Thing was in there solid, 3/8ths socket ended up stripping it pretty good. What do I do now?

 

Hello Grumbles!!!

Get the "large" screw extractor, and try that, use plenty of pentrating fluid, and maybe a "little" heat at first!!!



Do you figure that someone used "Red" Loctite?????





No screw extractor..........drill it out.........re-tap/heli-coil it......replace with new plug!!!

 

Can't tell if it's got loctite on it, way too grungy to see.

Could I just tap/braze a nut on the diff cover and use that instead? seems more convenient.

 

get a small screw driver dig and pick all the dirt out of the square drive hole,get a good ball peen hammer and hit the face of the plug squarely 4-5 times,then use a air impact gun or a hand impact driver to get it loose.

those plugs are fairly deep and dont fully strip out that easy.

dont keep pulling away on it with a regular 3/8 drive ratchet or it will strip. get,find or borrow an impact and it will come out.

if that dosent work,a skilled person with a air chisel can drive it loose.

dont drill until you try those methods.

 

a 1/2 drive gun with a 1/2 to 3/8 adapter gets them out every time.

its a pipe thread so its tapered and some people like to tighten the **** out of them for no reason.

 

Stick a bolt in the hole and weld it. This will put enough heat into the plug to loosen it some and the bolt gives you something to put a wrench on.

 

Welding a bolt in the plug is the best way to remove stripped stuff like that. You just need enough weld around the plug to hold the bolt as it turns out the plug.

The plug doesn't need to be super tight when you install it. Some thread sealer or pipe dope and just snug it up. It's not like there's any pressure behind the plug and the oil level is below the plug.

A new plug will just be a 3/8" pipe plug.

 

sooo.... is my idea of just tapping/brazing a nut onto the diff cover a bad one?

 

Hello Grumbles!!

Yup!! Bad idea!!



I guess my "drill it out" wasn't well received either!!!



The "weld a nut" idea is good, so is the "impact gun" one, give them both a try, impact gun first!!

 

now if everyone had a mig/arc welder and could weld that would be a great idea.

 

Agreed.


The sad part is I just traded my mig welder for an L31 not even two weeks ago.

 

Impacting it out was a fantastic idea and worked like a charm despite it being nearly circular inside. Thanks a bunch Regal301

 

your welcome,no problem,and good luck in the future

its amazing what an impact will bite on to compared to hand tools.

 

It's amazing what and impact can also easily strip.

 

dont blame the tool, blame the operator.

 

Hello All!!

So..........is the impact gun like a large screw extractor, in some sort of convoluted way?????



Glad that it worked for you Grumbles!!