to change the diff fluid you only need to open the drain plug with a 12mm hex wrench.

to fill you have to open the fill plug with a 12mm hex wrench.

they were rusted? My car has seen 5 years of New York City winters and they were not rusted at all. Not even traces of rust on them. My car is a 92.

 

my car is a 92 and they have been through 12 years of cleveland winters so they were definately rusted.......the fill and drain hex bolts are striped, im talking about the ones on the passenger side that use the 10mm hex bolts........is there other drain and fill bolts to use?

 

ahem, I believe you mean 10mm

 

he did say something about bolts on the cross member being 12mm......will those allow me to drain and fill the differential?

 

Hmm, I dont think so man. VSsc400 will chime in, and he should know the answer

 

Lexsc3.... and to any 1 else thats thinking of changing the diff oil. ALWAYS ALWAYS open the top refill plug FIRST. Some fools disagree with this but the the chances are that on an older SC either both or atleast 1 of the plugs will be siezed. The last thing you want it to open the drain plug and drain the fluid out only to realise that the top plug is siezed. Do you really wana be stuck with an empty diff???

I believe that theres only 3 ways of getting into the diff:-

1. The drain plug
2. The refill plug
3. The back plate.

Thats the only 3 i know and you can only get the oil in through 1 of them. Im not too sure what you mean by "stripped" but when i did mine they wouldnt come off for the world. So i just a long pipe, put it over my ratched and turned it... after some force they came off. When doing them back up again theres no need to do them with a breaker bar or anything as such. Just tighten them quite tight with hand and they'l hold.

 

yea i thought of if one didnt come off so i started with the top one so i didnt have a empty diff.....by stripped im mean the hex bolt got rounded and the hex socket moves in the hole without moving the bolt at all.....so unless there is another way to drain and fill the diff or a way to get off the stripped bolts them i guess i will have to drive with the old fluid in untill it kills the diff.

 

ah, thats what you mean by stripped. Here in the UK we say "rounded off". Means exactly the same thing.

Right, i guess that leaves you with 3 options then:-

1. Change the diff.
2. Drive until this diff dies.
3. Drill through the plugs.

At the minute no.1 seems a little extensive but if you've got the money.......!!! No. 2 seems to be the most plausible and that diff will last you some good time yet before it goes pop, even on the same fluid.

No. 3 is really when you not using the car for a good few days and you get some proper tools. Oh yeah... if you decide to go down this route then please dont drill it with a 10mm drill bit otherwise you'l knacker the thread for the plugs. Drill with a 8mm drill bit from the centre of each plug. That way you've got a margin for error should you go a little out. Trust me this can be done but you need time and good strong tools. This should only really be attempted on a car ramp as you'l more than likely break you neck or back lying on the floor before them plugs go through. AND... when you have finished your going to have to run ALOT of diff oil through the diff to get the little bits and pieces of metal out of the diff before you run it again.

 

/Aerostar\ : sorry 10mm it is. Sorry for the confusion

yes. open the fill plug first then the drain plug.

The 3 bolts on the cross members are 12mm Hex bolts.

If your fill and drain plugs are stripped you can

1. try using a vise grip plier to try to open it (it has enough room to grip it). I had one stripped and i managed to open it with a vise-grip(needle nose and really right) it's a long process since it will only move a few mm at a time but once you have it moving you can finger losen it.
2. The other is to take the diff off from the car and opening the 8 bolts holding the backplate (retighten to 34lbs) draining, cleaning and resealing and putting the back plate back on. (fill to 1.43qt's) 1.5qt is okay too.
3. You can take a chisel and carefully make a notch on the hex bolt itself so a very large flat head screw driver will fit and try again.

When i changed my diff I had to use a rubber mallet to hammer in the hex wrench into the socket since there was a lot of grime and dirt. You probably didn't put the wrench in enough. It's not that tight.

If you need a new diff I have one for sale in classified section for $150 Both drain and fill plugs are good and new fluid has been put in. But I did not re-seal it. As for with any diff once you take it off you want to re-seal it.