Slow Oil Leak

[Chootrain470]

I have been dealing with a very slow oil drip from my oil drain plug ever since my engine rebuild 2 years ago. A little info:
1. The case was swapped during the rebuild and the drain plug is now a M14 tapered bolt. I was definitely not please that they swapped my case without telling me first, but it is what it is.
2. There was no leak until I swapped the copper washer after a few oil changes. I suspect the bolt surface may be damaged?
3. The leak is slow. Not enough to lower my oil much in 4000miles, but enough to make a mess on everything.
4. I always torque to spec.

How should I move forward?

My tentative plan is to use a new drain plug and a washer with metal and rubber. I will also look at the mating surface and see if it has damage. I will be changing the oil on Saturday and am hoping I can fix this finally.

[DanHoug]

i'm a big fan of the 14mm nylon washers. seal way better than the copper or aluminum ones and at a lesser torque.

i've always done my own oil changes and am rilly careful about how the plug goes in and not overtightening. a few years back when i pulled my plug it had a janky feeling to it, not loosening like it should, and when i put it back in gave me that stomach-churning vague tighten that didn't really tighten. put a HeliCoil insitu and everything is fine. tightens up firm and confident.
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60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
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[Chootrain470]

[Wildthings]

If you actually have a tapered plug, you likely don't want to use a washer as the threads should do the sealing.

[zerotofifty]

The metal crush gaskets have a limited reuse life, after which they tend to leak. You can use a dab of FormaGasket brand thread sealer on the drain bolt and old gasket to help with a leak until new gasket is installed.
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[riceye]

I would make sure the plug threads actually are tapered. That, in itself, sounds weird. Standard plug is M14-1.5 thread. I had to install a Time-Set many years ago and was not happy that the plug in the engine (original?) was actually too short to engage all of the threads of the insert. I purchased a new plug (Dorman product, I think) complete with a magnet for less than $10. I did have to shave the shoulder below the hex a bit for it to fit into the recess of the case. I'm much more confident of the current setup than the original.

Also, copper washers can be annealed when changing the oil by heating up to glowing red and dousing in cold water. This softens the metal so that it may crush better. Myself? I'm using a plastic or nylon gasket. I have a bagful on hand, but if the one in use is clean and undamaged I reuse it.
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'87 Westy Weekender - daily driver on salt-free roads

There's gonna be some changes made.

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[kamzcab86]

My van required a drain repair and, thus, uses a non-standard plug (mechanic Dad was impatient, didn't want to wait for metric Time-Sert). Thanks to this, I use a nylon washer with a bit of Permatex sealant... oil change takes longer than normal (not a daily driver, so don't care), but no leaks.
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[Chootrain470]

Maybe I am using incorrect terminology. The plug that I have has a very slight taper and groves at the end. The rest is a consistent diameter.

Good news, I used a new washer and it hasn't leaked at all today so maybe all is well. The washers I used are metal with a rubber ring around the center.