Broken transmission drain plug, 8N

[CraigM]

Anyone have any experience getting a broken transmission drain plug out of an 8N? The front plug was pretty well rounded off, so we had to resort to a pipe wrench. That just peeled metal until the plug finally cracked. I'm hoping that someone has a neat trick to make removing the remains of the plug easier, or even possible.

 

[tommu56]

Is it a regular "pipe plug"

If so drill it out in small steps without hitting the threads.

grind a hacksaw blade to fit the hole make 3 or 4 cuts till you justabout touch the threads of the transmission.

take a small punch or chisel and tap what is left in toward the center.

that should loosen and spin right out.

if not knock another section loose adn try and turn it out

chase threads with a tap

put new plug in.

tom

 

[Egon]

easy out?

 

[CraigM]

Not going to drill or ez-out this one. It's not just a simple pipe plug. It's got, or had, a 1-1/16" hex on it, and the thread is probably close to 2" in diameter. I like Tom's plan. If I crack out a little more, I can easily get an unmodified hacksaw blade up in there. Just hope I can manage not to booger up the threads in the tranmission case. The tap to chase those threads is probably worth more than the tractor.

 

[Soundguy]

It's a common bung drain on a ford.

weld a big hex nut on it and them wrench it out.. that's the easiest / safest way to get it out.

next easiest / safest way is to get a chissle and start it into the edge of the flange ont he plug, then start the chissle so it is tapping the flange inthe direction to unscrew it. Many thousands of drain bungs have been removed via chissle.. just stay out o fthe metal under the flange as it is needed to seal.

Last way is to us a hacksaw and relieve the metal near the threads a lil and then try to crush in / spin around with that chissle again... this is not a safe idea if you have had no experience with this.

also.. once you get it out and put the new one on.. make sure you use the gasket tha comes with the plug. 80% of stuck drain bungs I see are because the owner was too cheap to buy a 50 cent repalcement gasket.. or even make one out of some paperboard, and instead used some hardening gasket goop or just tightened the bajeezus out of it to make it stop leaking.

soundguy

 

[20 20]

I'd also go with the weld it idea, then try the others

 

[Soundguy]

the heat and 'draw' from the weld help to break any rust and or 'glue' bonds free.. so it's a 1-2-3 punch with the large hex nut and weld trick. I've yet to have that one fail to eventually remove a plug. I have welded a large nut on before only to have it rip even more of the flange off.. however at theat pont, the only thing left o fhte plug was a thin section of threads and that popped out with a single chissle blow cracking the threads to the id of the open hole then it spun out by hand. I also sometimes use a file to repair my old bungs that have had the head rounded.. or just weld a nut on them for ease of use next time.. even my neat looking ford 541 offset has a hex nut on it's plug.

soundguy

 

[CraigM]

We got it! Tom's idea reminded me of a trick I'd seen an old toolmaker do on a machine we were working on. He used a small chisel to remove a button head cap screw that the allen socket had stripped out of. We got a chisel and went at the edge of the flange in the un-screwing direction. Eventually, a big chunk of the flange came off and at that point, the plug started to unscrew. I've got a new plug and gasket waiting for me to pick up after the holidays.

Thanks for all the ideas