own the torque wrenches, I always use them when I can find the torque values.

 

You have to change the washer. I also torque it as well.

 

No I don't torque, and I just flip the washer each time I change the oil.

 

It's like taking a bath then wearing the same clothes again. LOL.
Anyways, I'm changing the oil myself for the first time on a 2011 Odyssey EX-L using LiquiMoly products.
My mileage is 260k kilometers. How's your mileage guys?

 

Snug and 1/4 turn seems like too much. It depends on the quality of the threads. My drain plugs can be hand turned, and just some pressure seems to move no more than a few degrees. I never used new crush washers, but maybe they could be turned 90 degrees. I had a bicycle as a kid that kept loosening the front axle. After stripping a few axles to keep tight, I learned the easy hand feel of tight nut.