Busted Case taking Oil drain plug out ?

[dustrunner]

Anyone ever seen this happen. Picked up a machine with probably original dealer oil in it. Had a 2 ' breaker bar on it and it still wont loosen. Just afraid of busting the case.

[oldskool83]

Heat it up with propane torch, it will come loose. If it does not take to a machine shop have them weld on a new collar. I work at one, we fix stuff most people cant even think of fixing.

[ATC King]

Give it a good tap with a small hammer, put some heat on it, then use an impact.

One light tap, don't slam it. It takes some experience and feel, but being too aggressive will certainly break things you don't want to. Corroded parts need a shock to break loose, be it heating and cooling cycles or a light hammer tap.

I've been scraping aluminum parts lately and beating the absolute hell out of some things to get them apart, which includes breaking them. Smash and grab scraping. Chop saws, reciprocating saws, torches, welders (yes, to get steel to separate from aluminum), hydraulic presses, and BFHs. When I'm done, there's aluminum chips and bits all over. It takes a lighter touch to save parts, and many times, days of heating, cooling, and penetrating oil. A lot of patience and sometimes walking away for a couple days can make a world of difference.

The problem with using a breaker bar is it puts unequal stress on the bolt because the force is off-center. An impact is rotational force with some umph. It's the same reason why I like to use a T handle on stubborn fasteners instead of a wrench or ratchet. It's not always possible to use such tools because of the angle or obstructions, but for a drain plug, you've got a direct shot.

[El Camexican]

Lefty loosy, righty tighty (usually) :lol:

But seriously, heat and tapping is all good, although I cringe when it comes to hammering on something that is fastened to relatively thin discontinued aluminum.

If it was in my hands I would do the propane torch thing, but first I would heat the cases with a heat gun because you’re gonna want to get that bolt really hot in case the last guy in used JB Weld, or some other epoxy to hold it in place (hopefully not) and then put an electric impact on it and give it a quick hits in the tightening direction. Yes that’s right, try to tighten it slightly, just a quick forward wrap, and then switch directions and try to loosen it with cautious blips of the trigger. DON’T go nuts on it!

When a bolt has been overnighted, or installing into aluminum without antiseize as is likely your situation, it is easier to get the bolt threads to advance slightly then it is to get them to reverse course and come out. I’m not talking about a quarter of a turn or anything drastic like that, just something along the lines of a microscopic vibration. Once the thread surfaces have broken free of each other it’s a lot easier to get them to turn the other direction.

Providing your threads are good, clean them up and make sure you use a little bit of anti-seize and a new, or annealed copper washer when you go to put it back together.

[ATC King]

although I cringe when it comes to hammering on something that is fastened to relatively thin discontinued aluminum.

You're not wrong.

I'm so used to giving an impact driver a whack on these old engines that I don't hesitate giving fasteners a light tap before proceeding. It could certainly go tap, tap, dang if getting carried away.

A light tighten before loosening is a safer method.

Good call on there possibly being epoxy on the plug. That makes me wonder if the engine came from a technical school, if it's low hour.

[El Camexican]

You're not wrong.

I'm so used to giving an impact driver a whack on these old engines that I don't hesitate giving fasteners a light tap before proceeding. It could certainly go tap, tap, dang if getting carried away.

A light tighten before loosening is a safer method.

Good call on there possibly being epoxy on the plug. That makes me wonder if the engine came from a technical school, if it's low hour.

You never know who you’re talking to on these forms. This guy could have arms like Popeye and an IQ, like Homer, Simpson, or he could be the worlds best mechanic just looking for a little advice. I’m always skeptical of giving answers as though I’m talking to myself.

[Scootertrash]

Lefty loosy, righty tighty (usually) :lol:

But seriously, heat and tapping is all good, although I cringe when it comes to hammering on something that is fastened to relatively thin discontinued aluminum.

If it was in my hands I would do the propane torch thing, but first I would heat the cases with a heat gun because you’re gonna want to get that bolt really hot in case the last guy in used JB Weld, or some other epoxy to hold it in place (hopefully not) and then put an electric impact on it and give it a quick hits in the tightening direction. Yes that’s right, try to tighten it slightly, just a quick forward wrap, and then switch directions and try to loosen it with cautious blips of the trigger. DON’T go nuts on it!

When a bolt has been overnighted, or installing into aluminum without antiseize as is likely your situation, it is easier to get the bolt threads to advance slightly then it is to get them to reverse course and come out. I’m not talking about a quarter of a turn or anything drastic like that, just something along the lines of a microscopic vibration. Once the thread surfaces have broken free of each other it’s a lot easier to get them to turn the other direction.

Providing your threads are good, clean them up and make sure you use a little bit of anti-seize and a new, or annealed copper washer when you go to put it back together.

What El said ^

My Dad taught me this many moons ago when I was a young wench......eerrr...uuumm....wrench. At first I thought he was messing with me, but over the years that technique has served me well.

Remember, you're not trying to get the nut/bolt to turn a lot, just to break it loose.

[Scootertrash]

You never know who you’re talking to on these forms. This guy could have arms like Popeye and an IQ, like Homer, Simpson, or he could be the worlds best mechanic just looking for a little advice. I’m always skeptical of giving answers as though I’m talking to myself.


:lol:

I gotta visit here a little more.....

[El Camexican]

Nuts and bolts are a fascinating topic. I’ve got a friend back home who makes a very good living flying around the planet telling people how to properly tighten nuts and bolts. Some of the information he has shared would make your head spin (Yeah I know exactly what I did there.:p)

If you think about it, under a microscope, there would appear to be a massive void underneath every old bolt thread that’s either full of corrosion or thread locker, but the surface closest to the head of the bolt is tightly compressed against the threads of whatever it has been torqued into. Microscopically speaking, all the imperfections are pointed in the direction of tightening, so it makes sense that just going a little bit more forward will be a lot easier than trying to reverse them. When you do that, you break all the junk that was in the voids free, and create a tiny little path behind all those microscopic points that allows you to get some unimpeded reverse motion going.

I’m sure my buddy could explain it better, but he’s not on here so we’ll just have to wait for one of Barnetts many friends to come on here and explain it to us:lol: