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So I recently decided to do a rear diff+front transfer case oil change. The rear diff went pretty easily, as well as the front fill port. However whoever did the front drain port the last time (I bought this car a bit over a year ago) practically mangled the drain port to the point it slips whenever I try to use a 24mm wrench on it. I've also tried a 15/16 SAE (which is ~23.8something mm) with no avail, and the ring is too thick to fit around the drain port. My 24mm socket I used for my fill port fits (there's some play but it does fit fine), but the exhaust blocks it from fitting any socket wrench. I've ordered a lower-profile 15/16 socket to 1) eliminate the play the 24mm socket has and 2) see if I can get a socket wrench between the space. Alternatively the 24mm sockets have a circular hole that pokes through the socket and maybe I can stick a metal bar to try to use it like a right-angle wrench, but I'm basically out of ideas. Has anyone else ran into this problem and knows a solution?
The first picture is taken from the back of the car, the 2nd picture from the front. You can see the drain port's really mangled from whoever did this the last time.
Big chisel and hammer, with penetrating oil and heat. Spray oil on plug & hammer to help it soak in and penetrate. Then BFC (Big Freakin’ Chisel) and a mini sledge will eventually break it loose. Had to do it on my rear diff drain & fill plugs because the allen head stripped out.
Diff and T-case plugs use a M18 x 1.5 plug. I got a 24mm chrome (non-impact) socket to fit with a stubby breaker bar. I couldn’t get an impact socket or socket wrench to fit due to the exhaust.
So I recently decided to do a rear diff+front transfer case oil change. The rear diff went pretty easily, as well as the front fill port. However whoever did the front drain port the last time (I bought this car a bit over a year ago) practically mangled the drain port to the point it slips whenever I try to use a 24mm wrench on it. I've also tried a 15/16 SAE (which is ~23.8something mm) with no avail, and the ring is too thick to fit around the drain port. My 24mm socket I used for my fill port fits (there's some play but it does fit fine), but the exhaust blocks it from fitting any socket wrench. I've ordered a lower-profile 15/16 socket to 1) eliminate the play the 24mm socket has and 2) see if I can get a socket wrench between the space. Alternatively the 24mm sockets have a circular hole that pokes through the socket and maybe I can stick a metal bar to try to use it like a right-angle wrench, but I'm basically out of ideas. Has anyone else ran into this problem and knows a solution?
The first picture is taken from the back of the car, the 2nd picture from the front. You can see the drain port's really mangled from whoever did this the last time.
the bolt looks rounded not stripped. If the threads were stripped you would pretty much be screwed. Would have to mask the inside of the t case drill out the mangled threads and then tap with new thread pattern or hope that you could just tap with the existing thread pattern and hope that cleans things out.
but if it’s just rounded then try using some vice grips. Idk if you could find a bolt extractor large enough for the 24mm. Capri makes the wave drive wrenches but I also don’t know if there is a 24mm size.
I think the easiest thing to find for this application would be a 24mm spline socket. But I would replace the bolt. I know these bolts have a really low profile so the question is does the cap protrude enough to get a good bite with whatever you use. You could take an angle grinder and cut a slot in the top and use that with a flat head or pry bar.
So Capri had a 15/16in size stubby impact socket on Amazon that's only 3/8in long. Along with a shorter ratcheting wrench from Walmart I was able to barely squeeze both through to loosen up that drain bolt; I went 15/16 instead of 24mm because I wanted the slightly smaller socket to give this every possible advantage it can get. It is a slight squeeze and I ended up breaking 1 of 2 ratcheting wrenches I had because it got stuck between the bolt and the exhaust and I was trying to get it out. I'm glad I stuck through this because the front oil was in much worse shape than the rear oil, possibly because the old drain bolt was already rounded and the owner I bought this car from just decided to maybe skip a maintenance interval for the front transfer case oil.
For anyone else that's doing this, something I had to do was once the drain bolt was loosened I immediately took the socket+wrench out, otherwise you might risk both of them getting stuck; also keep in mind the direction switch on a ratcheting wrench can also affect clearance, that's how tight of a space it was. It was also easier to work on this from the front of the car instead of the sides. Honestly though if you can get an even shorter socket I think you'll have a much better time, or alternatively some sort of socket wrench w/out a ratchet?
I don't know why Toyota didn't design this with a hex in the center like the rear drain/fill bolts (maybe because this drain port is really short), which would solve the tool selection issue. What's worse is that they're using pretty malleable metal on these, and 2 small slips from me was enough to already start rounding a small bit of the metal out.
BTW this is what the old drain bolt looked like. Sorry for the bad quality picture, but it's a bit of a better view on how rounded this thing was.
10-17-22, 11:16 AM
2007 RX350 Stripped Transfer Case Drain Port
