Galley Plugs, Which ones? Options

[Chad911sc]

While I have my engine out to fix my crank, wanted to do all the things I didn’t do the first time. I want to make sure I do all the galley plugs that are necessary to prevent one popping out and losing my oil pressure. Several posts on this forum say just to do the five, and some other forums say, to do many more. I got the main five out, and they were really in there! It took many pulls on the slide hammer to remove them. Surprisingly enough, my galley’s were spotless! In the bottom 2 pictures, my question is, do I need to remove these smaller ones up by the oil cooler? And also, what about this big one to the bottom right of the oil pump housing? Do these need to be removed and tapped as well?

[Superhawk996]

While I have my engine out to fix my crank, wanted to do all the things I didn’t do the first time. I want to make sure I do all the galley plugs that are necessary to prevent one popping out and losing my oil pressure.

Ah yes the old mythology of oil pressure blowing out galley plugs.

Unless you are running crazy oil pressures it just isn’t going to happen. Suspect now that you’ve seen how much effort it takes to remove a plug you see why this is the case.

Personally, I agree with pulling them to clean oil galleys. Somehow you’ve gotten lucky and don’t seem to have gunk in yours. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif) You alone need to assess how much risk you’re willing to take in opening up (or not) the other galleys. I make that decision based on the engine and/or what I know about the engine history.

Well now that you’ve got them pulled you’re opening up a whole other debate of what to replace them with. Steel, brass, or aluminum.

I don’t think I have the willpower to rehash that debate. I personally use aluminum for the same reason the OEM did. Same exact thermal expansion characteristics that prevent leaks.

If you pull all the plugs be prepared for some weird setups on a drill press or mill to get all of the galleys drilled and tapped properly. The more that are drilled and tapped hy hand, the more you risk leaks.