Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 12:53:22 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Stuck Oil Drain plug
In-Reply-To: <c803c1a70804070835h6c362327ra1d26e75af46f73a@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
You have gooten a lot of good advice on how to tackle this problem.
Here's my take.
First a physics lesson.
A round iron or aluminum ring with a steel ball sitting over the hole -
all at room temperature - will not allow the ball to pass through.
Freeze the ball, which makes it shrink, and it will drop through.
Alternatively, heat the ring, and the ring will expand and the ball will
drop through.
So, for your project, you need to do both at the same time - freeze the
ball, heat the ring, or in this case, freeze the bolt, and heat the case
boss around the bolt.
Well how is this done. I will tell all, but another lesson first.....
Before heating anything or freezing anything, apply the "BM Bulley" 200
taps principle. Tap that bolt head 200 times with a ball peen hammer.
Then try and turn it. If it does not move, then back to the physics.
With propane torch, play the flame round and round the bolt head on the
case, then try to turn. If it doesn't - 200 more taps, try again.
If that doesn't get'ter done, then apply the heat as described, the
spray the bolt head with any pressure can of computer dust buster for
blowing dust from a computers inner works. This should shrink the bolt
while the metal around the bolt remains expanded. This condition should
loosen the grip on the bolt sufficiently that you should be able to turn
it.
If this doesn't allow you to move the bolt, either the metal of the bolt
and the case has galled together more or less as one, or some put
loctite on the threads to prevent it from falling out while on the road.
If it is the latter, then the proper fix is to use the ball peen hammer
and apply GM Bulley's 220 taps to the head of the perpertator..
Once that is done, and all the blood and gore cleaned up, take the van
to a shop, let them reef it off, clean it up, and then put in a helicoil
with new drain plug in there.
BTDT.
Good Luck,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Jeff Lincoln wrote:
> Ok those more experienced and wiser than I (which means the entire list I'm
> sure) - We have a situation where the oil drain plug will not budge. Have
> sprayed it with PB blaster and tried and tried but the darn thing wont
> budge. We were afraid of rounding off the nut end so gave up temporarily.
> It's so stuck that I twisted the nub off of my socket adaptor trying to get
> it out.
>
> The van has been sitting for close to 2 years and I think the last time the
> oil was changed it was done at an oil change place (I know, I know) so they
> may have impact wrenched it on there tight to begin with.
>
> Any tricks or advice on getting this thing loose without messing it up or
> God Forbid twisting the head off?
>
> --
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff
> '90 Carat (Grover)
> '86 (We call this one Parts)
> '78 Bus (Melissa) Patty's Bus
>
>
>
