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2005 beetle oil drain plug question

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Jeff2 
#1 ·
Hello

my daughter recently bought a 2005 Beetle with very low mileage. I will be doing all the oil changes and general maintenance on the vehicle going forward. Is the crush washer replaceable on the oil drain plug? Or is it an integrated crush washer which is part of the plug? The reason I ask is because I have a 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. The crush washer cannot be removed. So you have to replace the entire oil drain plug with each oil change.

On her 2005 beetle I believe it is a 14 mm crush washer. Is that correct?
Also how easy or difficult is it to actually access the drain plug and the oil filter?

i’m not sure how much stuff I have to remove to be able to access these items.
i’m doing the work Saturday morning.

Thanks for any helpful tips or advice
 
#2 ·
If the upper engine cover is still there you may have to remove that the oil filter housing is right in front on top. Again if the useless plastic bottom dust cover is still attached you’ll have to remove that also. The plug is easy to find. As far as replacing I use a bit of rtv around the bolt just below the head where the washer is. Never even thought about replacing them. You don’t want massive amounts of rtv floating around in your oil pan clogging the oil pickup so don’t go overboard if you decide to go that route.

DO NOT overtighten the drain bolt or it will strip the pan threads out and you will be replacing an oil pan or using an oversized plug of some kind.

Did she get a tdi also? 5 spd stick? My daughter has an 01 tdi beetle with the 5 spd.
 
#4 ·
I found the washer to be "not removable"; on my 2002 new beetle turbo s and so, it would seem, that it would require a replacement. I found my drain plug, to be in good shape, the threads in good condition, as well as the faster head, fine... So, at the time, I didin't feel like replacing it, spending more money, for seemingly no reason and so I went about cutting off the retained original crush washer and added a new one. I haven't had any issues since then and the original drain plugs works fine and I have no leaks, I change the crush washer, from time to time or just sand it down, to flatten it out, remove any grooves, that might cause a leak, I see no reason to replace, unless it is not in usable and leak free condition.
 
#6 ·
My '99 2.0 Beetle and my '03 1.8T GTI had/have removable copper crush washers.

And yes, the skid plate will need to come off. You can get to the drain with it on, but the filter isn't accessible without taking it off.
 
#7 ·
I swear our 2.0 automatic New Beetle Convertible has removable crush washers because I bought a 10 pack of them right after we bought the car. If the old one has been crushed a lot, you might need tools to get the old one off (e.g. pliers).
 
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