Tranmission Drain Plug - the death of me.... (1 Viewer)

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I totally porked myself today.

I'm prepping the rig for a family vacation (a few thousand miles) and thought I'd hit the transmission fluid complete exchange... I just did the differentials and the transfer case....

I own the FSM. I could not find the transmission drain plug torque spec, and the OCD part in me must have a torque spec for everything. I inadvertently used the torque spec for the manual transmission and I stripped the damn drain plug!:bang:

I am still in disbelief. Of course its a Saturday evening and there are no transmission pans on the East coast according to my dealer. So the LC will stay at home for our trip and I get to feel like the worlds biggest jack-ass.

So to get to my question: What in the hell is the proper torque spec for the transmission drain plug?
[The overflow port is 15 ftlbs. But then I saw some folks on Tacoma world talking about 65 inch lbs! So what it is??
 
I totally porked myself today.

I'm prepping the rig for a family vacation (a few thousand miles) and thought I'd hit the transmission fluid complete exchange... I just did the differentials and the transfer case....

I own the FSM. I could not find the transmission drain plug torque spec, and the OCD part in me must have a torque spec for everything. I inadvertently used the torque spec for the manual transmission and I stripped the damn drain plug!:bang:

I am still in disbelief. Of course its a Saturday evening and there are no transmission pans on the East coast according to my dealer. So the LC will stay at home for our trip and I get to feel like the worlds biggest jack-ass.

So to get to my question: What in the hell is the proper torque spec for the transmission drain plug?
[The overflow port is 15 ftlbs. But then I saw some folks on Tacoma world talking about 65 inch lbs! So what it is??

Drain plug is 15 ft lbs.
The 12x oil pan to transmission bolts are torqued to 65 in lbs, that's what the tacoma guys were talking about.

It's under:
DRIVETRAIN
AB60F AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION / TRANSAXLE
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION UNIT
REASSEMBLY
71. INSTALL AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION OIL PAN SUB-ASSEMBLY
 
Thanks @Taco2Cruiser .......Arg! I can't believe I couldn't find it.

I'm still shaking my head in disbelief at what I've done. :censor:
 
It's a possibility- but I've read that there isn't much material too work with there. I simply had to toss up the white flag for today. Add to the frustration that I am going to have shoulder surgery soon - and working on my back trying to raise my one arm is nearly impossible without some groovy painkillers.

I'll likely drop the pan tomorrow and see what I'm dealing with. Sheesh.
 
It's a possibility- but I've read that there isn't much material too work with there. I simply had to toss up the white flag for today. Add to the frustration that I am going to have shoulder surgery soon - and working on my back trying to raise my one arm is nearly impossible without some groovy painkillers.

I'll likely drop the pan tomorrow and see what I'm dealing with. Sheesh.
Research "Helicoil" They are a great little device, I've been using for years to help with this problem, just get the tread diameter and pitch off the drain plug and should be no issues. But you still need to drop the pan, some thread shavings are probably in there, and no sense in hoping the 4 tiny magnets will pick them up.

You could also get a new OE pan, strainer, and gasket for about $100. If you haven't already removed the transmission pan, word of advice, 10 of the 12 bolt are completely enclosed on the threads. There are 2, the most rear left and right corners of the transmission pan, that are not enclosed on top. If you feel with your finger, you can feel the bolt threads as it goes through the transmission body, and the bolt pops out the top side. That means that road grim can get up there and seize a bolt, and like I said earlier, those bolt are torqued to 65 in/lbs, and can EASILY snap off.

So for the rear corner bolts that you can feel the bolt come back out the transmission body, seat spraying PB blaster from the top to ensure you don't break a bolt off. Seriously, literally rule number 1 when I used to do this for a living, spray all the bolts down that are not enclosed before you try to loosen them.


And when this is all done, read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" There is a chapter about not getting caught in a gum trap. The story goes, the guy breaks a bolt of on the motor, and at that moment he thinks the whole motorcycles sucks, he forgets all the great times he had with the motorcycle, and that his life will never get better. But he forgets its just the one bolt that has an issue, not the whole truck and all the other thins in his life. DON'T get caught in the gumtrap"
 
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Research "Helicoil" They are a great little device, I've been using for years to help with this problem, just get the tread diameter and pitch off the drain plug and should be no issues. But you still need to drop the pan, some thread shavings are probably in there, and no sense in hoping the 4 tiny magnets will pick them up.

You could also get a new OE pan, strainer, and gasket for about $100. If you haven't already removed the transmission pan, word of advice, 10 of the 12 bolt are completely enclosed on the threads. There are 2, the most rear left and right corners of the transmission pan, that are not enclosed on top. If you feel with your finger, you can feel the bolt threads as it goes through the transmission body, and the bolt pops out the top side. That means that road grim can get up there and seize a bolt, and like I said earlier, those bolt are torqued to 65 in/lbs, and can EASILY snap off.

So for the rear corner bolts that you can feel the bolt come back out the transmission body, seat spraying PB blaster from the top to ensure you don't break a bolt off. Seriously, literally rule number 1 when I used to do this for a living, spray all the bolts down that are not enclosed before you try to loosen them.


And when this is all done, read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" There is a chapter about not getting caught in a gum trap. The story goes, the guy breaks a bolt of on the motor, and at that moment he thinks the whole motorcycles sucks, he forgets all the great times he had with the motorcycle, and that his life will never get better. But he forgets its just the one bolt that has an issue, not the whole truck and all the other thins in his life. DON'T get caught in the gumtrap"
Thank you for the great advice on the pan bolts and the gumtrap. I've already ordered the new pan, strainer and gasket. I've used helicoils in the past but didn't really think it would be a great idea on such a short plug - and thought it might interfere with future drains. Or maybe I just wouldn't like knowing it's there!
 
And when this is all done, read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" There is a chapter about not getting caught in a gum trap. The story goes, the guy breaks a bolt of on the motor, and at that moment he thinks the whole motorcycles sucks, he forgets all the great times he had with the motorcycle, and that his life will never get better. But he forgets its just the one bolt that has an issue, not the whole truck and all the other thins in his life. DON'T get caught in the gumtrap"
I loved that book. I read it about thirty years ago and I am going to download it and re-read. Thanks
 
Torque wrenches are the number one cause of broken bolts. They are freaking dangerous.

The reason is as you just experienced.
It is SO easy to accidentally set the wrench to the incorrect setting & break a bolt. Torque wrenches are so long, you don't get a normal feel for how tight the bolt is screwing down. It's like using a breaker bar.

I think the only time to use a torque wrench is on big bolts that require a lot of force. Hex head 17mm & up. The smaller bolts should be tightened by feel with a normal wrench and use the FSM torque spec as a mental guide to tighten it properly.

Torque wrenches break bolts (due to user error). Normal wrenches don't.

Using the wrong wrench breaks bolts, not the fact it's a torque wrench. The problem is that most people only own a big one! Just as you shouldn't use a breaker bar on 1/4" or 3/8" nuts, you shouldn't use a 1/2" drive torque wrench either. Get a 1/4" drive, a 3/8" drive and a 1/2 drive torque wrench and you'll be all set. No broken bolts and you'll have proper torque, which can save a lot of problems.
 
Also 99% of people use non-servicable torque wrenches and/or don't get their wrenches checked. At work we're required to have our torque wrenches checked by PMEL (Precision Measuring Equipment Lab) yearly or upon being accidentally dropped. Granted, our wrenches are being use on million dollar missile systems and 500 to 2000 pound bombs.
 
I do have 3/8" and 1/2" drive torque wrenches - but I don't calibrate them often! In this case it was simply my stupidity....and the lack of common sense taking over. It's like when you hear about people crashing into a house because their Nav system told them to turn right.....when they really shouldn't have!

I may look into 1/4" drive - especially for when I get to tighten down the transmission pan at on 65 inch pounds of torque!

And yes - if these were ready - I'd certainly do the upgrade! :)
 
Also 99% of people use non-servicable torque wrenches and/or don't get their wrenches checked. At work we're required to have our torque wrenches checked by PMEL (Precision Measuring Equipment Lab) yearly or upon being accidentally dropped. Granted, our wrenches are being use on million dollar missile systems and 500 to 2000 pound bombs.

Well I'm curious...where is it you work exactly?!
 
Torque wrenches are the number one cause of broken bolts. They are freaking dangerous.

The reason is as you just experienced.
It is SO easy to accidentally set the wrench to the incorrect setting & break a bolt. Torque wrenches are so long, you don't get a normal feel for how tight the bolt is screwing down. It's like using a breaker bar.

I think the only time to use a torque wrench is on big bolts that require a lot of force. Hex head 17mm & up. The smaller bolts should be tightened by feel with a normal wrench and use the FSM torque spec as a mental guide to tighten it properly.

Torque wrenches break bolts (due to user error). Normal wrenches don't.
I use my calibrated elbow ;)
 
Also 99% of people use non-servicable torque wrenches and/or don't get their wrenches checked. At work we're required to have our torque wrenches checked by PMEL (Precision Measuring Equipment Lab) yearly or upon being accidentally dropped. Granted, our wrenches are being use on million dollar missile systems and 500 to 2000 pound bombs.
x2; I used to turn wrenches on Army helicopters. I never saw a torque wrench break a bolt, but I did see a couple of knuckleheads do it a time or two.
 

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