jon-d

I tried heat and no luck. Sugestions?

BillyBoy

I'd be interested in everybody's suggestions also. Mine is unmovable. I pb blasted it to death!

Jeep Driver

Later models have a plug head, like a bolt head, see about replacing the cover with a newer one.

Or.

Remove the cover, drill out the plug for a 1/2" pipe thread plug and tap it, use new plug.

jordan96xj

Yikes. Those plugs are hard to get sealed to the point where transmission fluid won't drip, so some people just way over-do it (instead of applying about .05 cents worth of thread sealer).

A good shop could probably help quickly with this. They might choose to weld a sacrificial bolt or nut to it in order to run it out. Then replace. Or drill two small holes to fit another type of tool into. But they deal with this kind of stuff pretty often, and usually have a deep bag of tricks to get it done quick (which for you means not too expensive).

You could try to find a reverse-thread bolt of the approximately the same diameter than the mangled hole. (though finding a reverse thread will probably not be easy). And it may not have enough of a surface in the hole to "bite" into, and just strip the hole out again.

Just like brake rotor set screws, you could try to punch a divot into the plug and bang it a little bit at a time out with a cold chisel or punch (look up removing stuck rotor screws on youtube to see what I mean). I actually think this is the most feasible, but you'd have to use some care not to damage the transfer case casing.

caged

let me guess, the drain plug came out first?

you could try using a bolt head for a bit. i made a tool for my DH mountain bike 20mm through axle tool by using a bolt and a piece of flat bar. i drilled a hole and threaded it for the bolt, then welded it together.
you could easily use a nut on each side of the flat bar to hold the bolt in place while you use the flat bar as a long handle and hope to get enough grip on the stripped plug to get it out.

otherwise, maybe try a large torx and hammer that in tight and gently give it a bit of force. not all at once, or you will just spin it.

if you used enough heat, that might have burned off any lock-tite if it was used before.
good luck

ehall

Its a 10mm hex if there's anything left to bite onto. The plugs are steel so you can weld a bolt into it and turn it out that way. Worst case swap on a new rear case half from a donor.

Turbo X_J

Wonders would know if you could drill and tap that boss just to the left, try a PM.

jordan96xj

Probably so. But it would require about as much effort as just getting the bad plug out. Because tapping it would leave you with shavings, and it would best be done on a stationary drill press to ensure position and alignment, so you'd want to do it with the transfer case section removed anyway.

JPXJMOAB

[quote=caged]let me guess, the drain plug came out first?

Lol I see that happen all too often.. I've always used heat and patience, they've always come out for me. Use the Allen wrench and a wrench to get more leverage.

jon-d

thank you for the suggestions guys.


the bottom plug did come out, although it was a bit difficult and was in worse shape than the top plug. the top plug was in perfect shape before it ended up looking like it does. I used a 10 mm hex on a socket, buried completely in the plug for maximum surface contact, and applied pressure. It started deforming so I stopped, tapped the plug with a hammer (to loosen it up, sometimes works), tried again and it deformed a little more. then I applied heat and attempted again, and this is what I have.


I just installed a SYE kit so this was my last step before taking it for a spin. really frustrating. last night I was thinking what might work is to notch into the plug and use a pry bar to get it out. if that does not work then I might try to weld a bolt on it and give it another try. like everyone is saying, worse case I will have to remove the entire case and then remove the case half and tap it.


thank you again for the suggestions, very helpful!

fb97xj1

Always remove the fill plug first. That way if the drain plug refuses to come out you can just pop the fill plug back in and keep driving.

robertj

First, this. Mechanics 101, and hopefully you've learned.

Second, I had the same problem with my AX-15 bolt. These things are plugged by more or less pipe plugs. They don't seem to respond to heat like an exhaust manifold bolt, but they love cold:




I swear by this stuff now. Problem is, I'm not sure you can get much torque on it as damaged as it is, but if you can this stuff will work. If not, time to weld a nut on there and then freeze it off. You can always try to get a different size hex wrench in there for enough torque as well, but definitely try out the freeze off.

MKP

I got cheap (Harbor Freight) extractor and ground off the tip until it was fat enough to fit in the mangled hole. Once it got a good bite it just a matter of applying enough torque. Didn't have to worry about drilling and shavings that way.

jordan96xj

So basically like a larger easy-out extractor with the tip ground down? That actually sounds like a great idea. OP should consider it.

jon-d

Got it out! I took a spare 10mm hex buried it in then welded it. After half a turn I cut the excess off and then used a 10mm wrench to turn it out. I plan to leave it in for easy removal. Thanks guys!
BTW the photo posted upside down.