fill plug for differential

sgull

sgull

Member
What's a good tool to use to remove/replace the differential fluid fill plug. You know, it's got the square recess in which you need to insert a square rod or whatever to turn it. My vehicle is a 2WD '98 Ranger. Some of the pictures I've seen of people doing it seems to show them using a ratchet minus the socket, unless I'm seeing it wrong, but anyway I tried sticking a 3/8" as well as a 1/2" ratchet in. That can't be right, one is too big, and the other too small. I suppose there might be some specialty professional bit/tool to do this job, but I don't have such.

thanks
 
I have used a 1/2" extension with a ratchet, clean it up good get all the junk and old grease away from it too
 
Diabolical Ranger said:
I have used a 1/2" extension with a ratchet, clean it up good get all the junk and old grease away from it too
Click to expand...

Hmm. Could have sworn when I tried to check if a 1/2" extension on a ratchet would fit, that it was too big. guess I'll crawl under there again and double check, see if the problem is just too much rust/crud buildup in the recess. thanks.
 
Nope, 1/2" ratchet extension is definitely way too big to fit in the recess. I tried again also with a 3/8" ratchet extension, and that fits in pretty close, but too loose/sloppy, just too small it seems. Axle code (from sticker on door jamb) is shown as 84 for this vehicle, if that can help.
 
yea its supposed to fit a 3/8" ratchet or extension in there. theyre pretty shallow which makes it a pain. the best thing i found was get a 3/8" impact reducer from a 1/2" drive and used a big 1/2" ratchet and that did the trick. the impact ones seem alot tighter. also spray it down with a penetrating lube and that should help
 
SalRanger2 said:
yea its supposed to fit a 3/8" ratchet or extension in there. theyre pretty shallow which makes it a pain. the best thing i found was get a 3/8" impact reducer from a 1/2" drive and used a big 1/2" ratchet and that did the trick. the impact ones seem alot tighter. also spray it down with a penetrating lube and that should help
Click to expand...

Yeah what you describe sounds like a good way to go. Too bad I don't have any impact reducer as you mention. The regular 3/8" ratchet or extension seems like it's rather loose in there as I mentioned, and with the shallow recess like that it's not even deep enough to insert the ratchet/extension to the ball/spring catch. I do plan on using some PB Blaster penetrating oil beforehand. I'll just have to watch it and be careful it doesn't want to cooperate (with my regular ratchet method ) so I don't start stripping plug recess. thanks
Also, I was wondering if i'ts likely there's thread locker (loc-tight or whatever) on the plug threads, and if it's probably recommended that I use some when I re-install the plug back in. Or is that not really necessary?
 
I was thinking of my larger truck I had , it used the 1/2" ext. sorry bout that
 
i just put some teflon white thread tape on there is all. wasnt anything on there that i could remember when i took it out, no reason it would need lock tite or anything
 
Yes, 3/8 ratchet with a small extension will do. It may seem a little loose from wear, or you may just need to tap it in a little bit for it to sink in, so use an old extension and crank away. It should come out, then get a new plug.
 
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