@#$%#$^% Tranny fill plug is stuck!!!

[Victor Laury]

Originally posted by billramsey2002

(just make sure they put it back in .)

With a good coating of neverseaze grease. galvanic action between the steel plug and the aluminum case is one of the reasons you can't get it out now. the other was the over zealous wrencher on the last serviceing

[venom42]

I do not know that it had ever been done before. The car has 92k on it, and the oil was pretty dark.

[gramercyjam]

I've got one of those 3 foot long crescent wrenches from Northern Tools that does the trick everytime. And it doesn't chew up the plug.

[NismoZ]

i know this is a old thread but i got the same problem...i tried everything mentioned here with no success...what cane be done?

[Zak's Z]

I have the same problem curerntly. Best I can figure is that a square 17mm socket is required. I tried the regular sockets on it with a huge breaker bar, nothing. I also tried huge vice-grips on it with a hammer. Nothing. I also treied again heating it with a torch, nothing. Im going to use the switch hole when I fill it up. I even tried a few auto parts stores to order a square socket and no one had one. I know this doesnt help your problem, but I gave up on mine.

[Bruce Palmer]

Pipe wrench with a cheater. With enough leverage you can move the earth.

[Zs-ondabrain]

Never heat the filler plug up, Heat the casing around it. Heating causes expansion and you want the plug to be cold. Heat the casing around the plug then Spray the plug with a "Computer Duster Spray". If you hold the can upside down, you'll get a liguid nitrogen?? spray. Then immediately try and turn the plug out.

See if that works, It did for me.

Dave.

[bpilati]

To all those recommending a cheater bar or pipe, think about the fact that most people don't have a car lift in their garage. Even if you could jack the car up a foot off the ground a cheater bar would be almost useless. As a last resort for those with oil drained, either the reverse switch plug or take the tranny off so you can get to the plug. Just a thought.

[DeesZ]

Never heat the filler plug up, Heat the casing around it. Heating causes expansion and you want the plug to be cold. Heat the casing around the plug then Spray the plug with a "Computer Duster Spray". If you hold the can upside down, you'll get a liguid nitrogen?? spray. Then immediately try and turn the plug out.

See if that works, It did for me.

Dave.

This has worked for me as well; years ago we used to use an ice cube on the plug after heating the surrounding case. The spray stuff he suggests is a nice convenient and less messy twist to this very old method. There is also a CRC product called "Freeze-Off" that I found at NAPA several months ago. It's a penetrating oil concoction that incorporates the expansion/contraction action by getting the surface very cold when you spray it.

[JimmyZ]

The aluminum will expand MUCH more than the steel if heated. The problem is getting the steel plug hot enough. It might take quite a while with a plumbers torch. An oxyfuel rig would do just fine.

I've liberated many frozen steel fasteners from aluminum by TIG or MIG welding a new head onto the fastener. As soon as the steel is cool enough to take some torque get on it. I had to use my oxyfuel set on my R-200 fill plug. Even with the thing out of the car I was having a hard time....that is until the torch was brought to bear.

If you see the aluminum bubbling or developing a wavering skin wait for a few seconds 'til it solidifies. At this point you've overheated it and the aluminum will shrink for an even tighter fit. (Kind of like casting over a non-tapered object) You will need to reapply heat/work out the fastener a turn or two several times if this happens.

2c

Jim

[sblake01]

When I've had to remove mine, they've come out. On another car I worked on with a stubborn plug, being an HVAC/MVAC tech, I put a blow gun on the end of one of the hoses on my charging manifold, cooled the plug with a couple blasts of R134a and spun it right out.

[lmcguffin]

I had the same problem on our 78. Started rounding the square-head plug, so I went to Sears and bought an 8-point socket, 5/8" I think (mm not available). Used breaker bar and 6' cheater pipe, still could not get it loose due to limited movement space (pipe would hit firewall and bend). Since car was on jackstands I ended up positioning the breaker bar and shorter cheater pipe against the floor and let the car down, using car weight as force on breaker. Scary, but worked.