escort oil pan

I need help on a 2001 ford escort, the oil plug is stripped and I would like to know how to remove the oil pan.

Even if stripped, you should be able to lock on to it with some vice grips and get it to turn... it shouldn't be THAT tight.
If you really need to drop the pan, you will have to get the car high enough to allow the pan to be removed. And am not certain of your model year, but on previous models all you would have to do is remove the crossmember underneath that is blocking it and then each of the pan bolts... then just be careful not to spill since it won't be empy ;)

Also, should vice grips not work... I'd sooner take a chisel or punch to it, tapping it in the direction that would turn it loose. It will just mess up the bolt more, but it is toast anyway. A few good whacks with the hammer in the right direction could break it loose. Those things can usually be turned with your fingers after the first half turn or so.

If the bolt is stripped and you have it out of the aluminum pan, you can get an oversize self-tapping bolt at the auto supply. Just take the original bolt with you to size the self-tapping one. Since the pan is made of aluminum Ford has inserted a steel coil into the casting that the bolt screws into. It is this steel coil spring that has stripped. You will have to remove this steel coil before you can put in an oversize self-tapping bolt. There is another way to go in which you won't have to replace the pan. At NAPA they sell a rubber plug that has a wing nut on the back of it. All you have to do is insert the spring loaded wing nut into the plug hole and tighten the rubber plug til it seals on the outside of the pan hole. I used this on mine when the plug got stripped. I have done 10 oil changes since then and it still seals tightly and doesn't leak. I, too, was going to replace the pan until I priced it. Couldn't believe what they wanted for a new pan at the dealer.

Hmm... that thought didn't even cross my mind.
What is stripped? The head of the bolt or the threads of the oil pan?

the whole head of the bolt is stripped, I can,t get a pair of vise gribs on the thing

You can't get the vice grips to lock on or you don't have room?
If you need room, get the front of the car up on jackstands and remove that crossmember.
Also... try the other method of using a chisel to cut a small notch into the head, hitting in the right direction to loosen the bolt. The impact should knock it loose. Once it begines to turn you should be able to get any pair of pliers on there and get it the rest of the way.

You should be able to get vice grips in there with a really tight hold and get it to budge.... unless you have really huge grips I guess...

no someone stripped the whole head of the plug, there is no place to get a pair of vise grips on the plug

Is there enough left of it to drill a hole through the plug from the bottom to the top? Then, maybe you could run a nail through the hole to get somethin' to grip on to. An "Easy out" extracter could be used if you have enough room to drill a hole into the center of the plug to put the easy out into. Like Mightymoose says you should be able to get a chisel or punch on part of it to work it loose unless it is stripped completely flush with the pan. It's not a big job to drop the pan.

1. Remove the catalytic converter.
2. Remove the two oil pan to transaxle bolts and remove the catalytic converter bracket to the
oil pan.
3. Remove the 10 oil pan bolts.
4. Remove the pan.
5. Clean gasket surfaces.
6. Apply silicone gasket sealer in an 1/8 inch bead at the oil pump to cylinder block joints and
the rear crankshaft oil seal retainer to cylinder block joints. Install the pan within 10
minutes after the sealer has been applied.
7. Install the oil pan gasket onto the oil pan.
8. Install the oil pan torquing the pan bolts to 15-22 ft./lbs. Start in the center and work
your way in a criss-cross fashion to the outside.
9. Install the coverter to oil pan bracket torquing to 30-40 ft./lbs.
10. Install the catalytic converter.

Any machine shop can get the oil plug out once the pan is off. Get a new plug at the auto
supply for a couple of bucks.

Have you tried one of these? The work well for mangled bolt heads, and could be useful in your situation.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&pid=00952162000&cat=Hand+Tools,+General+Purpose&subcat=Bolt-Out,+Taps+%26+Dies&vertical=TOOL&ihtoken=1

They sell different size sets of them. Not sure if there is one the right size for the oil pan plug though.