Help Needed W123 Axles - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

rmmagow · #1 05-08-2004, 01:10 PM

I'm trying to get the diff fill plug out before draining it. It is really not wanting to move. I don't want to break anything if it can be avoided. Are there any tricks to getting this out? Would applying heat to the diff cover help? can I use a small sledge on the breaker bar? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. This looks liek the hardest part of the whole damn job.

Thanks Much.

rmmagow · #2 05-08-2004, 01:14 PM

Just in case. I am trying to turn it CCW (lefty loosey) as looking at it. Tool in plug, pressing downwards and towards the right of the car. I'm on my back at the left side. I Know this sounds stupid but .....

lietuviai · #3 05-08-2004, 01:19 PM

No don't worry it doesn't sound stupid.
Try tapping the plug a little and you could try using a breaker bar of some sort. Those plugs do get tight for some reason and it's possible that your plug may have never been removed since it left the factory.

Ken300D · #4 05-08-2004, 01:34 PM

There tends to be some corrosion issue with those differential plugs - they really lock up tight.

I had to use both legs on a breaker bar to get most of mine loose the first time. Going back in, don't crank down so hard on it yourself.

A little heat won't hurt (but might not help that much either). A few taps on the breaker bar with a sledge shouldn't hurt either.

They're just really tight for some reason.

Ken300D

leathermang · #5 05-08-2004, 03:33 PM

Ok,,, I would not use any heat... just on principle...
Do you own any little jacks (scissor type maybe).. .perhaps for other cars... which you could put between the breaker bar and the car......? You might need to put a piece of wood above it... to push against... but might as well use mechanical advantage... once your arm power is not enough....

lietuviai · #6 05-08-2004, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by leathermang
but might as well use mechanical advantage... once your arm power is not enough....

Why not just use an impact gun?

rmmagow · #7 05-08-2004, 04:01 PM

Unfortunately the tool I'm using is from my 58 ponton and I'm inclined to not get too crazy with banging it and the jack thing. I'm doing my ebay search for a damn tool since noplace around here had anything. I used the jack trick to removed badly cross-threaded caliper bolts on one of my other cars and that's what I want to try for this thing. It probably was last tightend in 1983. Makes me understand the new axle design a little better. Thanks for the suggestions.

rmmagow · #8 05-08-2004, 04:21 PM

lietuviai
That was exactly what I was thinking of. While shopping Sears for the part (which they didn't have) I was going to buy a damn compressor and some monster tools too while I was at it. Getting too damn old for this on the back, leg bustin' crap just to take out a couple a bolts. :-)

lietuviai · #9 05-08-2004, 05:02 PM

Rmmagow, that's what I sometimes think about doing as well but I was offering the idea purely in fun. I always try as much as I can before resorting to a bigger tool. I don't own any impact tools simply because I know I would break whatever I would use them on. Interestingly enough, it seems that nearly all the differential plugs I've had trouble with were ones on alloy cases. I should have checked my differential last week when I had my 300D on jack stands. I think if I were to check everything under my car that were to come to mind, my car would stay on those jack stands forever.

leathermang · #10 05-08-2004, 05:31 PM

" I always try as much as I can before resorting to a bigger tool"
Me Too.

I already had my car up on ramps.... flushing the fuel tank.... so when I saw this post I figured I would go out and check my plugs...
Very Tight fill plug.... drain plug just right...

So I got the Mercedes tool with the 14 mm socket and the curved handle... ( very thin handle )... and hit it with a 3 foot 2x4.... then I used a 6 lb sledge hammer in a slide hammer manner... with the handle out front... but for both there was too much give in the tool...
So this is what I came up with... and it worked like a charm....
I took the wrench and placed it pointing down and hooked a comealong to the stock jack placed in the jack hole...

leathermang · #11 05-08-2004, 05:33 PM

second...

dieselbeagel · #12 05-08-2004, 06:40 PM

Go to Orchard Supply or some hardware store. In the Industrial section, u can buy a 9/16 ( take it to the car and check for a fit)allen wrench for about $5.00.

Then get a persuasion bar ( piece of metal pipe anout 1.5 - 2 ft long). Spray some WD40 or some other rust eater and let it sit for sometime.

Plug in the allen wrench and put the other end into the persuasion bar. That should do the trick.

No need for overkill!

leathermang · #13 05-08-2004, 06:49 PM

I think it is a 14 mm hex head that is needed.... sure would hate to round out a socket head plug... I know how to fix it when that happens.. but it is better to avoid rounding it out...better to use the proper size....

rmmagow · #14 05-08-2004, 09:28 PM

leathermang
That looks good!! I just ordered the tool from Samstag sales and will be trying this next work period. This 300D has been sitting all winter waiting for the damn axle job to get done. It's the good one, 30+ mpg so I'm anxious to get it back rolling. My other one, a CD only gets about 25 mpg or so. Course, after sitting so long I've got an algaefied tank of gook but some good diesel and algaecide should fix it.

Brian Carlton · #15 05-08-2004, 09:38 PM

I let the indy do this job for all of the aforementioned reasons. When the 126 is up on the lift, he uses the proper socket with hex bit and then applies torque with a three foot breaker bar. He probably leans into it with at least 100 lb. thereby requiring 300 ft.lb. to break it loose.

Takes him 5 minutes to pull the plug, ten minutes to drain the oil, and another 5 minutes to fill it back up. Worth the $30. any day not to have to fight with it.