help removing frozen center and front diffential fill plugs

[RS6 rick]

Hello..........As the title says the front and center differential fill plugs are super tight. The dealer apparently used some form of lock tite to seal them. Any ideas how to remove them. A 10mm allen has been rounded off.

Thanks for any and all help. Be safe.

[Aronis]

That sounds bad! They rounded them off or your did trying? I can't imagine using any lock tight on those. Really not under much pressure. I have had mine off before on the front diff and filled it myself when I had a leak. (leak was fixed by mechanic shortly there after). Sorry to hear about this. I have not had any issues with bolts/nuts on my car and find the materials used for such to be great for long life. Hope it works out for you without some huge bill.

Mike

[Wide-66]

Weld a nut on and it will come off no problem.

[Aronis]

Weld a nut on and it will come off no problem.

sweet idea! Arc weld I assume?

Mike

[Wide-66]

I would prep the plug surface by scuffing it to expose bare metal. Get a nut that is pretty good size as you will weld the center or alternatively since it is a hex key get a bolt that is about that size insert in the hole which will naturally center the bolt. Then I usually use a gas mig welder and get a good could beads on it. The heat is also going to help you here. It should come off with ease. Just make sure you have a new plug on hand to replace it with.

[RS6 rick]

I would prep the plug surface by scuffing it to expose bare metal. Get a nut that is pretty good size as you will weld the center or alternatively since it is a hex key get a bolt that is about that size insert in the hole which will naturally center the bolt. Then I usually use a gas mig welder and get a good could beads on it. The heat is also going to help you here. It should come off with ease. Just make sure you have a new plug on hand to replace it with.

Pretty much what I thought to do........great minds think alike. That plug is in there !!!!!. Should only be 26 ft. lbs. but it's quite a bit more.

[Turbowned]

I had to give a good deal of effort to crack the plugs on mine thanks to old age and corrosion, presumably. I did not however round off a 10mm allen. Are the plugs still ok or are they rounded, too?

[RS6 rick]

My bad it is a 8 mm. plug. The front plug is rounded off the center is OK. Its a Cali car so no real corrosion. Will treat it with PB Blaster for a couple of days and try again then if that doesn't work I'll weld a allen bit in.