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Re: Rounded oil drain plug
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Posted by Larry West [Email] (#1140) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Larry West) on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:45:26 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Rounded oil drain plug, jgARC03SW [Profile/Gallery] , Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:00:30
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You should be able to get Vise-Grips on the remains of the bolt head, and turn it off that way. If not, you might have better success with a screw extractor. You'll need to drill into the head (not all the way through the bolt!), then use the extractor. Use one that is pretty big, but still leaves you room for the teeth to bite into the plug head.

My arsenal for working on drain plugs usually consists of:

1/2" drive, SIX point socket of appropriate size,
1/2" drive 12-15" ratchet or breaker bar

The above two are only ever used to REMOVE the plug. The longer bar, and heftier socket help to break the bolt loose. Always apply a smooth, constant pressure on the breaker bar to loosen the bolt. Never yank or bounce on it. More often than not, that starts the rounding process.

Using these, I've not had a problem removing any bolts I installed.

To install the plug, I use either a 3/8" drive 6-point socket on a standard 3/8" ratchet handle (NOT a long one...), or a standard-length combination wrench (6 point if you can get it). Tightening is by hand, of course, and, as with tightening, smooth application of torque is needed.

If you can't get short wrenches or ratchets for tightening, then "choke up" on the wrench to shorten the lever you're working with. That'll limit the torque. I had to do that with the 24mm wrench I was using to change my ATF last week on my 1999 LPT.

One other thing to keep in mind: If the last time you changed the oil, the motor was warm, the drain plug will be harder to remove this time, IF the engine is cold! Always try to drain and fill with the engine warm!

Good luck with it!
_______________________________________
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1980 99 GLi
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