Burton sump plug issue

[2cams70]

Whilst a recent topic has been about Burtons and the quality of their service may I share with you this. I recently purchased a couple of sump plugs listed as "Ford Genuine" on their website - Burtons part number FP654 - well take a look at the picture attached and decide for yourself whether or not they are genuine.

The tips of the threads aren't there and have been machined off!! No way would I risk putting these in my rare as hen's teeth Big Wing sump. Use of them is surely likely to end in tears with stripped threads in the sump. It wasn't just a one off because I bought two and they were both the same. Doesn't the supplier do quality checks? and furthermore doesn't Burton's do quality checks before accepting items into stock? In this particular case it's not as though the problem can only be identified by measurement, it's clearly visible to the naked eye!

On top of that imagine how pi**ed off you'd be if you'd paid 45GBP for shipment to Australia. Fortunately in this case I'd bought them prior to the Covid shipment price increases.

[el-saturn]

i hope they (the boss!) defend themselves here. mybe they could save some of the catalogue funds and use it for quality control - i´m also one of their clients and never saw anything as bad as those plugs - mine are mmade of brass and still perfect! sandy

[rgh0]

They look pretty much like the sump plug on my Elan which is original as far as I know including the the lack of thread on the end. The sump thread is in a welded in plate and is short so I presume the bolt was purposely designed like this for some reason.

so maybe not such a bad copy of the original ?

cheers
Rohan

[2cams70]

They look pretty much like the sump plug on my Elan which is original as far as I know including the the lack of thread on the end. The sump thread is in a welded in plate and is short so I presume the bolt was purposely designed like this for some reason.

so maybe not such a bad copy of the original ?

cheers
Rohan

Sorry Rohan. I think you may have misunderstood about what the problem with them is. Genuine sump plugs are supposed to look like what Burtons have on their own website as a picture of the original sump plug. These have good clean and well cut threads. I've seen plenty of original Ford sump plugs through the years. The threads on original Ford sump plugs never looked like the Burton plugs with the thread tips along the length of the thread machined off!! They look like they are already stripped!! Yes they are supposed to have a lack of thread at the end to aid centering during fitment . That part of them is correct.

[TBG]

2cams70.

I agree with you. Your sump plug looks as though it came from a scrap yard and a not very good one at that. It is nothing at all like the one I got from them. Chase it up with them and send them your photo. I am sure that they will make amends.

[rgh0]

Yes the lack of the tops of the threads I now notice is wrong in the photo. Have you checked the OD and thread depth versus what it should be ? Looks like the thread rolling was not set deep enough to form the threads properly?

cheers
Rohan

[2cams70]

2cams70.

I agree with you. Your sump plug looks as though it came from a scrap yard and a not very good one at that. It is nothing at all like the one I got from them. Chase it up with them and send them your photo. I am sure that they will make amends.

To be honest I really can't be bothered. Far safer to rummage through all my junk and find a secondhand original one.

Have you checked the OD and thread depth versus what it should be ? Looks like the thread rolling was not set deep enough to form the threads properly?

Again I really can't be bothered. I know it's not an original Ford sump plug as it was supposed to be according to Burtons description of it. I've seen plenty of Ford sump plugs and know what's original and what's not.

[david.g.chapman]

I agree the sump plug does not look right, and I would be wary of fitting it to my car.

IMHO it's worth giving Burton's a call and letting you know how you feel. That way they can hopefully do something about it. I have had excellent service from Burton's recently with ultra rapid delivery inside the UK, but they are not perfect!

Dave Chapman.

[MarkDa]

That's a genuinely rubbish plug.
I agree that you should complain and ask for replacement or preferable to them (no additional postage cost) your money back.
It's only one email - surely worth the effort?
You obviously wanted originality but I'd have been inclined to go with one their smarter looking magnetic plugs.

[snowyelan]

I'd let them know about the issue. We're not all as observant as you. It may save one of us the headache of using a plug from them and stripping the sump.

[elated]

It would not be fair to other would-be purchasers for you not to take it up with Burton.
Indeed, it would not be fair to Burton to criticise them yet not to alert them and give them the opportunity to set things right.
Your criticism is so obviously justified as to be self-proving and for Burton to question or contest it would be suicide.
When you get a replacement you may consider aralditing a small circular magnet to the bolt end.
Gordon

[MarkDa]

It's not much of a magnet if it needs sticking to steel!
However that's a cheap shot and inside the sump makes sense.

[2cams70]

That's a genuinely rubbish plug.
You obviously wanted originality but I'd have been inclined to go with one their smarter looking magnetic plugs.

I really think magnetic sump plugs are a waste of time. That's why you have an oil filter. Anything sized below what the filter can remove is not going to cause damage. Yet to see an engine saved by a magnetic sump plug!

Of far more critical importance is the quality of the air filter. I've seen engines excessively worn with grains of sand actually embedded in the cylinder walls caused by poor quality aftermarket air filters. That's where I'd be concentrating my resources if concerned about foreign particles in the engine.

Might make some sense in a gearbox where there is no proper filtration system but then again debatable as to it's usefulness. I've seen magnets used in automatic transmission sump pans by OEMs where the main filter is just a crude mesh.

[Andy8421]

Slightly off topic, but in the case of the original Mini, the gearbox ran in the engine sump and the magnetic sump plug would come out looking like a woolly mammoth covered in metal filings and the occasional chip off a gear tooth.

While this would have been caught by the filter, it would have had to go through the oil pump first, and I guess that BMC thought it worthwhile to pay up for a magnetic plug to avoid this happening.

[MarkDa]

Just how much magnetic material do we expect in our oil is a good question.
Shouldn't be much once run in?
A magnetic plug may act as early warning of something untoward happening.