need help! cant break loose tranny drain plugs!!

[HyperTek]

Yah I cant break em loose.. almost stripping the plug.. any ideas? Possibly use a penetrating lubricant? Yes we let the tranny cool down and its not budging.. Please help!

[thx247]

ugh if you strip the plug I dunno....Use a properly fitted tool and just get some leverage on them. Usually I use a 3ft bar and that seems to be enough torque to get them off.

[TheSnail]

'Liquid Wrench' is the shit!

[TheSnail]

If worst comes to worst and it strips, take out the driveshaft, jack the front up and let all the fluid drain out, then put the drive shaft back on, then take out the shifter and put in the new fluid from there. That should take 1-1.5 hrs max. if you cant get it off, with "liquid wrench".

[TheSnail]

Also a tip on taking out the plug or rear bottom strut bolts, tc rod ex..., get a breaker bar ( doesnt have to be long) set it in the plug, and have the bar at a -30 , -45 deg angle and put a hydolic jack under the handle and start jacking away, no bolt can hold up to 3 tons of force. I came up with this, when trying to take off a siesed rear strut bolt, and I have been using this method when ever I can. It has never failed me, and Im sure it wont fail you.

[migo]

have you tried tapping it with a hammer? if so, tap HARDER!


it's been a while since i've been under mine, is it a 3/4" square plug? the kind you put a ratchet into? if so, put an extension into it (one you don't really care about because you could mushroom it) and tap it w/the hammer.
or when you've got your wrench on it, tap the wrench w/the hammer. the short sharp blows work like a really S____L____O____W impact wrench.

hope this helps.

[mixxamike]

hey, i'm right there with you...I just changed my tranny fluid and it was a BEAR to get out. I put a wrench on the end of my ratchet tool and i pushed sooo hard on it that the crescent end of the wrench broke the skin on the palm of my hand. Use liquid wrench and push HARDER. Good luck.

[nightwalker]

get it on a lift. Then use a good tool (craftsman, snap-on, mac) Also use a bar that will slip over the wrench to extend it (breaker bar)

[citizen]

actually we tried the a jack on a breaker bar trying to get my friends 240 and it didn't budge, go figure

[TheSnail]

actually we tried the a jack on a breaker bar trying to get my friends 240 and it didn't budge, go figure


What it lifted the car?

[mistaanime]

spray wd40 on it and let it rest..then try again

[citizen]

yeah it pretty much lifted the car up

[formeRiceR]

I thought mine was stuck too but we got a 3 ft breaker bar and it came off with some persuasion...

[andrave]

I have found that breaker bars plus 1/2" drive sockets and a hydraulic jack is a good way to break sockets.
hammer usually works.
what I've found is amazing:
a real impact gun.
My brother has a snap on with 600 lbs of whatever.. its basically one of the most expensive they sell. It will either rip your arms off or get the bolt off.

[tak-]

I would use some penetrating oil on it, then try to tighten it up / losen it. maybe start it, let it get warm, and tighten/lose it, heat can do wonders sometimes, even if working backwards.

Dont break that shit off! remember to tighten it up after you get it loose, keep working back and forth or you will fuck something up

[HyperTek]

Wow thanks guys! All these replies, if I woulda read this before I continued, I probably wouldnt have stripped the bolt... lol. Yah I was using a 3ft breaker bar... didnt work, so I went ghetto and grabbed a rachet and put a socket on the breaker bar and stuck the rachet handle in it to extend it and still no go... My friend suggested getting a bolt extracter and replacing the plug, think that would work? I know that once the bolt breaks, oil will leak all over me and the drill etc. Otherwise I might just do what TheSnail said, how hard is removing the driveshaft? And how many quarts exactly does it take to fill the tranny? Im just dropping Redline MT90 to help with the gear mesh since Ill be drifting this satarday, I got an SR imma be swapping in a few months anyways so this tranny I dont care much about.

[TheSnail]

Its easy, Its two bolts holding the middle of the drive shaft up and four small bolts and nuts attatching the driveshaft to the diff. Take those off and you pull out the driveshaft. It just slids right out. A tip on takeing off the four drive to diff bolts, use the e-brake to lock up the drive shaft so it doesnt turn as you take take twwo of the bolts off, then release the ebrake and turn the drive shaft 180 deg, then ebrakeit again. So now you can get the other teo bolts with out turning. I might of confused you, but you will see what I meen when you try taking it off. It takes10min to take it off. I belive the two big bolts are 17's and the four little ones are 12's. You'll need two 12 wrenches, one to hold and one to turn. And I belive you will need 2.75 quarts of tranny fluid.

[andrave]

e brake? I just jammed a big screw driver through the DS and let it lock it in place against the floor board so it didn't move. works just as well, and you can just take it out and rotate the DS from under the car so you don't have to get up, loosen ebrake, go back, turn DS, then get back up and tighten e brake.

[TheSnail]

Yeah, that would be the best way. I always would nor put it in gear or ebrake, but andrave's way is the best so far.

[pr240sx]

For easier oil drain, remove the speed sensor. One 10mm bolt and pull.

If you manage to remove the oil plug, use some sort of antiseize on the threads and dont tighten it too much.
For removal, warming up the tranny, driving a couple of miles or even a propane torch will help.
Breaker bar and jack combination or even best the impact gun.
If the plug is way stripped, use some metal strips to "refill" the gap between the breaker bar and the stripped plug

[drift into a curb]

PB Blaster
http://www.pbblaster.com/store/images/PBCatalyst.gif

[radhaz]

If worse comes to worse, you could always take the car to a local shop to do it for a nominal fee.

[HyperTek]

ugh i just removed the drive shaft and lifted the front the most I could.. got alot of fluid out, but not too sure I got it all out? Seing how the driveshaft wasnt the lowest part of the tranny.. Well im about to pour in some MT90, should I be worred about that lil bit that might still be in there?

[TheSnail]

It will be fine, but If you still think theres more fluid left, you can take off the tranny mount, and push down on the tranny.

[HyperTek]

ugh freaking Snap ring!! How the hell do you remove em?

[TheSnail]

C-ring for the shifter?, nore you use two long nails, or get the tool for 5$.

[mjjstang]

crap, just if they made some sort of pliers for removing snap rings. oh wait I may have just invented a tool,Ill call em snap ring pliers.

[Dream240]

ugh freaking Snap ring!! How the hell do you remove em?

When you say you stripped it out you mean the square hole is now a circlt right? Here's what you can try. get a medium flat file, and start filing the edges that go rounded. try to make it a square again as best you can. Then once you go that, GO TO A SHOP and get them to break it loose with an impact gun. It'll take 10 seconds, I guarantee it. Just ask them to break it loose, but don't drain the fluid. Have them retighten it jsut enough so it won't come out. Then limp you car home and do the work. Or you could just have them change the fluid while your there. Maybe 20 bucks? Well worth the hassle IMO, than pulling the drivehsaft and all that crap.

Good luck.

[TheSnail]

and start filing the edges that go rounded. try to make it a square again.


Good god man! Do you know how long that would take? How about you try it and in about a week, tell us how that worked.

[Dream240]

Good god man! Do you know how long that would take? How about you try it and in about a week, tell us how that worked.

WHAT THE HEL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? All threaded bolts, screws, etc are made of a softer metal, files and easy outs are made of harder metal, so simple logic tells you that the harder metal will wear down the softer metal. Sooooo.....you take about 10 minutes and work the worn edges out a little and give it a little more of a square look, then take it to the mechs. Oh and just for your info, sockets, wrenchs, socket wrenchs are all made of this harder metal. Ever notice how you always seem to strip out the bolt waaay before the socket will ever get worn? That's why.

I didn't want to get all "tools and how they're made 101" on you but I think this will help make my first post seem more logical.

[HyperTek]

I was thinking to just get another plug from the junk yard, and tap out my old one with a bolt extractor? Just got back from school so I havent put the tranny fluid in.

[TheSnail]

Wow, it would of been better if you kept your mouth closed, Now you stooped to an all time low. Aluminium must be the material your talking about (soft), and steel for your file right? Im sure the file wont ware down, have you seen a tranny plug latly? Have you seen how big the square is compared to the rest of the plug? Just try it, see if you can make it bigger... And when you see that you cut the square hole in four peices, what special tool is the machanic going to use. And for your " All threaded bolts, screws, etc are made of a softer metal, " If some day one of my threaded APR head bolts snaps, I'll be sure to contact you, maybe you can chizzle it out for me.