Rounded drain plug

I was trying to drain the transmission and differential fluid in my wd45 and the differential plug is rounded over. What is the best way to remove it? I tried a open end first with no luck because half of the plug is rounded so i tried a socket and hit it on the all the way and still no luck. I dont have access to a tourch to heat it. Once i get it off where can i get a replacement plug? Thanks in advance

You might be able to get it off with a big pair of vice grips. You can buy a set a rounded off bolt removers that work pretty well. They are spiral cut and bite into the head and let you turn it out. It's just a standard pipe plug. You should be able to get one at a hardware store.

These are square head plugs so a standard 6 or 12 point socket won't work. An open end wrench works but tends to round off the head as you've seen. If you an a 4 or 8 point socket set, that works best. I found a snap on set of ebay a few years ago.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-10-pc-impact-grade-bolt-out-trade-damaged/p-00952165000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3

Edited by Allis dave - 26 May 2016 at 9:49am

Craftsman makes a socket set for rounded bolt heads, my brother has a set they worked pretty slick.

Get your pipe wrench out. It's made to grip round pipes and will bite into the rounded head.

you both are...that was my suggestion too! lol

Stilson wrench, kinda like a pipe wrench crossed with a pair of vise grips...

You probably can't get to it with a hammer, but if you can, give it a good thumpin', then try the pipe wrench.

I've used a small pipe wrench with great teeth and found the best spot on the nut.The used a 2' pipe as an extension. Holding the pipe wrench 'flat' on the nut, use the free hand to give a good,quick yank on the pipe. Works for me 95% of the time. Using a small pipe wrench is physically easier to line up, hold while underneath !
eVERY 12 point socket should go to the scrapyard..useless as teats on a bull !

Jay

Is it the pipe thread .

Until its all said and done . U may end up moving rear cover to drain oil and drill it out .

I have done this on these after someone tried everything else that got it good n rounded off .. Good luck

Edited by Fred in Pa - 27 May 2016 at 5:01pm

Oh absolutely! What do you plan to do with the oil when your drill bit starts to go thru? There is a lot of drilling left to do, so think of all that oil running down over your drill, arm and other body parts. So I would think that driving down to the welding shop would be much easier.

Buying Knipex Alligator will be cheaper than a trip to the welding shop, and after welding something to the plug it will be leaking all the way home because besides giving a wrench surface welding gets the plug red hot and it tries to expand but the casing around it doesn't get nearly so hot (and if its a casting getting a local spot hot can cause it to crack) so doesn't expand and that squishes the soft hot steel plug. Then when it cools it shrinks and leaves a gap and comes out easily.

It would be slow to get in with a file to file a couple flats for an open end wrench, but would not chance fracturing the housing from welding heat. File it to fit a wrench you have.

With old plug out and in your hand a car parts place MAY have a replacement to fit, but that depends on the thread and other dimensions.

There probably is a vintage flat wrench with a square hole that would fit the original plug even in that restricted space or one could be made from a piece of 1-1/2" x 1/4" or 3/8" steel bar stock by drilling and filing to fit. It won't turn the rounded plug though but could fit a new plug. If its a pipe threaded plug the local hardware store will have those plugs.

On a summer vacation in my dad's first new car (1954 Ford Fairlane I block 6) he had oil changed somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona and later at home we found that the kid who changed it used a pair of vice grips on the hex head bolt of the filter canister and the proper wrench no longer fit. I got the task of filing it back hexagonal then, made it a size smaller (probably 9/16 instead of 5/8") and my dad or I did every oil change that car got until he gave it to me as a graduation present in 1963. Being his first ever new car he wiped down the engine every oil change and on trips greased the ball joints on the front end daily while mom prepared lunch.

Gerald J.