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W210 Differential Drain Plug Questions
Went out on this beautiful New England morning to change the differential fluid on my 98, only to discover that BOTH plugs (fill and drain) are sufficiently rusted that there's no chance a 14mm hex socket is going to fit in there.
Obviously the first thing to do is to order new plugs. Then, once those are in hand, what's the best way to proceed? Lots of PB Blaster until I get a good tight fit? My fear is that I'll find them sufficiently deteriorated that I won't be able to get them out. Is it worth trying a 13mm socket or is there too much risk of rounding it out? Any advice appreciated.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife Last edited by shertex; 04-19-2014 at 01:03 PM. |
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AeroKroil is your friend.
On a scale of 1 to 10 wd-40 = -1 3n1 oil = 2 pb blaster = 5 AeroKroil = 10
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The OM 642/722.9 powered family Still going strong 2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD) 2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD) both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023 2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles) 2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles) 1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh 1987 300TD sold to vstech |
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Whatever you do, remove the fill plug first!
I confirm the usefulness of Kroil as a penetrating oil. I suggest applying it every day for 2-3 days and drive the car normally. Warmth and vibration will help the Kroil penetrate and will also help you clean up the plugs. When you do make the attempt, have the differential warm from driving. Question: do the plugs have an "indent" for an Allen wrench or an "outdent" for a socket? From your description, it sounds like the latter. Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
#4
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Quote:
I will get me some Kroil. Plugs have an indent for Allen....what I was calling a socket is male.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
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This is interesting....from a Smith and Wesson forum, of all things.
Machinist's Workshop magazine actually tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. Significant results! They are below, as forwarded by an ex-student and professional machinist, Bud Baker. *Don't forget the April 2007 "Machinist's Workshop" magazine comparison test.* ** *They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.* ** *Penetrating oil ..... Average load* None ..................... 516 pounds WD-40 .................. 238 pounds PB Blaster ............. 214 pounds Liquid Wrench ..... 127 pounds Kano Kroil ............ 106 pounds ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds *The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone.* *Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. Our local machinist group mixed up a batch and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price. * ** Your mileage may vary.....
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
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The ATF-acetone mix is interesting; have to try that sometime. Y'all please remember that the flash point of acetone is -20C (-4F). In its liquid state acetone is bad enough; vaporized acetone is a bomb. Think SAFETY and with anything more than very small amounts work outside.
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
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Do you think with enough time and patience I should be able to get the 14mm to fit? Or might I have to try 13mm?
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
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Quote:
My preference is always the type of (14mm) allen key set in a 1/2" drive socket (they are available to buy like this - not something cut down and hammered in by Mungo) Don't try and be clever and use a wrong size - you'll only make trouble for yourself
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
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Agreed. Get the 14 mm indent clean and you'll be able to carefully tap an Allen bit in as far as possible. It's possible that an impact wrench might be better than a long breaker bar and breaking loose the plug without stripping it.
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
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I wouldn't store 55 gals of mix in an open container and I would never leave the lid off the Acetone even in an open garage.
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Terry Allison N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama 09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA) 09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.) |
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Quantity has nothing to do with volatility. However, you're right that a small quantity like 4 oz. of acetone is unlikely to cause a serious problem. Nonetheless, I included the warning for those who may not be aware.
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
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Continuing the theme of safety => If you are using an impact wrench / gun thing make sure you use the correct bits that are designed for impact tools. Normal sockets and bits can shatter / crack / splinter = possible pain damage hurt
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
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Quote:
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96 E300d |
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hmm - I think texas cars are pretty easy in this case. I just took a regular allen socket with a tommy bar and got it out, I had to heave on it to get it moving.
A little heat and some penetrating oil works nice and I can vouch for the ATF+acetone mix and its fantastic - be careful with it though if you are dealing with heat too. for the diffy case I used kroil after heating up the case, the oil was sucked into the threads and after three such "feedings" the plug moved.
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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model) 1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017) 2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017) |
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