Changing Front Differential Fluid, I screwed up.

So, I just stripped that stupid 10 mm drain bolt trying to change my front differential fluid.

I even purchased a Lexus drain plug to replace the stupid Toyota drain plug.

What are my options at this point?

Basically, the 10 mm fitting is just a round metal hole at this point.

Are there shops that specialize in fixing things like this?

 

I took mine to my favorite shop and asked them to weld a bolt to it and crack it loose for me.

 

Beyond the hex is a torx fit. Try using a large torx socket from HF. If that doesn’t work weld the nut.

 

Excuse my ignorance here but is this the drain plug or fill plug. Are these pipe thread?

 

Not pipe thread. Might also try an easy out from HF

 

To clarify, you stripped the plug itself NOT the transfer case right?

 

Thanks. A little late for this tip. Before doing your Col. Steve Austin impression trying to muscle the cap off, try tapping the cap with a small ball peen hammer for a few minutes to shock it loose. If there is enough room to swing a hammer use a hand held impact with a very good hex bit. Using heat before and after the ball peen tap dance helps too.

 

Weld the hex into it

 

At this point your best option is probably to just have a muffler shop weld a short bolt in the stripped plug. After the weld, hit it with penetrating oil and begin to wrench it in both directions while tapping on the area around it with a hammer. Once loose, snug it and go home to change your oil. Be sure to remove the fill plug before draining any oil!

 

Sharp chisle and hammer?

 

Not a great idea to remove material that can be welded to.

 

^ This is how I removed mine. A little, just a little, heat from a propane torch, then turned a can of electronic duster upside down and shocked it with cold. Then a sharp punch and a hammer along the outer radius of the plug.

I didn't remove material, I made a little pocket with the punch and walked it out.

 

Or this... this is probably more "sure fire"

 

I have a Lexus plug ready to go for when I take mine out next. Even lying under the truck, you can take your time with a sharp chisel or punch and try and tap it out (room for a DIY guy), great advice on that above. If you take it to a great shop and trust the mechanic perfect but I'd be worried about some unknown gorilla welding things to my truck.

 

I tried the chisel method, and mine was simply too tight for that to work (even with a solid amount of heat applied).


So I went to a local welding shop and had them weld an old castle nut onto it. Well spent $20 (even tipped the guy another $20 because he really saved my bacon).



Kinda looking forward to the next front diff drain and fill, now that I've got the Lexus plugs in there.

 

glad you got it taken care of. What’s the part number on that Lexus bolt? I need to do mine soon and I’d like to have that replacement handy.

 

Lexus plugs:
90341-24016 (drain)
90341-18060 (fill)

*You won't be able to order them from your local Toyota dealer or typical online Toyota parts retailers (strangely enough). And I found them to be most affordable at Partsouq.com (even though they ship from the middle east).

 

Did you order washers as well?

 

Seriously? I can’t just go down to the local Lexus dealership? What’s that all about?

 

You should be able to get them from a Lexus dealer, I got mine from my local Lexus dealer parts counter.

 

Local Lexus dealer should work. We only have a Toyota dealer and they couldn't order it, which seemed stupid to me

 

No I bought a big pack of crush washers off Amazon and have been using some from that for all my Toyota vehicles for the past couple years

 

Ordered
Couldn’t resist the price…thanks!

 

Lexus had the right idea with that big hex.

 

Are those Lexus part numbers the same for the rear diff, or are they not necessary for the rear? I have not done mine yet. Thanks.

 

Not necessary for the rear diff as they are already hex head

 

And it would protrude further than stock in a bad way

 

I honestly was pretty disappointed in Toyota when I bought my 2018 and noticed the front diff still had those crappy Allen socket bolts. I have an '03 Tacoma that I daily drove until buying my Tundra and was sure Toyota would have switched to hex head bolts for that diff by now.

 

Well I just left my local Lexus dealer and they naturally didn’t stock the plugs but they did order them for me.

 

I just checked Bell Lexus out of Scottsdale, AZ, and the plugs are $18.67 delivered (no shipping for some reason). So these will fit a 2018 diff as well? I wanted to verify before I go ordering anything.