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12 bolt diff cover with fluid add plug

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chappys4life

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Doing maintenance on my newly acquired 78 k5 blazer and went to do the change the rear diff fluid last night. The downside the fill plug in the diff is froze and partially stripped. I have some pb blaster sitting on it now but i am worried I will not be able to get it removed with a lot of work.

I figured to make life easier get a rear diff cover that has a fill plug. When googling all I can find is 200+ covers. Is there anything under 100 that has a plug?
 
at least you can pull the cover and worse case drill it out and use a rubber well plug. not that easy with toyota or ford 9"
 
I had one diff cover that had a seized & rusted in fill plug--since I was going to remove the cover and change the fluid,I took it off and drilled a hole thru the oem fill plug,which had a recessed allen head type of pipe plug ,then I tapped the hole for a 1/2" x 20 tpi engine drain plug & washer I had new in the package hanging around,for a small block V8..it was a magnetic one too..

I would have tried heating up the cover and use an E-Z out or welded a bolt into the oem filler plug ,but the cover was rusty and getting thin in places,I figured that would end up creating more troubles..
It was quicker and easier to just drill and tap the old filler plug and leave it in it..
 
Going to try another round of removal later. Picked up a socket - Sunex 310PC 3/8-Inch Drive 5/16-Inch Male Pipe Plug Socket going to pb blaster and a breaker bar hopefully. Ordered some replacement plugs as well.

I have had really bad luck with extractors. Would that one work being its not a hex like for a allen key but actually a 3/8 extension
 
yes those pipe plug sockets work much better than a 3/8 drive tool. The pocket on plug depth line up the 3/8 drive tool with de-tent ball, a weak spot, and the tool breaks. 5/16 might be to small. I have the whole set there are some odd sizes never listed them just find the one that fits.
 
chappys4life said:
Doing maintenance on my newly acquired 78 k5 blazer and went to do the change the rear diff fluid last night. The downside the fill plug in the diff is froze and partially stripped. I have some pb blaster sitting on it now but i am worried I will not be able to get it removed with a lot of work.

I figured to make life easier get a rear diff cover that has a fill plug. When googling all I can find is 200+ covers. Is there anything under 100 that has a plug?
Click to expand...

Trick Flow has a cover that is 150 at Summit and you might be able to find one cheaper but it is VERY handy to have a drain plug and a fill plug on the cover. The fins should help at least a little in cooling.

Joel
 
I made a habit of putting ordinary pipe plugs with hex or square heads in place of the crappy GM originals that a 3/8" ratchet was supposed to fit in..almost every truck & car I had with the original filler plug was already boggered up when I got the vehicle..
And I didn't tighten the plug much past a 1/2 turn past hand tight either..
Many I had a tough time removing,they were torqued way too much..had to heat up the diff housing and risk melting the pinion seal on a few of them..
 
PB Blaster and breaker bar worked for me, but that plug definitely wanted to strip. good luck man I hope it works.

My pathfinder 1/2" fill plug in the diff cover is frozen and stripped. same shit either way lol
 
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