GIVE ME 10 MINUTES ALONE WITH MY TRANNY FILLER PLUG

[Guest Anonymous]

Urghh!!!!!

I'm changing my 5-spd tranny oil in my '79 ZX to switch to Redline MTL.. I got the drain plug out, drained the oil, drain plug back in. Okay, now its time to remove the filler plug and syphon the-- wait.. I CAN'T remove the filler plug.

Its a a square type on the male-end. A 11/16" (seems like a 21/36" would fit better, if one were made) wrench fits on just fine.. I can't torque it off with a 10" combo wrench. Not even hammering hard to try and nail the other end of the wrench. Maybe if I had a little more room underneath but my jack only lifts about 13"- just enough to slip under there w/ a creeper. I could probably get it off if I could use both hands- or one completely freely- but one has to hold the wrench on there as I'm upside down. I've tried various metric and SAE sockets, none fit. I don't know if there's a special wrench to fit around square bolts, or what. Somebody who has changed their tranny oil (I'm not sure if S30 5-spd's and 4-speeds have the same filler plug bolt-screw or what.), please tell me a method to get this off. Do they make wrenches/socket bits that fit square bolts....

this wouldn't be a problem if my tranny had some oil in it, I could drive it down to a friend's shop, lift it on a hydraulic lift and just whip that wrench around like it wasn't a problem.

Somebody please help, I want to drive my Z again

-980mak

[fl327]

i had the same issue with my filler plug for trans, i went with 12" crescent and a pipe around the end, yeah baby.

[Sparky]

oh yeah....

 

just did that about twelve minutes ago..now im taking a break.

 

turns out that its 17mm. i just used the open end and gave a couple of whacks with the big rubber mallet. came right off....

good luck,

[Sparky]

another idea that ive used on several occasions. since the car is on jack stands. use your floor jack (assuming you have one) to apply pressure to the other end of the wrench...see what im saying...place the open end wrench on the square bolt so that its ready for the lefty loosey touch. hold it in place while you slide your floor jack under it...slowly raise the floor jack until the closed end of the wrench is resting firmly in the middle of the jacks pad...and every so slowly crank your jack up...you might have to hold the wrench straight...but the force of the jack...combined with the weight of the car on top of it , should break the plug loose!...

again good luck.

[Guest Anonymous]

I have some ideas

 

Well Sparky's right, it is 17mm. First, here's a funny story...

Dad came out to "help" me, so suddenly after swinging the hammer at the crecent a few times he suddenly declared in epiphany "You're hitting it the wrong way, that's to tighten it!" So, after a moderately heated argument, I ended up in the living room, mocking the "free-floating" transmission, and the mock filler plug. Oops, I was right, sorry dad. In all, he said basically to loosen, force should be applied on the wrench toward the rear of the car.. I said the front. You're gonna have to excuse my dad, he's 100% Norwegian.

~fin~

my ideas..

Well, getting wheel ramps, or just somehow jacking higher so my hands aren't squeezed so tight that no real torque can be applied. Right now I have a 10" crecent. I was thinking of getting a 13-17", just a bit more usable torque to get that first slide of the threads. Actually, I'll just get an 1" thick pipe to slip over the wrench.

Isn't a box-end wrench made that would be good in this application? Or is there such thing as a square socket bit? I'd like to kill the designer of that tranny- and that square bolt. Why not Hex, that's all I can ask. Or, NOT using a creeper, all the torque I apply to the wrench pushes back against my body, which glides gracefully on the well-oiled wheels

 

Eventually, I will do to this bolt what the hand does to this lil blue guy

BAM!

-just like that.

.....in time

 

-980mak

[Georgia Flash]

I had this same problem on a 1980 ZX I once had. Fortunatley I was taking an automotive class at the local tech school so I had access to a lift. If I remember correctly we used a big (don't laugh) monkey wrench and a very long pole for leverage. Even then the sucker would hardly budge! We finally did manage to break it loose. I, like you, would love to get the guy who desiged that square bolt head! By the way, I have the same problem with my current Z only this time it is with the rear differential filler bolt being froze! Yes same ole square bolt!

[Mike kZ]

Did you try applying heat? Use a propane torch and let it get as red as you can, it should come off easy after that.

[fl327]

hey i have the diff issue too man! piece of crap square head. i think i could get it out but the way its setup i cant really a firm leverage point on it, well i think i could, i would have to get my car to the shop though, my little jack at the house wont get the dang car high enough to get the right grip. no couldnt make it a normal 14mm or something could ya, no...

[Guest Anonymous]

Alright this is just getting about annoying.

Now I feel as if I am less of a human, if failure in my life comes down to one square bolt.

I tried all of my ideas, and a few others, none work.. A friend who is a local mechanic suggested lightly tapping the bolt to try and unsieze (sp?) it, then I used the pipe over the wrench to make it about 15 inches in length.. still no avail. And what really makes me mad is I've spent about 4 hours and $80 just to do get this plug out. The floor jack, creeper, torque wrench, 17mm wrench, two jack stands, pipe, trial socket bits..

I'm about to have someone kick me in the shins while I'm under there so maybe I can produce some superhuman angry torque and nail that sucker out of there. I'm all out of money, my entire paycheck, just on this project..

or I probably would go out and buy a propane torch, how much do they cost?

If only I could drive the Z down to a friends garage.. its too far to roll. I get the feeling I'm gonna have to end up getting it towed and professionally removed for mucho $$$. I thought this would be a simple 1 hour project that in all would be easier than changing oil (only two bolts, and no oil filter). And what's worse, I can start to see that the bolt is beginning to strip as the edge being primarily torqued is starting to get rounded.

Just give me my old oil back in there

Btw, jeromio, if I remember the correct amount of oil is 4.5 pints

if luck was needed to find that, then I don't know what the thing I need to get this bolt off

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm just curious if maybe a more common household item could be used to heat the plug bolt.. say.. ahem.. a lighter?

The heat actually seems like the most feasible solution.. being as the two metals (plug, and housing) are different, and would likely seperate differently under heat..

I really don't want to start stripping the bolt, being that my forged crecent wrench practically starts bending.. and I'm practically in squat position (feet on the right rear wheel, pushing up, both hands on the wrench at shoulder position) pushing as hard as possible the only way I'll get this bolt off will be by somehow getting it unstuck inside, heat being the only thing I can think of. So with that in mind, could any other common household item be used to heat the bolt? I don't have a propane torch and after all of the project expense I can't afford one unless its less than about $15

[Dp351zcar]

Where in Wa are you? If you are around me I could give you some help as I have some tools. To get a socket on a four sided bolt wouldn't you need a 12pt socket? Divide 12 by 4 and it is a even number. I know 12pts are not as strong as the 6pts but it should work.

 

At this point a pipe wrench sounds like your best bet. One thing about cresent wrenches is if you are using a small one on a big bolt it will flex more than a bigger wrench the flex is what rounds the corners.

Good luck

DP

[Guest Anonymous]

DP

I'm in longview, between olympia and portland right off I5, I'm not familiar where maple valley is, probably far away..

hey, if you can come pull my bolt, I'll pay for your GAS!!!!!! And then I will jump for joy, and put my filler plug in the microwave and watch electicity bolts shoot pain that car parts weren't meant to feel.. MUAHAHAHA

 

I'll see how heating it up works. Can any one give me an idea on what a prop torch will cost me?

BTW, I appreciates everyone's help, and once I get it off I will help anyone else who needs the same assistance...

-980mak

[Dp351zcar]

Maple Valley is about 10 miles east of kent. Kent is between Tacoma and Seattle and a little way from longview (2 hours?). I don't know what heating the plug would do unless you let it cool before twisting it off, in my mind heating it would make the plug expand and get larger thus being tighter. Now heating and letting it cool might help brake whatever is bonding it in there and help clean the threads. I said in my mind so I'll tell you some people think it's a small one, my mind that is. I do think a 12" pipe wrench with a cheater handle is the way to go. Pipe wrenches are like hammers, it seems most people have one you just have to ask around. I'll be out of town for the next day or two so I'll check in to see how you are doing when I get back and if you are still are having problems maybe I can help on the weekend.

 

Good luck

DP

[jeromio]

On the other side of the trans, the driver's side, there should be a reverse lockout thingie. It's like a flat piece of metal with 2 screws in it. If you take that out, you can fill the trans thru there. Just be sure to not the position of the thing - maybe mark it with paint, so that you don't put it back in backwards.

 

Also, you'll have to put in the correct amount of fluid (good luck finding the trans capacity in a Haynes manual) since if you fill it to the top of that hole, it'll be too full.

[Mike kZ]

Propane torches are cheap, you can pick one up at any hardware store, $15 - $20 range. If I can't budge a bolt, heat ALWAYS works! The longer you heat it the better, believe me it will work.

[Guest Anonymous]

Urgh!

I just wrote a 20 minute message on how I got my bolt off and how the project turned out and the damn forum dropped it!

"use your browsers back button"- my ass

 

well, since I don't wanna rewrite what I've been writing since 8:00, I got the bolt of with the propane torch and 17mm wrench, got the redline in there, now it shifts much smoother.

980mak

[denny411]

If heating it doesn`t work,Try heating it and then using a garden hose flush water across it until it is completely cool.The expansion may help to loosen any corrosion but at the same time may make the threads grip tighter.cooling it at a very quick rate will contract the metal.I had a wagon running gear that had been sittin on the hubs in a low lying area,under water most of the time.the spindles were frozen solid and the front wheels could not be turned at all.I heated the housings red hot and tried to turn them and they still would not budge I even beat on them with a 12lb sledge still nothing.After talking to the owner of a local weld shop,I heated them and immediatelly quenched them in a tub of cold water.After removing from the water I could turn them easily by hand.I hope that someone can learn from this experience I know I did