Hi,

I need to top up my diff oil but I can't get the filler plug to come free. The car's mostly built so I don't want to start stripping back. Any suggestions?

Would it make sense to try and drip oil through the breather hole?

Thanks

i know the oil will come out through the breather as me and chris lost alot of oil through ours

i dont know if you could top it up tho, but it would make sence that what comes out can go back in

would be hard to work out how much oil was in the unit at the end, how much is there meant to be? you can always do as i was recommended about a stiff bolt, weld another head on, the heat frees it up nicely and you get a good new nut to grip. All the best anyway...!

if you do go down the breather pipe route, you could turn the diff upside down, let it drain, then fill it back up with the right amount of oil.

you could also weigh it while it's full so you can top it up again without having to drain it.

perhaps

The filler plug uses an Allen key to unscrew so the idea of welding a new one on seems less feasible.

Turning it upside down is equally unfriendly seeing as the car is almost fully built and I want to avoid stripping it.

I think I'm going to go for the breather tube.

I've stuffed a bit of wire down the hole so I can judge the depth of oil. I'll go for slightly more rather than less, that way any excess can make its way up the breather.

Mine was like this so:

I drilled the allen key socket out slightly to allow an M12 bolt cut down (to about 1.5 - 2 cm) to fit the hole. (Don't drill right through though !!)

Then welded the fore mentioned bolt into the hole in the diff plug.

Large extension bar and a 19mm socket and the plug came out easily.

Just need to buy a new diff plug from Ford (about £6 if I remember)

Could have been the heat or the extra leverage or a combination, but it worked.

[Edited on 16/11/03 by givemethebighammer]

you can get a socket with a allen key in it
before you try to move it
try tighting it up first i know it sounds mad but it works on the 50 year old gearboxes we get in at work
also try heating up the casing if you can get at it
good luck dave blissett

I'm going to try the following...

Using my brake bleeding kit I'm going to pump air into the diff through a short narow tube with another long, wider diameter tube going down to the bottom of the diff. The air pressure should force the oil up through the long tube.

Once I've got as much of the old oil out as I can I'll pump oil in through the long wide pipe and let the short pipe breathe.

BTW, for tubes I've stripped the copper out of 2 different diameter cables that I recovered from my old Sierra loom.

I'll let u know how well this works.

Hello boys,

With my Ford rear axle it was possible to after fill trough one of the shield bolts.

Took two out, one for filling and one for air to drain.

Worked OK. Needed 1 hour or so through the small hole, but better than dismantling the axle from the car.

/Hasse

I might try that one, though, if it works, I presume I'll only need to remove 1 bolt as the breather hole will function as it's supposed to.

Russell

If you still havent got it out by the time I come over to pick up my seats. I will bring some tools over with me, and see if we can make it have it.

Gordon

I poured 600ml of diff oil down the breater hole (after removing the breather tube and flange).

It took around 10 minutes to do with the oil being pumped into the breather hole by way of my brake bleeder kit.

I tested the depth with a bit of wire and I'm comfortable that there's enough oil in there.

BTW, I considered unscrewing the back plate, letting all the oil out and then seeing what I could do to free the filler but I couldn't get all the screws to loosen.

Thanks to all for the input.

if this isnt too obvious - did you try using the right tool? I bought an allen key thingy that goes onto a 1/2 inch drive socket wrench - if you use this with a 'breaker bar' - a 2 foot long bar , its bound to come out!

atb

steve

ps - if push comes to shove and you feel cheap i could post you mine as long as i get it back

I tried the right allen key with a long extension bar on it

result the allen key socket just stripped hence having to go the welder route !!

My experience was the same as GTBH.

Seing as the diff is a fairly robust bit of kit I don't anticipate having to service it during the life of my Indy. With enough oil down the breather tube I should hopefully be able to forget about it.

If it needs any work then it's going to be a new diff.

I'm also having trouble with my diff plug. Is the allen key size 11mm, can't tell on mine the hole is a bit chewed up?

Thanks

I think its 10mm

I thought my diff plug was siezed too,but a 10mm allen key with a 3ft extension bar soon sorted that.

Must admit it was tight

That only works if the head is not knackered.

I've don the sme before on an axel, Get the oil out and the apply a little heat to the bolt. It should come out if you can get the allen key into it and its not rounded.

Warning Heating items containing oil is dangerous, don't try this at home. Blah Blah Blah....

Don't blame me if it goes Bang, Oh sorry I mean Wrong.

I did mine yesterday, was well hard to undo, in the end i hammered my snap-on 3/8th tapered extension bar in to make the rounded hole square, then hammered my 3/8th break bar end in, with a bit of tapping with the old faithfull club hammer she was loose!

The magnet in the filler pug has been doing its job, as i found a very small amount of metal fillings attached to it, nothing to worry about as it was as much as a head of a pin

Will replace it with a new one as it looks a bit mullered now

Two words: Cold Chisel.

You'll need to get a new plug afterwards, but if the hex is chewed up already you have nothing to lose.

Had the same problem with my AX GTi, stupid gearbox filler had a square drive which managed to shear off my sump plug key. Cold chisel application removed it pretty quickly, dressed it up with a file and welded an M12 nut on for future use.

..........and welded an M12 nut on for future use

Just weld the M12 on first, by the time it cools, you will be able to unscrew it by hand
Rescued attachment Sump Plug.JPG

damn right there, i did that on my sump plug and it came straight out, its a very easy technique for getting stuck stuff undone.

Use it on almost anything
Rescued attachment Caliper.jpg