I'm doing my 30k mile service and completed everything but the rear differential fluid change.

The dang thing will not budge....

I literally tried everything.

-Breaker bar
-Used jack to raise ratchet
-tried pushing/pulling off of wheel

all resulted to a slightly deformed 1/2" plug, I'm scared to try anything else before I completely destroy it. I've never had my car taken to a shop before, this may have to be the first time. First times for everything I guess..

Any suggestions? The thing is completely soaked w/ pb blaster.

Thanks in Advance,
Kevin

 

I would say use a rubber mallet; that's how I loosened the plug on mine. Put the socket wrench on and bang the handle with the mallet.

 

Do a 50-50 mix of Acetone (Nail Polish Remover) and ATF in a spray bottle.
Fog the plug with the mixture and walk away for 10 minutes. Use a wrench and it'll come out.

 

Usually I use a 1/2'' breaker bar with a pipe on it, kind of like this:



I get that set up then use my jack to push up on the breaker bar and loosen the plug. Looks like you tried something like that though. Maybe get your car warmed up first and then give it a shot. Also see if you can find some sort of small piece of flat metal and put it in the plug next to the the 1/2" socket.. might help prevent you from damaging it any further by filling up the extra space and get some more torque.

 

I've got a cordless impact that you might be able to get it off with, also wipe all the PB blaster off and you could try to heat it with a torch, that will sometimes make stuck bolts give.

 

yep, I used this and actually lowered the car so the ground pushed on the bar with the weight of the car haha. Might have been a terrible idea, but it worked for me.

 

if you fubar'd the bottom one, try removing the top one instead and you can siphon out the fluid from there rather than a traditional drain.

I wouldn't bother trying to rip out the drain plug in a fatigued state unless I had an extra one laying around but then again thats just me

Good Luck

 

Put tape on the 1/2 breaker bar until it is VERY snug. Then put tension on it and use a sledge hammer. Anything else will have absorb too much impact to be useful.

That is actually a great idea. Harder to get more ft/lb than that!! Just go easy...

 

I tried that and the ratchet kept bending. So I used a hammer, and my ratchet started chipping....

yea warmed it up for about 10 min of driving... =[ Also when I lifted the ratchet up with the jack, the car just kept lifting...

I will do the small metal piece suggestion that you mentioned though. Good idea, thanks.

I did the top one, because if you get the bottom out and can't get the top out. then you'll have an empty differential without any way of filling it back up! haha.


I'll also try the tape method.

 

1/2" braker bar with a long pipe over it.

 

I bought this http://ultimatetoolco.com/drainplugs.aspx and never had a problem getting any of the ones i've worked on loose. Some of them have been SERIOUSLY overtightened, or maybe it's the thread sealant the factory uses or something. But this tool with a 2ft breaker bar has always worked.

 

whatever you do, do not put impact gun on it. that will destroy it. use alot of pb blaster and a breaker bar with a cheater bar on it and pull on it. im thinking you dont have enough ground clearance using a long breaker bar. i have a 2 1/2 foot 1/2 inch breaker bar whenever i do trans and diff service.

 

I did this a few months ago and also had a hell of a time taking that drain plug off. I was also really worried about rounding that square since it was actually slightly larger than the 1/2" and didn't fit perfectly. Somehow, it came off. I also used breaker bar + pipe.

Good luck with it!

 

I tried half the tricks on this page and couldn't get it to budge. Ended up taking it to my friend's shop and pulling it with an impact gun and a 3 inch extension. It's just not worth all this ridiculous effort, pay a shop the $20 every 30k miles, no big deal.

 

Agree.