It's Always the Easy Things...

[kayger12]

So, out in the garage banging out trans and diff fluid swaps.

Diff went quick and easy.

I get to the trans, and I'm going to loosen the fill bolt (read on to see why you always remove the fill bolt first), I remember that it was starting to strip a little last year when I swapped in the RP.

Well, sure enough, I can't get enough grip on the torx bolt to loosen her, and she's nice and stripped out now.

Gonna have to order up a new fill bolt and then play around to get the stripped one out.

Moral of the story is-- if I would have drained the trans first, I'd be a little screwed and a lot pissed right now...

[kayger12]

Extra credit for the first person that can find me the part# for that fill plug.

[derbo]

27111226798

[kayger12]

You rock! Thank you, sir.

[LivesNearCostco]

My personal experience from breaking one of my tranny plugs two years ago is a standard M18 drain plug from your local auto parts store will fit, but it will stick out and look ugly compared to the OEM plug. And if you use it in the drain hole, you have to wait until your next transmission fluid service to replace it with the proper plug! Oh and I think the OEM plug is designed to fail before stripping the threads in the tranny, while the standard solid plug might not be so nice if you over-tighten it.

[BCS_ZHP]

Keith,
2 weeks ago went to change my belts. The T50 torx bolt on one tensioner felt sloppy. As soon as I put pressure on it to relieve pressure on the belt it stripped. On a Sunday, so no ch ance of a replacement. Took a 8mm hex socket, pounded it into the stripped torx hole and it held enough to change the belt. I'm probably screwed if I need to remove that bolt again but it worked for the here and now.
Bruce

[nike001]

I stripped the torx hole that was holding in my ballast.. I just got a dremel and cut a straight line across the head and used a flat head from there.

[danewilson77]

"stripped stories"

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

Thanks for the info gents.

I tried the 8mm when I was under there, but there was no room to get a hammer on it.

Dremel will be the route I go for removal when I have the new plug in hand.

Droid X. Tapatalk. Use it.

[kayger12]

Dealer will have the new plugs on Wednesday.

[kayger12]

New plugs in hand.

We'll see if I can get the stripped one out tomorrow morning.

If not, off to my friend's house for a lift and welder...

[danewilson77]

New plugs in hand.

We'll see if I can get the stripped one out tomorrow morning.

If not, off to my friend's house for a lift and welder...

Good luck buddy. Praying it goes smooth for you.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

Thanks, bro.

[Johnmadd]

Handheld torch should do it.

[kayger12]

I'm gonna try to notch it with a dremel first and see if I can get a driver head on it.

Plan B is to tack weld a nut on it and socket it off.

[kayger12]

Heading out to the garage.

Cursing to ensue...

[kayger12]

Keith,
2 weeks ago went to change my belts. The T50 torx bolt on one tensioner felt sloppy. As soon as I put pressure on it to relieve pressure on the belt it stripped. On a Sunday, so no ch ance of a replacement. Took a 8mm hex socket, pounded it into the stripped torx hole and it held enough to change the belt. I'm probably screwed if I need to remove that bolt again but it worked for the here and now.
Bruce

Great advice here, Bruce. Worked like a charm. Had just enough clearance in the trans tunnel to get the profile of a wrench on the 8mm for a few taps hard enough to seat it.

It held perfectly.

Had to go the same route on the drain plug, which also stripped when I tried to get it out with the torx.

Glad the new updated part is now an 8mm hex.

Trans is draining while I type...

[zj96sc]

What's the re-install torque on those? I'm amazed that they get so tight that this many folks have problems. Maybe heat cycles tighten them up over time?

[kayger12]

Torque is 44 ft/lbs. I torqued them myself last time, so I'm sure I didn't over tighten.

The metal just feels really soft when you start applying torque.

The new ones feel lighter than the old ones, so I went lighter this time and just put them at 30 ft/lbs and called it a day.

New 8mm allen setup on the updated part will I'm sure make this a whole lot easier next time.

---------
All done. Both the diff and trans fluid will be on their way to Blackstone later this afternoon.

Also, no visible metal shavings in the trans fluid as some had reported finding when draining their RP filled trans.

[danewilson77]

Torque is 44 ft/lbs. I torqued them myself last time, so I'm sure I didn't over tighten.

The metal just feels really soft when you start applying torque.

The new ones feel lighter than the old ones, so I went lighter this time and just put them at 30 ft/lbs and called it a day.

New 8mm allen setup on the updated part will I'm sure make this a whole lot easier next time.

---------
All done. Both the diff and trans fluid will be on their way to Blackstone later this afternoon.

Also, no visible metal shavings in the trans fluid as some had reported finding when draining their RP filled trans.

Mang...my diff fluid was.... Daaaaaark brown. I did not like it at all.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

My diff fluid was starting to get dark as well. We'll see what the good folks over at Bstone have to say.

I only had mine in for 15K, to boot.

[LivesNearCostco]

My diff fluid was dark and really, really smelly when I changed it at 135,000 miles. At that time it was almost certainly the original fluid. Not sure what it looked like at 145,000 miles because shop changed it when they re-sealed the cover.

[kayger12]

Yeah, that stuff smells nasty.

[johnrando]

Glad it worked out Keith.

[kayger12]

^ Thanks, my friend.