Strippted Front Diff Drain Plug Removal Tips (aka: what not to do)
- Thread starter weekendclimber
- Start date
mtbtim
Elite Member
That's how I got [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] drain plug loose. I stood with all my weight on a 2 ft breaker bar, but now I know better. Applying some heat is the way to go if it's fighting you.
i ran into the same situation on my 4runner, previous owner stripped the hex, tried the chisel method but that didn't work the first time, then i heated the case slightly with a torch and used the chisel again and that worked for me!
Just happened to us yesterday, used a torch and a punch an it came out with a few good taps. without heat it was not moving at all.
weekendclimber
New member
This isn't because of rust, but because the last time I had it drained and filled I had a shop do it. That was literally the last time I ever had a shop do anything to my truck (other than alignment). Because, as you can see from the pictures, they stripped the crap out of my diff drain plug with an impact.
This will be my final option if I can't get it off with either heat & chisel, welding an allen head socket to it, or drill and pound a ratchet extension in this weekend. I have to justify the purchase of the welder somehow to the little lady :yo:
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Snowden
New member
Tried once again this weekend to get this thing off with no luck
Also, my welding skills are below sub par, so I wasn't even able to get a nut to stick on there well enough to crank on it. Anyone have a suggestion for the settings on the HF 125AMP welder to get that nut secured on there? I tried it on low first with slow wire feed and then also on high with slow wire speed. I'm a total newb to welding and the little sticker didn't really have too much advice on this particular welding setup.
Going to try to :flamethrwoer2: the sucker this weekend and then hit it with a chisel again. If that doesn't work, then I'll use [MENTION=150857]Acorn22[/MENTION]'s method and see if I can't get a ratchet extension on there.
Not sure if you saw this thread on the same subject. Go to entry #39 and you'll see a picture of what we did with welding a sacrificial hex socket into the nut. I picked the socket up at Autozone for around $4.00. Tim is correct that heat does the trick but not everyone can be successful with a cold chisel and heat, or isn't exactly comfortable hammering that close to the transfer case. The nice thing is there are definitely options for everyone depending on comfort levels and skill sets, as well as how far along the removal attempt process one is and what became damaged in the process.
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Also, if you notice that the drain plug isn't budging and if the Hex is not stripped you can always just tap the drain plug with a hammer (not too hard, but don't be a wimp either) to break free whatever is causing the threads to seize, then use your Hex to break the drain plug loose.
Source: Done this plenty of times on (non-rusted) front diffs in the shop.
Bumbo
New member
LOL
Same thing happened to me... and with the lack of tools to deal with it, in a fit of rage I went to Toyota.
I told them DIY turned into OMG and they took care of it for $54 bucks with new parts included in the price and completed the gear oil change with my oil.
After dealing with my bruised ego I went home pretty happy, they did take care of me from a cost standpoint which was nice of them to do. I think my honesty of buggering up the thing in the first place bough me some mileage with the service writer.
Same thing happened to me... and with the lack of tools to deal with it, in a fit of rage I went to Toyota.
I told them DIY turned into OMG and they took care of it for $54 bucks with new parts included in the price and completed the gear oil change with my oil.
After dealing with my bruised ego I went home pretty happy, they did take care of me from a cost standpoint which was nice of them to do. I think my honesty of buggering up the thing in the first place bough me some mileage with the service writer.
mtbtim
Elite Member
LOL
Same thing happened to me... and with the lack of tools to deal with it, in a fit of rage I went to Toyota.
I told them DIY turned into OMG and they took care of it for $54 bucks with new parts included in the price and completed the gear oil change with my oil.
After dealing with my bruised ego I went home pretty happy, they did take care of me from a cost standpoint which was nice of them to do. I think my honesty of buggering up the thing in the first place bough me some mileage with the service writer.
My local dealer charged me $150 for the same job. Part of the reason why i started wrenching more.
Bumbo
New member
I got lucky with that one… That particular service adviser knows I wrench of my own truck too, but he did help me with the dash replacement only a week before that.
I love wrenching on my own cars... but it's a fight for time these days.
Ghostrider
Registered User
In all my years of doing stuff on cars this plug is at the top of the list of stupid design choices. The other diffs have normal plugs that a socket fits on. I cannot think of any good reason for this choice. I usually put the 4Runner up on ramps so I get leverage the breaker bar. I also used a torque wrench to set torque and anti sieze and the next time was always just as bad. Would really love to meet the "engineer" that spec'd this.
mtbtim
Elite Member
I could not agree more with you. And to top it off, the replacements you buy once you mangle one up is still the same design. Toyota has to know these plugs are a serious problem but I guess it's too much trouble to redesign the plug. A regular plug that a large socket could fit on would fix this issue. But for now, I just torch those f*ckers if they are fighting me. Heat makes a huge difference. When I put the drain plug and fill plug on, I use a very mild amount of force so I don't have to kill myself getting them off the next time I'm renewing my fluid.
thenightman
New member
I did what some have suggested, welded to it. But I welded a short m10 bolt to it, tapped it in the hole, welded around. Even then it took a lot of effort to break it free. The only thing I did different then the others was use a bolt. This way you can use a wrench, or regular socket to break it free. Or loosen it. I put mine back in, welded on bolt and all. To my mind, I improved the system. I want it to be able to get it out next time too.
Drcoffee
Senior Member
What works for me is HEAT. I could feel the hex socket start to strip out so, so I tried the chissel on the edgde and still no movement.
Finally I used my plumbers propane torch to heat the drain plug until it smoked. Then with a hex key in my ratchet wrench, it broke free. Dont make it cherry red, heat it just until its hot enough to smoke. Heat breaks the bond between dissimilar metals at the seat, ie. the steel plug and aluminum washer. The diff pumpkni is a heat sink so the heat on the threads wont get hot enough to set the diff oil on fire so dont freak out.
Finally I used my plumbers propane torch to heat the drain plug until it smoked. Then with a hex key in my ratchet wrench, it broke free. Dont make it cherry red, heat it just until its hot enough to smoke. Heat breaks the bond between dissimilar metals at the seat, ie. the steel plug and aluminum washer. The diff pumpkni is a heat sink so the heat on the threads wont get hot enough to set the diff oil on fire so dont freak out.
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weekendclimber
New member
:dammit: As previously stated, I suck at welding. Couldn't get this thing to stick to the plug, though it seems that it is welding to the hex socket just fine. The heat from welding didn't seem to help it budge neither, nor did giving it some whacks to try and loosen it up. Next try I'm going to try the hex extractors that [MENTION=44978]kball[/MENTION] mentioned.
weekendclimber
New member
Got this kit from Amazon for $40 that has the full assortment of extractors from 1/8" to 7/8":
Initially, I was going to try to drill out the drain plug some more and tap in the 15/32" sized extractor, but I can't fit that sized drill bit in my 3/8" drill. Need a 1/2" chuck drill in the future. I was able to tap the 7/16" sized extractor into the stripped out hole just fine, though I was worried it would just spin. It went in okay and seemed to bite:
Started cranking on it and was afraid I was going to break the extractor. The previous one I used snapped in two, as you can see from the original post. After trying a breaker bar, and then my long extendable rachet, there was a pop!!
:banana: :reddance:
arty:I'm glad to have finally gotten this stupid plug out of there, as there was a bunch of fine metal all over the magnet. Time to regear :biggrin2:
Thank you everyone for all the tips!! Ultimately, the whole issue could have been prevented if the place I had previously had the diff drained and refilled at had used the copper drain washer. That last picture is how it came out of the diff; NO WASHER WTF!!!
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weekendclimber
New member
So, after all this trouble getting the old stripped out drain plug and putting a new one in, torquing it to the proper 48 ft/lbs, and using the copper washer and all; Went to drain the front diff again last weekend and it was stuck again. Once again it was stuck enough that it ended up getting stripped again to where only the Irwin extractor would get the thing out (loves those extractors though!).
So, put another drain plug on order at the local Toyota dealership, but it got me wondering: is there a better solution that I'm missing here? I've read in a couple different spots now that have said the drain plug part number was updated so it now has a 12mm hex on it versus the original 10mm. The one I replaced it with was 10mm, though I got that off of Amazon. Hoping the dealership has one of these supposed upgraded drain plugs with the larger hex.
Grrrrrrr
So, put another drain plug on order at the local Toyota dealership, but it got me wondering: is there a better solution that I'm missing here? I've read in a couple different spots now that have said the drain plug part number was updated so it now has a 12mm hex on it versus the original 10mm. The one I replaced it with was 10mm, though I got that off of Amazon. Hoping the dealership has one of these supposed upgraded drain plugs with the larger hex.
Grrrrrrr
