| Ron Crouch | -- 04-12-2011 @ 9:18 PM |
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Went to change the rear differential grease and thought the plug could be taken out with a 1/2 inch drive ratchet, the plug has a square hole, is there a special ford tool needed?
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| ford38v8 | -- 04-12-2011 @ 10:35 PM |
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Ron, Not willing to put off the task at hand when I encountered the same problem, I improvised by wrapping shim stock around my 1/2" drive. Alan
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| 40 Coupe | -- 04-13-2011 @ 6:08 AM |
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the square tang on the bottom of the Ford monkey wrench is used to remove the plug. They are usually so tight I have had to use a pipe wrench on the exposed threads to get them out. Roy Nacewicz sells them new. I have found a very few that the 3/8 drive on a rachet wrench will fit.
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| supereal | -- 04-13-2011 @ 10:32 AM |
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A 3/8 socket drive will usually get them out, but most drain plugs haven't been out for years, if ever, and can be a challenge. If the plug is damaged during extraction, a 3/8" pipe plug can be used as a replacement.
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| Tim I | -- 04-13-2011 @ 12:49 PM |
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I just went through this myself. In my case, it was the filler/level plug that was the stubborn one. Based on my experience, if you take a screwdriver and dig all the crud out of the square hole, a 3/8" drive ratchet will fit. I used a 1/2" drive to 3/8" drive adapter on a breaker bar. Since the 3/8" drive was a little loose in the hole, I wrapped a little aluminum foil around the drive and then tapped it into the hole for a nice tight fit. Before I did all this, I sprayed the plug with Kroil for a couple days, and then, right before using the breaker bar, heated up the plug a bit with a propane torch. It took some effort, but it did break free. The plug in the bottom came out a lot easier. Good luck! Tim
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| Stroker | -- 04-13-2011 @ 2:59 PM |
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Ron: Actually, besides the rather lame square end on the original Ford monkey wrenches, there were some special tools made primarily for what we used to call "service stations", which of course no longer exist. We had a tool at home that was made by McQuay-Norris, (who is still an OEM chassis parts supplier), that was called a "dog bone wrench". It had a veritable plethora of protuberances to handle just about any under-body service job, with square, hex and even the large drain plug wrench for some of the early fords with the big plug. As I recall, (since the example cited is long gone), the Ford rear axle drain plug spud had a slight taper so that you could tap the tool (whether it be a Ford monkey wrench or aftermarket tool) it in place, thereby wedging it into the plug. This makes sense, as the plugs were cast with the recessed square, so would have had a slight draft (or taper) to the sides to allow the mold to release. A 3/8 drive, whether an adapter or extension, has straight sides, so it only contacts the sides of the bottom of the square recess. The upper part of the recess; (being tapered) is slightly larger. If I were to make a new tool for the job, I'd take a 3/8 short extension, cut it off and then grind a tapered square 3/8x3/8 at the tip, and slightly larger at the base, so that it will wedge when driven into the plug. Hopefully, you will get the plug out without exhorting to these extremes, but I only posted this because I've had the same problem without using the above mentioned specialty tool.
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| 37pickupford | -- 04-13-2011 @ 6:03 PM |
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I had the same problem with the recessed square nut on the steady rods. I put the new nuts in my pocket and went to Ace Hardware and found a square keyway that fit perfect.
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