SVU-Boat

I've got the beast up on 4 stilts. Tried my best to yank (lefty-loosey) with a ratchet-wrench on both of these nuts... to no avail.
What now? I've got all the necessary supplies standing by for full oil and tranny-fluid changes.
Any suggestions on how to un-torque these darn things?
There is no visibile rust or damage. Indeed the nuts look relatively clean.

Car is an '86 cab w/ 83k, and has been in the S.W. all it's life.
Can I rent a power torque wrench/drill? Should I just lower it and take it to a shop? I was really lookin' forward to doing these first changes/upgrades (Swepco) to my baby this wknd.

Micah.

r911

do a search on the Pelican BBS for this info

Be SURE you do NOT take the drain plug out first

rbcsaver

SVU,
Please don't take offense, you don't mention your experience level. Some obvious questions first, have you done this before? Changed your oil for example? Why is you oil drain plug so tight? They should have new crush washers on them. Are you sure about which nuts you are trying to remove? Can you attach a digital pic? There are 2 locations for your oil drain plugs, bottom of crankcase and oil reservoir. They shouldn't be that tight. You don't want to drain the tranny oil until after you make sure that you can get the tranny refill plug out. If you get the drain plug out and can't refill it then you are looking at flatbed time. This is a large (17mm I believe) Allen plug. You can get one at Sears.
hope some of this helps. Try some PB Blaster and or Liquid Wrench on the tranny.
regards
Steve

whoops, thanks for pointing out the typo, slantnose!

3.2SLANTNOSE

That should read 17mm.

fixnprsh

I use a 1/2 ratchet or breaker bar and it is a 17MM allen, they usually just tighten up after awhile and rookies who over tighten it dont help. I had to drill out and colapse a 930 drain plug in the gearbox once due to an overzealous lube tech. but some times the just need a stiff WHACK with a mallet on the breaker bar, BUT as the others have suggested, ALWAYS take the fill plug out first!

SVU-Boat

Never done either of these changes before... had the car since April, driven about 1.2k since.
Runs well, just want to start spoiling her.
I've read 101 Projects and all the past RoadFly and RennList threads on this subject, including several nicely illustrated project-threads.

Then I ordered all the suggested items (including washers, new magnetic plugs for top&bottom, 17mm ratchet attachment, Mahle filters, Swepco, and an extra DME just cuz) from Pelican.
I re-read everything, including all the advice, paying special attention to the need for 12-Q drain-bucket and opening the fill-plugs first (that was the best advice of all the reading I'd done, cuz it simply wouldn't have naturally dawned on me). I got the car safely jacked up and papers and tools all laid out yesterday... the sun and my soul were beaming!.. alas, to no avail.

So, while I will now confess total noviceness I'm not w/o obsessive research in-advance.
That said... I am still 'pretty' sure I'm attacking the right nuts/plugs. The crank-plug was the one grease-free nut (looking like it had been previously wiped or cleared). And the 17mm ratchet head I got from Pelican fit nicely in to the side of the tranny where that big nut is.. but no budge... and it's a bear to reach, no?... I 'can't wait' to get the Swepco gallon and 'hand-pump' under there to refill the tranny through this opening?!!

As for the oil reservoir, I gave-up altogether after trying to get the one nut on the bottom of the crankcase loose... what was the point of chasing after the reservoir lug, my day had soured.
I am a pretty strong fella (varsity rower in college, tho a good 20 lbs, er, more dispersed today), but man-o-man those plugs! And none of them looked stripped at all either.

So, I'll try the "whacks" and the sprays (maybe 'break-free'?.. a gun-lube and overall joint-loosener?).
Would it make a difference if the car was cold vs. warm? I.e., (and I hesitated before writing this) would these nuts be easier to screw cold, rather than warm? (somewhere Beavis and B.H. are laughing their arsch off).
And, since I put the car up right after a drive, while nice & warm (thinking I'd timed everything just right), now that the car is cold, does anyone see any problems with me running the car, while it's on 4 stilts, in neutral, to re-warm the fluids again (assuming I get ANYwhere with these nuts this go-around)?

Thanks for all the pointers so far guys!!!.. and I certainly did not take anything the wrong way. I am utterly humble enough to know that I know jack, um, not you Mr. Olsen

Micah.

SVU-Boat

I did it!
I just re-tried the tranny fill-plug and the oil drain-plugs and, with really hard (shoulder) torques both suddenly broke. It had to be that they were cold?

So, I kept them in and ran the engine for a couple of minutes, and they both drained fine! Whew.
The only 'mistake' I made was, in my excitement, I started filling the oil w/o replacing the final drain-plug (for the reservoir). Hey, it was dusk, I was giddy. So I lost a fresh quart.. luckily only right back in to the 12Q reservoir. Oh well.

Who'd a thunk, cold nuts :|
Micah.

P.s., now if I could just shrink my 'signature' image...

r911

Last week I watched a guy use an air impact chisel -- that got it out....

Spray with a _good_ penetrating oil (PB Blaster or Kroil) and tap the allen or socket head with a small metal hammer 100 times -- you want the metal to "ring" (vibrate) to help the penetrant work and get into all the crevices. Wiat an hour or two and then go tap it again 100 times. Repeat every hour all day and all night for two to three days. Then give it a big whack.

If that fails, use an impact gun.

If that fails, use dry ice and/or a torch.

If that fails, use C4. Or a chisel by hand or as above. Or take it to a machinist for edm. Or drill the *****.

mschafer71

A good craftsman wrench and a long as possible breaker bar usually gives me enough leverage to crack the bolt. I have destroyed several wrenchs, that's why I tend to use the craftsman. When ever your car is up on jack stands be very very careful, you can crush yourself if you use too much force and pull that car off the stands. These cars are lighter than you think. I have had several close calls and nowadays really make sure it will stay put when i'm underneath and pulling hard on those frozen fastners. Nice saguaros.

rbcsaver

SUV...
Congrats. Many of us have done the usual stuff, like over filling, etc.
Best reagrds and welcome to Porsche!
Steve

Alan Herod

Follow RAndyweb advice ... Air tools are the way to go -- gorilla like strength could easily pull one of these down on you, and that transmission filler plug ends up at 85,000 foot pounds of torque after years of just being there. Do take that one out first. Its bad to drain the trans and discover that your impact wrench will not brake the filler loose, PB Blaster to the rescue.

glenncof

SUV-Boat congrad's on the project.

Just a word of warning to newbies. Things go wrong...so start small projects and take your time.

I hate working projects after a "mechanic" has touched it. Seems like they just torque to the sky.

Drain plugs, caliper bolts...etc.

I'm doing the tranny fluid on a 1985 911 next week after 30K miles on tranny rebuild.
I'm expecting trouble. Must have patience...

Idea of pulling it off jack stands is very visual.