NikTheGeek
New Member
For old times sake and because this is the best place for advice, hopefully you can help me out.
The transfer box filler plug is stuck solid on my Kia. It was a 10mm hex socket, but it is now rounded off. It's ally so I can't weld to it. I've cut a grove in to it to give a mallet and a chisel some purchase and it's not budging.
So I propose either:
1. Leaving it. The oil is due a change at 60,000 miles and it's done 65,000. It isn't going to suddenly blow up. So I might leave it until it breaks - I'm sure there'll be a few years left in it; or
2. Drill a hole through the filler plug.
If I go for option 2, I can either drill a very small vent hole and then pump the replacement oil in through the drain hole until it appears at the vent hole (much like you do on an outboard engine's gear case) and then seal the vent hole with chemical metal - good for another 60,000 miles; or I could drill a larger hole that I use to fill with oil and then either seal this with chemical metal or put a bolt in it as a new fill plug. Either way, I'd have to be careful of swarf entering the box, but then I could use grease on the drill bit. Would a bit of aluminium swarf do any harm as it's quite soft compared to steel anyway. But I don't know what's inside a transfer box and there are rubber seals where the front axle and rear prop shaft exit.
What do you reckon? Leave well alone or drill a vent hole or a fill hole? Would I cause more problems by potentially causing the ingress of tiny bits of aluminium swarf? Or is it worth having a go. What would you do if it was your car?
tnx, as always,
Nik
The transfer box filler plug is stuck solid on my Kia. It was a 10mm hex socket, but it is now rounded off. It's ally so I can't weld to it. I've cut a grove in to it to give a mallet and a chisel some purchase and it's not budging.
So I propose either:
1. Leaving it. The oil is due a change at 60,000 miles and it's done 65,000. It isn't going to suddenly blow up. So I might leave it until it breaks - I'm sure there'll be a few years left in it; or
2. Drill a hole through the filler plug.
If I go for option 2, I can either drill a very small vent hole and then pump the replacement oil in through the drain hole until it appears at the vent hole (much like you do on an outboard engine's gear case) and then seal the vent hole with chemical metal - good for another 60,000 miles; or I could drill a larger hole that I use to fill with oil and then either seal this with chemical metal or put a bolt in it as a new fill plug. Either way, I'd have to be careful of swarf entering the box, but then I could use grease on the drill bit. Would a bit of aluminium swarf do any harm as it's quite soft compared to steel anyway. But I don't know what's inside a transfer box and there are rubber seals where the front axle and rear prop shaft exit.
What do you reckon? Leave well alone or drill a vent hole or a fill hole? Would I cause more problems by potentially causing the ingress of tiny bits of aluminium swarf? Or is it worth having a go. What would you do if it was your car?
tnx, as always,
Nik