Oil drain bolt washer.

diyer2 · May 8

It's a washer, if it isn't cracked, reuse it.

Chuck FB · May 8

I didn't feel like over thinking the drain plug sealing issues too much and over the years have had seal types on various engines that have worked for years on some while not good luck with others depending on the gasket material and how the pan to drain plug interface mates etc. So I bought a spare engine oil drain plug to have on hand as I don't believe that special rubber seal is even available on its own and carry the plug in the truck if/when I ever need it.

Like any plug gasket I inspect it each time to make sure the seal is not damaged before reusing, if I had washed it off I put some oil on the rubber just to make sure it can slide as its turning on the pan surface as it sucks up as I doubt a fragile rubber type gasket would like being installed dry.

Edited May 8 by Chuck FB

GAMark · May 9

Thank you all.

Grumpy Bear · May 9

Ever consider a Valvomax? I have these on every car/truck on the lot. Engine and Trans (those the have plugs or that I've added a plug to). They don't leak, can't get accidently opened or vibrate open. "O" ring dust cap. Not much longer than the head of the OEM bolt. Zero mess. I can drain all of them into a used 2.5 gallon DEF jug which fits neatly under them all when on 6" Rhino ramps. This one is on Dizzy. Peppers prevents the draining oil from splashing all over the anti-roll bar. . One on the trans allows precise measured volume withdrawal of fluid. None of them hang below the frame or even the poly lower covers. Not even in the Mirage's CVT. No way to knock one off. Just say'n... :driving:

Chuck FB · May 9

52 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

Ever consider a Valvomax? I have these on every car/truck on the lot. Engine and Trans (those the have plugs or that I've added a plug to). They don't leak, can't get accidently opened or vibrate open. "O" ring dust cap. Not much longer than the head of the OEM bolt. Zero mess. I can drain all of them into a used 2.5 gallon DEF jug which fits neatly under them all when on 6" Rhino ramps. This one is on Dizzy. Peppers prevents the draining oil from splashing all over the anti-roll bar. . One on the trans allows precise measured volume withdrawal of fluid. None of them hang below the frame or even the poly lower covers. Not even in the Mirage's CVT. No way to knock one off. Just say'n...

That looks much like the Femco concept and no doubt they "borrowed" the idea as Femco has been around for many years and are well known in the industrial world of heavy equipment and highway tractor parts suppliers and why I ended up with that particular brand to install on a couple of my Petes. I can see if I owned a Ford pickup with the side drain plug and as I have seen in videos as per them being a fricken mess to drain the oil on, I would have put a drain valve on in short order. I guess I've found the L8T to be so nicely set up for its drain plug and filter placement ( and that I can slide under the truck without it being on ramps ) that I haven't even thought about putting one on, the filling of the oil is where I was not happy about the setup with that angled port on the valve cover and bought that fancy funnel kit to solve that issue.

But back to the concept of a drain valve as long as its a reliable concept/brand and not in a spot where it could get smashed ( severe off road with some vehicle designs ), it totally changed what had been the most horrible engine oil draining experience on my highway tractors due to the factory plug design and facing out the side of the pan. The Femco brand anyway has more than one style of drain hose adapter and for my use on those Cat engines I chose the 90 degree elbow style and draining out 12 gallons of oil and using a drain pan that can't begin to hold that much and not wanting it full anyway to slide out and deal with, I can turn the 90 degree adapter hose up with it still attached to the drain adapter in the pan and that stops the flow as I slide out the pan and drain off the pan into five gallon pails as I repeat the process a few times to make it mostly no mess process. Before I had the Femco setup, holy crap was changing oil on those trucks not fun with my not having some fancy shop with a pit system and an oil drain setup with a pump to transfer the used oil, a process I was never looking forward to dealing with.

GAMark · May 12

On 5/5/2026 at 8:21 AM, newdude said:

I did not loose anything.

How can you assume that? OP never said that.

newdude · May 12

17 minutes ago, GAMark said:

If you do feel the want to replace that seal for oil changes, 12616850 is the seal, and not backordered as your dealer stated.

Chuck FB · May 12

2 hours ago, newdude said:

If you do feel the want to replace that seal for oil changes, 12616850 is the seal, and not backordered as your dealer stated.

This got me curious as it was over a year ago that I had grabbed some random parts I knew I wanted on hand for my truck and I knew there was some reason why I ended up with a drain plug/seal assembly rather than just the drain plug seal itself. So I called up my dealer and let them go through the motions of looking up my truck rather then blurt out any part number but before he even looked it up his comment was that "we don't normally stock that part for most vehicles" and then confirmed they never had it but could order it for me, three days it will be there and I will see if its that same part number then. So what they are doing by the actions of what they sold me a year ago, they sell the whole drain plug rather then stock the sealing rings, that may be a dealer by dealer scenario but that is what my dealer seems to be doing. I know they were doing that as well for the diff drain plug in pushing to sell the whole plug but they did have the sealing ring ( and insanely expensive for nothing ) in stock for that a year back.

This is in Canada mind you but it appears its an available part in the GM system so not on back order anyway.

Chuck FB · May 15

The engine drain plug seal came in today as he figured it would take three days. It is as Newdude stated, that part number I was handed and the list price is 7.51 and I get 10% off due to it being the dealer I bought the truck from so was 6.76 ( Canadian ) and not on backorder. I did ask the partsman if they normally just hand the mechanic a new drain plug and he said that is their practice at their dealership. Certainly different then it used to be years back for such an item that on some engines will deteriorate fairly often with few use cycles and would guess due to a different plug and seal design in thinking about engines 30 or more years ago.

I looked up a popular local independent parts dealer that handles a mix of GM genuine parts and various other manufacturers and their price is 10.19 and probably don't have them in stock either. Its almost as if some of these independent parts supplier stores have realized customers just assume its going to be more expensive at the dealer so they buy it there instead not realizing they are getting screwed on some parts.

OS RR · May 15

On 5/9/2026 at 10:31 AM, Grumpy Bear said:

Ever consider a Valvomax? I have these on every car/truck on the lot. Engine and Trans (those the have plugs or that I've added a plug to). They don't leak, can't get accidently opened or vibrate open. "O" ring dust cap. Not much longer than the head of the OEM bolt. Zero mess. I can drain all of them into a used 2.5 gallon DEF jug which fits neatly under them all when on 6" Rhino ramps. This one is on Dizzy. Peppers prevents the draining oil from splashing all over the anti-roll bar. . One on the trans allows precise measured volume withdrawal of fluid. None of them hang below the frame or even the poly lower covers. Not even in the Mirage's CVT. No way to knock one off. Just say'n...

https://www.valvomax.com/products/m12-1-75-quick-twist-valve-with-stainless-drain-tube-knob-1

This it? Does it work without their tube thing? (in case you lose it)

Edited May 15 by OS RR

Grumpy Bear · May 16

3 hours ago, OS RR said:

https://www.valvomax.com/products/m12-1-75-quick-twist-valve-with-stainless-drain-tube-knob-1

This it? Does it work without their tube thing? (in case you lose it)

Yes.

The tube is required. Screwing the tube on is what opens the valve. You can regulate the flow by how far it is screwed on.

MORSNO · May 16

18 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

I looked up a popular local independent parts dealer that handles a mix of GM genuine parts and various other manufacturers and their price is 10.19 and probably don't have them in stock either. Its almost as if some of these independent parts supplier stores have realized customers just assume its going to be more expensive at the dealer so they buy it there instead not realizing they are getting screwed on some parts.

I discovered this years ago. We all assume that the dealer is more expensive, but that is not always the case. I've been buying genuine GM (Delco) windshield wipers, because they last much longer, from the dealer for less $$ than cheap aftermarket ones at Walmart or parts stores. Same with air and oil filters, quality Delco Gold AGM batteries, and actually ordering tires from the dealer because they will price match on-line prices from places like Tire Rack. Be aware, dealers also sell off brand parts that are less than genuine GM, avoid those if you can. Also, dealers all have different price marks so shop around at various GM dealers and you'll see big price differences on the exact same parts.

Another JR · May 16

I have consistently gotten 7-8 years out of the batteries I have bought from the Chevy dealer parts department, and their prices are competitive if not better given the performance of the batteries.