HELP! My fiance's very kindly offered to do a basic service on my Palio. He's just battling to get the sump plug open!!! Apparently it's quite a common problem. ANY SUGEGSTIONS? Does the righty tighty lefty lucy rule apply no matter which angle you're taking it from? Sounds daft I know, but when you're battling for hours trying to turn a little plug, one's basic knowledge of physics comes into question!!! Will putting spraying some oil on it help, or will that just make the allan key slip? I could just take it off to a garage but he's got so far...! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

leverage,is he using a standard allan key/ratchet?
if so he needs to get a lever on it like what we term here as a breaker bar

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/18-x-1-2-FLEX...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item1e5ad8dea1

Has a standard allan key. Right size. Does have some sort of handle / attachment thingy. He's pretty strong so I'm not sure how much more force it needs!!!

nixpix said:

Has a standard allan key. Right size. Does have some sort of handle / attachment thingy. He's pretty strong so I'm not sure how much more force it needs!!!

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a standard allen key isnt going to cut it
trust me those bad boys can get in tight
a breaker bar with an allen socket will shift it
if you have an appropriate bar then you can use that to lever on the allen key
however be very careful of the bar slipping


if its seized you may want to soak it in plus gas (or the like) and leave it overnight before trying

Try Giving the plug a fairly light tap with a hammer. You dont want to go nuts the sump is only aluminium and will probably crack.