Stuburn Differential Drain Plug

lance leblanc

lance leblanc

Senior Member
My lower plug is stipped out. (3/8" ratchet turns inside the plug).
Looking for suggestions to remove it.

I tried gripping it with a pipe wrench but not enough of the plug is exposed to grab securely.

1. Welding a bolt on seems like the easiest fix but I don't have a 220 welder and believe my weld will not hold.

2. Drilling out - but concern for shavings in the rears.
 
Take a chisel and make it a good fit from corner, to corner, and tap it in to wedge it in, and if you use a square one, then take a wrench, or pipe wrench and turn it.
 
I have a piece of square tool steel about 6" long which I ground down to a taper (BOY does that take some time!) This I hammer in place and then turn.

Sort of a home-made "easy-out" (Easy Outs are designed to keep repair machinists in business I think.)

Joe K
 
Use the correct tool. 3/8" is too loose. I found a dogbone type drain plug wrech at a swap meet, and it has several sizes of squares to stick into the drain plug holes. I would grind down a square piece of 1/2" steel until it fit nice and tight, then put a 12" adjustable wrench on that to remove it. If you're lucky you might find the head on a square headed bolt with the right size to fit in the plug, then you can grip the threaded part with a vice grip. Over the years I've found many plugs that have been tightened much more than they need to be.
 
i have a socket set for square plugs, all different sizes. 3/8 drive is a loose fit and will wear out the plug
Some of the newer transfer cases have aluminum plugs and without the right tool they strip..
 
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Here's the wrench I bought at the swap meet. On one side it says "DRAIN PLUG WRENCH" and on the other side it reads "643 INDESTRO SUPER U.S.A."

This was the second wrench I saw at the swap meet. The first one was marked $15 and I didn't want to pay that much, so I told my friend that I rode with and he bought it for a buck.:mad: This one I had to pay $10 for, but it's worth it.:) It has 8 different squares and one large flat blade for the 1928 slotted plugs.
 

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You know I had the same problem. Most of the plug was broken off and I could not get enough of the wrench to grab the plug. I drilled it out with a left hand bit and then used and easy out. I chased the threads just to make sure I didn't have to repeat this step. The new plug fit the ratchet better than my plug wrench.
 

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"Always amazes me how easy some things are when given the right tools to work with."

Checked with the mechanic shop at my office, they had a larger easyout set than the one I have.
It took me longer to get under the car than it did to get the darn plug out!
I let it drip for about 20 minutes, refilled with Varsol until tomorrow when I will drain and refill with fresh 40W
 
40 w-----wow that just set off a bunch of alarms

i am not to familiar with varsol will that attack or harm any rubber seals in the diff ??
 
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lance leblanc said:
I let it drip for about 20 minutes, refilled with Varsol until tomorrow when I will drain and refill with fresh 40W
Click to expand...

Oops, One more example of why one should proof his post before submitting it and running off to do something else.

I will drain and refill with fresh 600W (M-533)
 
To drain rear ends with NO plug, I use my A/C evacuation pump to pump down an old freon tank. Shove on a plastic hose, stick it down in the filler hole, turn on the valve & "SUCK" it out. Bill W.
 
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