Our #tractor was dripping oil at one of the drain plugs. Since I have the luxury of draining the engine oil at two points and the other drain wasn't leaking I decided to permanently seal the dripping one. The thread had already been repaired once, and the internal thread in the cast aluminum showed a small crack. I asked ChatGPT several times what adhesive to use. I thought I had done everything right by using the two-component adhesive Loctite 3450, until I noticed the fine print on the tube: it is oil-resistant, but only seals up to 100 °C. ChatGPT had told me it was the perfect choice, stating it was heat-resistant up to 150 °C. The AI had only taken into account general information about Loctite adhesives, but not the specifications of this particular product.
It's better to be on the safe side and read the actual instructions. Don't believe everything AI tells you. In hindsight, Loctite 3475 would have been a better first choice, as it seals up to 125 °C. Still, I hope the 3450 will hold permanently, since temperatures on the outside of the housing only exceed 100 °C under extreme load.
I certainly took care to make the area as oil-free, clean, dry as possible and rough before gluing in the old screw, and I followed the mixing and curing instructions carefully. For now, there's no more dripping. The real test under high load and long running is still to come.

#TractorRepair #diy #DIYFix #Loctite #EngineOilLeak #AluminumThreadRepair #EpoxyAdhesive #ThreadSealing