Welding socket to stuck drain plug

[Formerjeeper]

Have some female hex differential drain/fill plugs that are stripped, plan is to weld a cheap socket to them and break them loose. Does it matter whether I use a chrome or impact socket?

 

[AngryBeaver]

why wouldn't you just use a nut?

 

[bas157]

I agree with AngryBeaver, use a nut. That is what we had to do on my brother's CJ-8 rollbar bolts
Also, a nut is shallower than a socket so it would be easier to weld inside of it

 

[PCustoms]

why wouldn't you just use a nut?

Or a bolt.

Stick it in the hex and weld away

 

[joe_padavano]

X3 (or is it X4) on just using a nut or bolt. FYI, you'd need to grind the chrome off of a plated socket before welding, so why start with one?

 

[Neggy]

the female hex what is the material?

I might try to weld a bolt into the female end then double nut the bolt and try to get it out.

In the good old days at the frame shop, anytime we had to take a bed off a Ford with the Torx bolts, we would just weld a 3/4" nut (1/2-13 thread) onto it and beat it out with an impact gun.... the bolts (per ford) were single use anyway so no big deal.... in the NE they were not coming out without a battle

 

[Formerjeeper]

I like the bolt idea. The not was challenging because the drain plug isn’t very big. Appreciate the tips.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I typically use nuts, but sockets work fine. Type doesn't matter. A few customers of mine have torx drain plugs with nuts welded onto them.

 

[FMB4]

No love here for female hex drain plugs. Just a bad engineering ideal all-the-way-around. That said, you may consider very carefully heating the component that the hex plug threads into (if possible). By heating I'm mean using a heat gun and not a torch. I, and my fellow techs, began fighting with a number of such drain plugs since the late 80s or early 90s (starting with MB vehicles).

Btw, always reinstall such drain plugs to the OEM specified torque specs.

 

[Formerjeeper]

Thanks, I always use a torque wrench on these but I don’t think the last person did!

 

[Mallen]

Or a bolt extractor...




Just be careful where you use those.i tried to get a broken fuel fitting out if a carburetor and it drive in far enough to split the brass fittings, and crack the casting. Not a problem on a plug as it will bottom out before that

 

[Formerjeeper]

Tried one of those but couldn't get it loose. Ultimately welding a bolt into the plug was the trick!

 

[johninct]

My buddy welded a socket to the big nut on his Snap-On jack because the tab socket kept slipping out. It withstood the 3/4" IR Impact wrench.

 

[Wrench97]

I've welded on the longer rod coupling nuts to hex plugs before.

 

[Kscardsfan]

One of my buddies keeps a literal bucket of junky, Chinese no name sockets and wrenches to modify and weld up for projects like that.

 

[d33pt]

Have you tried using an air hammer with a chisel bit on it to knock it loose?

 

[Mallen]

Have you tried using an air hammer with a chisel bit on it to knock it loose?

Biggest issue on some pans is, you have to be careful not to damage the threads in some fairly soft metal..