How to break fill and drain tranny nuts loose

[Bilito]

Not much room because I will be on my back under the car trying to loosen the filler plug. the drain plug however presents a different problem. that is the scary one since I will be either pulling or pushing and the force will be trying to knock the car off the jack stands. I have a four foot long pipe I can use for that as an extension, but I still have to be under to hold the wrench on the plug.
What do think will happen if I use an impact lug nut wrench on that

[testify]

I don't see any reason not to use an impact if you can get it up there.

Maybe start at a lower PSI on your regulator.

[Bobkid]

As long as you can get the fill plug out, you can still change the fluid with one of these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Mr Bingley]

I wouldn't use an impact, all kinds of bad things can happen. Get some railroad ties or 6X6's and stack them under the car Lincoln log style on both sides at the middle in case something untoward happens, and use the extension. Or, like an earlier poster suggested, take it to a shop and have them break the plugs loose on a lift for you.

[rf900rkw]

I do use an impact when the unit is on the bench. When it's not bolted to a 2500# car to hold it still, there is no other way.

[raubritter]

Another option I would look into if I was desperate enough would be to find a high curb with a gutter where you could drive (for example) the driver side tires of the car up onto the curb (parallel to the curb + road), the passenger side tires would be on the street, and you could hopefully fit in the gutter area to work.

[gmushial]

Not much room because I will be on my back under the car trying to loosen the filler plug. the drain plug however presents a different problem. that is the scary one since I will be either pulling or pushing and the force will be trying to knock the car off the jack stands. I have a four foot long pipe I can use for that as an extension, but I still have to be under to hold the wrench on the plug.
What do think will happen if I use an impact lug nut wrench on that

Those of us that have had a car come down on them because of, in my case a defective weld on a stand: will never use stands again: use ramps: can't knock the car off them. ... you live longer that way. :-)

[gmushial]

I wouldn't use an impact, all kinds of bad things can happen. Get some railroad ties or 6X6's and stack them under the car Lincoln log style on both sides at the middle in case something untoward happens, and use the extension. Or, like an earlier poster suggested, take it to a shop and have them break the plugs loose on a lift for you.

I think there is also a metallurgical side to this: as Randy pointed out: the way these work is that the metal bends/flows to accommodate the interacting/interfering surfaces - with a breaker bar, when torque is applied, the metal has time to "unflow" and separate - with an impact wrench, the time it has to "unflow"/unbend is way way less, and is much more inclined to simply break - you'll see this in a tire shop, where for time reasons they'll use an impact wrench to break even the tightest lug nuts/bolts free, and all too often they'll end up stripping them, whereas if they had used a breaker bar, there is a much much lower probability of such.... learned this the hard way on our rail: to miss a semi-finals because one is having to replace a stud sucks. :-( use an 3/4" drive impact 6 pt socket, with the Z on ramps, and as long of a cheater on the breaker bar as you need [6' and jumping up and down on it for frozen axle nuts isn't unreasonable... but you will win ;-) ]

[Bilito]

SUCCESS Got em loose and out and the yucky black fluid drained
I used the jack method on the fill plug, got the breaker bar in position and moved the floor jack under it, the wife pumped while I watched, it moved a tad at a time until I heard that distinctive sound of something breaking, turned out it was the nut moving, after 5 or 6 adjustments, approx I turn out I could move it by hand with some effort.
For the drain plug we used the four foot piece of pipe as an extension, I held the tool on the nut while the wife applied the power, it broke loose on the first try with a great amount of effort of my wife's part to move that pipe
Just eyeballing these nuts I do not see any taper and I don't own a micrometer.
Now for the process of refilling with new fluid, I am using the oil pump I fill the lower units of my outboards with

For safety reasons on the right side I jacked it up enough to slide under the tire a ramp shoved in backwards. strange but when I let the jack down until the tire was on the ramp it also settled back on the jack stand so I actually had a twofer. TO tell the truth the whole process made us both very nervous until we got them out.

[ixlr08]

SUCCESS Got em loose and out and the yucky black fluid drained.

Congratulations!! Glad to hear nothing got broke in the process... you included.

[testify]

Those of us that have had a car come down on them because of, in my case a defective weld on a stand: will never use stands again: use ramps: can't knock the car off them. ... you live longer that way. :-)

How do you use ramps when you're removing suspension bits, subframe, transmissions, diffs?

[raubritter]

Congratulations! Jack stands kind of creep me out too, so I always AT LEAST back them up with a jack on each side on the frame rails, jacked up just until I feel some pressure. If you have the wheels off, you could also put those under there lying flat.

[gmushial]

How do you use ramps when you're removing suspension bits, subframe, transmissions, diffs?

Depends on which pieces or bits.. for things like LCABs 10" ramps (*), with, turn out to be the perfect answer, ie, if the ramps also block the wheel, then they hold the wheel/suspension in the correct position, so there is no fighting to get things aligned to get them bolted down. Otherwise, if as you indicate, sometime ramps aren't possible, then I have 20-24" in diam pine rounds (with 3/4" ply over the ends to preclude a lengthwise split) of various lengths, which I slide under the sills at the jacking spots... the problem with stands is the base to height ratio, and there is no leverage at the top to keep them from going over... with a square cut round, even it they were to try to tip, an edge would come up against something on the bottom of the car and keep it from happening. If I need to go higher, then I have 30" rounds - again, its all about height to base - with those I'm comfortable with a car up 3 ft.

(*) many ways to build them... but generally build a set/pair to be 5ft long and 10ish inches high [will insert 2 or 3 plywood layers in the stack to make sure they can never split from top to bottom and fail], and then chainsaw diagonally into two pieces so there are ramps on the ends [will plan ahead so that there will be no nails in where the cut will be, and add nails after the cut is made]... though generally lift the car up onto them with a jack, lower the car so it's sitting on the blocks/ramps, and then leave the jack in place as a backup... on top I'll nail and glue 2x4s across the width and 6-9" apart (depending on tire diam) to chock the wheels in place [I position them so that when I lower the wheel into the cradle, there are solid indents into the tire front and back]. Marks Engineering Handbook puts the safe working load on such at around 12-16000 lbs (each) - but again: they're 11.5" wide, 10+ inches high, and 2+ ft long... and with all four wheels chocked this way, never had a car try to do anything silly.

[magnetchief]

Just changed the transmission fluid on my Z3 M Roadster this am.
Ran the front wheels up on a set of rhino ramps. Jacked the back up supporting both sides with jack stands to get the transmission level.

Crawled underneath and used a 17mm wrench with a 24 inch bar on the end of it.
Those plugs were tight!
But steady non jerking pressure loosened them up.

Resealed with a little ptfe tape and original plugs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vintage42]

... Ran the front wheels up on a set of rhino ramps...

Do they tend to slip? My Rhinos always slip so I use layered beveled 2x12s.

[Vintage42]

...Just eyeballing these nuts I do not see any taper...

Taper is not mentioned in the part description:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/23117527440/
On the other hand, several forum posts refer to the drain and fill plugs as tapered, and how could a split like this happen without the wedge effect of a taper?
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...0#post10330150

Edit: After looking at the next post, I was a flat-earther that wouldn't know a taper if he saw one.

[rf900rkw]

I looked at the ground and didn't see any curve, so the earth must be flat....


If it was a straight thread, the plug would winde easily all the way in until it bottomed on 3rd driven gear. There is no flange, no shoulder. The only thing stopping the plug is the wedging of the taper.

[testify]

Depends on which pieces or bits.. for things like LCABs 10" ramps (*), with, turn out to be the perfect answer, ie, if the ramps also block the wheel, then they hold the wheel/suspension in the correct position, so there is no fighting to get things aligned to get them bolted down. Otherwise, if as you indicate, sometime ramps aren't possible, then I have 20-24" in diam pine rounds (with 3/4" ply over the ends to preclude a lengthwise split) of various lengths, which I slide under the sills at the jacking spots... the problem with stands is the base to height ratio, and there is no leverage at the top to keep them from going over... with a square cut round, even it they were to try to tip, an edge would come up against something on the bottom of the car and keep it from happening. If I need to go higher, then I have 30" rounds - again, its all about height to base - with those I'm comfortable with a car up 3 ft.

(*) many ways to build them... but generally build a set/pair to be 5ft long and 10ish inches high [will insert 2 or 3 plywood layers in the stack to make sure they can never split from top to bottom and fail], and then chainsaw diagonally into two pieces so there are ramps on the ends [will plan ahead so that there will be no nails in where the cut will be, and add nails after the cut is made]... though generally lift the car up onto them with a jack, lower the car so it's sitting on the blocks/ramps, and then leave the jack in place as a backup... on top I'll nail and glue 2x4s across the width and 6-9" apart (depending on tire diam) to chock the wheels in place [I position them so that when I lower the wheel into the cradle, there are solid indents into the tire front and back]. Marks Engineering Handbook puts the safe working load on such at around 12-16000 lbs (each) - but again: they're 11.5" wide, 10+ inches high, and 2+ ft long... and with all four wheels chocked this way, never had a car try to do anything silly.

If you are afraid to use jack stands, just chuck all 4 wheels under the car as an added safety measure while using them.

[gmushial]

Do they tend to slip? My Rhinos always slip so I use layered beveled 2x12s.

Someone that likes wood :-) might be primitive, but generally pretty damn incompressible... and one lives to see another day :-)

- - - Updated - - -

If you are afraid to use jack stands, just chuck all 4 wheels under the car as an added safety measure while using them.

If you've ever been pinned under a car for five hrs and getting to the point where breathing was getting almost impossible... because a stand failed (weld): you never use them again.

- - - Updated - - -

I looked at the ground and didn't see any curve, so the earth must be flat....


If it was a straight thread, the plug would winde easily all the way in until it bottomed on 3rd driven gear. There is no flange, no shoulder. The only thing stopping the plug is the wedging of the taper.

Don't need much taper in metal for such to work - less than 2 degrees.. which to an untrained eyeball: doesn't exist... but the fact that it "bottoms" without a shoulder: it must be there.

[Vintage42]

... If you've ever been pinned under a car for five hrs and getting to the point where breathing was getting almost impossible... because a stand failed (weld): you never use them again...

I was still using the bent sheet metal, spot welded stands I used in the 80s. Until last year when I got scared. I gave them away and got cast Harbor Freight stands.