[bone]

ok, so its about time for one of my routine uneducated questions

i got a jimny, went out adventuring over the weekend, and sucked in a belly full of water in my diffs. so thought itd be a good idea to drain the oil and replace it. was no dramas undoing the drainage plug on the front, but when it came time to undo the filler plug, it was siezed on their good and proper
so lesson one learnt, always undo the filler before the drain so you know you can fill what youve dropped out...

this leads me to my first question, cause my car is part time 4x4 is it ok to drive with no oil in my front diff??

question two, i am now the proud new owner of a rounded 3/8th drive hole filler plug. ive tried using a centre punch to tap the plug around, tried persuading the 1/2 to 3/8th adapter with a big fuck off hammer and still no success.
im thinking of welding a bar to the filler plug so i can try and crack it off, or weld the adaptor in situ so i can get this undone.
any other suggestions??

also, any possible reasons for being so tight. previous person overtightened, hot diff to cold water = siezed.. any thing else to look out for??

thanks crew!!

[Ben_Sierra]

As long as the hubs are unlocked, driving in 2WD is fine, as nothing will be spinning in the diff.

[BlueSuzy]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

As long as the hubs are unlocked, driving in 2WD is fine, as nothing will be spinning in the diff.

Good luck unlocking them....



Jimnys have vac operated hubs when your in 4wd only. Leave it in 2wd. It should be fine until you get the filler plug off.

Your lesson is learnt! Undo filler before drain! With anything you do!

[alien]

depending on how old the jimny is and when it was last drained its most likely just a lot of crud in the thread combines with some rust...

usually heating up will help it come undone, but it wouldnt hurt to really soak it in some CRC or INOX equivalent overnight first.

Make sure you buy a new plug before welding anything to the current one too - lol =)

[Rusho]

Easy out.....bit of stuffing around but it is really effective

[Reubs]

If the usual big punch and hammer doesn't work, try taking the edges of the plug off with a grinder and use vicegrips. Failing that go somewhere and have a bolt welded to it and take it off that way. You can buy new plugs cheap.

[stockman]

Flip the car on the roof and refill it through the drain plug.

[bone]

lol, we were discussing this as a viable option last night after a few beers stockman luckily for my jimnys roof, this didnt eventuate.

im thinking heat first, and if that fails welding time thanks guys, will keep ya posted

[BlueSuzy]

No not heat 1st.

Have you tried hammer and chisel?

[bone]

okies, no heat. reason for this?
just potential to warp diff housing??

have tried centrepunch and hammer, no chisle yet. plug seems pretty soft, and is getting damaged instead of moving..

[appsie]

if you hit it with the chisel to try get it to crack and it makes a messs of it,so be it.go to local parts shop,bearing shop etc and get another filler?

we once welded a 3/8" drive extension bar into my sierra filler bung to get it to come loose.What style of bung is yours?
You could also try a few hard blows with a hammer directly onto face of the plug

[Fatzook]

bone wrote:

okies, no heat. reason for this?
just potential to warp diff housing??

have tried centrepunch and hammer, no chisle yet. plug seems pretty soft, and is getting damaged instead of moving..

Go the hammer and chisel first, or what Appsie said. Shock loading it with a hammer blow or 4 may do the trick.

Heat will ruin the washer under the plug ( if it has one). Welding does the same

If you can tig weld a 17mm bolt head to the plug neatly enough, you won't have to replace the plug afterwards.

[BlueSuzy]

They are 3/8 drive plugs like sierra's.

Or if you can get some 10mm square key steel. It will work better than a 3/8 drive as socket drives have rounded corners. Key steel does not, as its meant for making keys for keyways.

Why didnt suzuki make normal hex head plugs.

[Highway-Star]

BlueSuzy wrote:

Why didnt suzuki make normal hex head plugs.

They did on LJ's

[Suzi.zook]

weld a nut on, cant go wrong, ive done it to the rear twice filer and drain, and front once filler, wouldnt weld a bolt becuase i nut you can fill with weld and it wont break as easy

[bone]

many good ideas and info, thanks guys!
what a f'n nightmare haha

yes the rounded edges on the drive was the beggining of the end for this plug.

um not sure what sort of seal its got behind it as in the owners manual it suggests to put a sealant on the thread. (reason for wondering if theres a washer behind it)

and yes, 3/8th drive plug.
might see if i can look at something different to replace it with, eg hex head, something external

[experament-u2]

i had a similar problem with my gearbox fill plug, tried everything, chisel wielding a bolt in, in the end the easiest option was easy outs
the other options would be better before using easy outs tho,

[lukes_89]

fill it through the diff breather if need be just make sure you have the correct amount of oil

[MacDaddy]

It is almost sounding like some idiot has put Lockrite on the thread can you see any blue shit around it ?

[Ben_Sierra]

MacBear wrote:

It is almost sounding like some idiot has put Lockrite on the thread can you see any blue shit around it ?

You tried removing diff plugs lately? I've never found one on a second hand car that came out easily.... They don't need loctite...

[steak_knife]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

MacBear wrote:

It is almost sounding like some idiot has put Lockrite on the thread can you see any blue shit around it ?

You tried removing diff plugs lately? I've never found one on a second hand car that came out easily.... They don't need loctite...

Just some tosser to ever tighten em..

[ajsr]

x2 on the fill though the breather

[bone]

steknig wrote:

Just some tosser to ever tighten em..

w3rd!
i believe this has been the case.
lets hope im not the next tosser to over tighten them



thanks to all for the helpfull insight,
easy outs was the winning option.
quick, easy and no hassle = win

[BlueSuzy]

Just weld the easy out on there for next time.

[ajsr]

with a little bit of copper eze and not too tight there is no next time