Smashed diff drain plug (1 Viewer)

[alia176]

I dragged my front diff over rocks a few times in the past and managed to have ground down the protective wall surrounding the drain plug hole. Currently, I'm not able to turn the hex head nor get a socket in there. I'm trying to clear up the hole using a die grinder with a stone bit and a metal cutting bit. But the progress is very very slow. Does anyone have any better ideas? I even thought of simply remoing the entire protetive ring using a band saw and then building up another wall by stacking up several welding beads.

Ali

 

[turbocruiser]

I would cut a straight slot in the drain plug itself, use an impact screwdriver to get the thing out, get a new drain plug from Dan, or get one of the allen headed recessed and rounded drain plugs (not sure the source? anyone know?) and then perhaps SLOWLY build a bead up around the original protective ring. Do not overheat the diff while welding as all sorts of problems are possible. A similar thing happened on my Runner. Someone here (Chris Geiger?) makes diff armor you might want to look into. HTH.

 

[alia176]

Well, the problem isn't that I can't turn the drain plug, rather, I can't get to it! All six sides of the bolt head is fine, there's metal stuff that's in the way.

 

[turbocruiser]

Well, the problem isn't that I can't turn the drain plug, rather, I can't get to it! All six sides of the bolt head is fine, there's metal stuff that's in the way.

I understand but what you are saying and what i am saying are the same thing - you cant get to it with a socket so, cut a straight slot, remove it, replace with the ones that are already rounded and recessed and viola, a fix and an upgrade at the same time. BTW, i think it was MAF that had those plugs. HTH.

 

[Junk]

Sounds like you should keep going the route you are then. Grind it away with a burr - use a good one though, and it should not take long. A stone will take a long time and you'll go through a lot of them.

 

[actionjackson]

Yeah that's pretty funny. I had to use my dremmel with metal cut off wheel to cut away some of the folded metal just big enough for the socket to fit in again. Keep at it!

 

[bjowett]

As mentioned above, slot it, then use an air chisel or what have you to unscrew it.

The best protective ring I've done was to cut a small piece of stainless tube and mig weld it around the existing ring with some 308 wire and argon/CO2 gas. Stainless alloys are quite tough compared to mild steel. That was on my 4-Runner, 2 years of wheeling left the ring shiney but pretty much unscathed....

 

[Beowulf]

... or get one of the allen headed recessed and rounded drain plugs (not sure the source? anyone know?)

Dan carries the genuine Toyota recessed allen head drain plugs; with or without magnet.

Cheap too.

-B-
PS. Don't forget to get an extra allen head socket for the trail tools.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Anyone know the Toyota Part# for the magnet type off the top of their heads?

 

[Gold Finger]

Is it possible to get a chisle on one of the flats and hammer it out in an anti clockwise direction?
If you can this how I removed a seriously stuck axle fill plug!

Another alternative is to weld a large hex bolt to it if you have enough access, and then turn that.

 

[woody]

90341-18021 Plug w/magnet $1.74/ea

http://www.ih8mud.com/techtrivia.php

I've removed all my drain plugs and welded the openings shut....1 trip and mine are ground over anyways. Pull the bottom stud from the diff, replace with a bolt, and drain from there.

 

[camcruiser13]

i also used a dremel and it worked pettey well.

 

[MikeB]

Does anyone know if the 90341-18021 magnetic allen head plugs will work as both drain and fill plugs in the diffs, and in the transfer case? I seem to recall someone posting that they had damaged something because the 90341-18021 plug is longer than the stock plug.

Mike

 

[alia176]

Woody, that's a good idea. Wish I read this thread before I put everything back together!

 

[Safado]

I used a chisle when I had the same problem...cut the material away.

Intead of an Allan head drain plug. I'd like a magnetic plug with a 3/8" or 1/2" socket head...any leads?

 

[MikeB]

The answer to my own question is that the 90341-18021 allen head magnetic drain plugs DO work as both the fill and drain plugs on both diffs and the transfer case, at least for a 1995. The only plug where the 90341-18021 is longer than the original--and where there is not a mile of empty space behind the plug--is the transfer drain plug. As near as I can tell, the 90341-18021 has a safe 1/2 inch of clearance from a bearing when it is seated all the way in. I realize that there is not much chance of bashing the transfer case or fill plugs on rocks. But I wanted to avoid having to carry and use an assortment of wrenches to work on the plugs.

I used 18mm fiber washers that are about 1/16 inch thick. My thinking on fiber rather than the original metal is to try to avoid the metal-metal freezing that makes the plugs so hard to remove.

Mike