Rear Diff Fill Plug

[wengejor]

It's 20deg outside and I decided to go out and replace the rear diff oil since I haven't don it yet and we're going to take the LC to Maryland this weekend.

The fill plug is rusty and has rounded corners. The 24mm 12pt just spins right over it. After about 20 minutes of trying the vise-grips, I decided to just let it go for now.

I found a few threads that show some mangled up fill plugs so I'll have to get a new one and figure out how to break it loose.

So far I have changed all of the other fluids and have just the rear diff to do.

Ok, that's enough ranting.

 

[RockDoc]

Please tell me you tried the fill plug before draining. Hope you don't have a dry diff.

 

[Zack1978]

Some people attempt to weld a nut to the end of the plug to get the old one off. You could try that if you have a welder.


Zack

 

[RockDoc]

Weld a nut is what I was thinking too, the heat couldn't hurt, or could it

 

[wengejor]

I do have a welder and could try that trick. I did not drain it yet...gotta get the fill plug out first

The truck is too tall to fit in the garage so maybe I'll air down the tires tomorrow night and bring it into the warmth to do it up.

 

[wengejor]

Some other people were saying that you can heat it up and that will help loosen it up. I could get the MAPP out and fire it up. Any downsides to doing that?

 

[mwalls54]

I used a standard size 12 point to get mine off. The metric 12 point started to strip it out. I also have a pair of Knipex channel locks that will grip onto anything

 

[Joe_E]

It may be too late but a 24mm six point impact socket is usually what I find works the best.

 

[JayMilla]

Torch plus vise-grip worked for me.
Install new plug with anti-seize.
Good luck, Jason

 

[87freebornred]

I used a 1" air chisel turn the plug. Reinstalled a new one with antisieze.

 

[JLH911]

It's 20deg outside and I decided to go out and replace the rear diff oil since I haven't don it yet and we're going to take the LC to Maryland this weekend.

The fill plug is rusty and has rounded corners. The 24mm 12pt just spins right over it. After about 20 minutes of trying the vise-grips, I decided to just let it go for now.

I found a few threads that show some mangled up fill plugs so I'll have to get a new one and figure out how to break it loose.

So far I have changed all of the other fluids and have just the rear diff to do.

Ok, that's enough ranting.

I had better luck with a 6-point 24MM. I believe others have tried a standard size 15/16" ??, that should work too.

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

It may be too late but a 24mm six point impact socket is usually what I find works the best.

x2, even better with the impact attached to the socket just give a little trigger at first.

 

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

It may be too late but a 24mm six point impact socket is usually what I find works the best.

What he said. Now that it's buggared up though, I vote weld a nut to it

Good luck and let us know how you solve it.
Butt

 

[Mace]

heat will help.

Welding is good ..

 

[wengejor]

Well, I got it off tonight. I bought the 6pt 24mm impact socket from sears tonight...applied some heat with the MAPP and it came right out. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Joe_E]

Haha, that's exactly what I did one day about 15 years ago! Good 'ol road trip to Sears, can't beat it.

Glad it worked out.

 

[ad20k]

Might want to consider the magnetic allen wrench drain plugs for less drama in the future. PN 90341-18021 at Toyota.

 

[wengejor]

Yeah, It's pretty well toast so I'll add one to the order the next time I have to get something from C-Dan.

 

[All Four]

12 pts round them of every time. 6pt and a breaker bar seems to do the job right. This happend to me twice before I figured it out.

Yeah, It's pretty well toast so I'll add one to the order the next time I have to get something from C-Dan.

Get several. Fits the diffs, the Trans (manual) and the transfer case. Kurt @ Cruiser Outfitters has them, as well as Trail Gear, and Marlin Crawler. Run around $3 each.

 

[lehiguy]

I have some "dedicated" sockets for thing that I frequently have to work on that have very low-profile fasteners. I helps to take a socket and grind down the outer lip about 1/16". That first 1/16" doesn't make contact with the sides of the fastener, it just prevents you from getting on by that amount, so for that stupid drain plug, (and the compression dampener on my CR500's front forks) you would be better of with a ground down socket.