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kcook73 · 06-19-2009, 08:37 AM

I had the dealer change the ATF and Diff fluid a year and a half ago. The other day I decided to do this maintenance myself (it had been 30,000 miles). No issue with the rear differential, the drain and fill plugs were tight, but I was able to get off with a breaker bar. However, when I tried to get the transmission drain plug off, I had to get a longer breaker bar, and ended up rounding out the hole for the 3/8" socket. The torque spec for this is 35 ft-lbs; I've got to the think this plug was severely overtorque by the dealer.

Any thoughts on how to get the plug out? I've had vice grips on it, and they slip. I've considered filing off a flat side on the plug, and giving that a shot. Also thought of having someone weld a nut onto it.

On the other hand, could I siphon the fluid out through the dipstick tube? Would I be able to get a flexible tube close to the bottom of the pan? Obviously wouldn't want to do anything that could potentially damage the transmission. The only limitation of this method seems to be not cleaning the metal particles off the magnet.

Any thoughts / help appreciated.

06-19-2009, 08:37 AM	#88 (permalink)
kcook73 Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: St. Louis Posts: 1	Siphoning ATF I had the dealer change the ATF and Diff fluid a year and a half ago. The other day I decided to do this maintenance myself (it had been 30,000 miles). No issue with the rear differential, the drain and fill plugs were tight, but I was able to get off with a breaker bar. However, when I tried to get the transmission drain plug off, I had to get a longer breaker bar, and ended up rounding out the hole for the 3/8" socket. The torque spec for this is 35 ft-lbs; I've got to the think this plug was severely overtorque by the dealer. Any thoughts on how to get the plug out? I've had vice grips on it, and they slip. I've considered filing off a flat side on the plug, and giving that a shot. Also thought of having someone weld a nut onto it. On the other hand, could I siphon the fluid out through the dipstick tube? Would I be able to get a flexible tube close to the bottom of the pan? Obviously wouldn't want to do anything that could potentially damage the transmission. The only limitation of this method seems to be not cleaning the metal particles off the magnet. Any thoughts / help appreciated.