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Tranny drain bolt spins!

9

99greenjeeper

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Edmonds,WA
Installing a tranny aux cooler, so decided to do a drain and fill while I was at it. The drain bolt came out fine, but when I was tighting it down to 15 ft lbs, it just kept spinning. Now it just spins and won't tighten down or come out!'

So if anyone can helpl me out with any suggestions, it would be much appreciated!
 
Maybe put some pressure on it to get it to come out,it should i would think.
Short of replacing everything i would maybe try one of those rubber plugs that has the bolt in it that you can tighten down so it expands?
Might work ?? Good luck
 
KarlVP said:
Pull the pan, drill out and tap it for a bigger bolt.
Click to expand...

That's what I was afraid of. The pan is aluminum right? Do I need a special kind of tap for that or are all of them the same? Would I need to go up one size from the current hole size when tapping? Anyone know the thread size/pitch on that drain hole?
 
Yes, you need to go up one size. Find a drill index and tap chart (google) It will show you what size hole you need for what size tap and such. Then find a fine thread 1/2 bolt and spin her in there.

Any steel tap will work fine on aluminum.
 
KarlVP said:
Yes, you need to go up one size. Find a drill index and tap chart (google) It will show you what size hole you need for what size tap and such. Then find a fine thread 1/2 bolt and spin her in there.

Any steel tap will work fine on aluminum.
Click to expand...

Thanks Karl!

Go Hawks...hope they dismember Grossman!
 
So, I got the drain bolt out and the threads on the bolt are toast. The threads in the pan are not as bad but definitely not good.
So I go to NAPA to get a tap and drain plug bolt and the guy at the counter tells me that re-tapping the hole is not a good idea and recommends an oversized self-tapping drain plug or a rubber expanding plug?
Is there something I'm missing or should I move on to a new auto parts place?
 
He's partially covering his butt so you don't come back in later screaming about metal shavings in your transmission from tapping the hole, and partially trying to sell you a different bolt. There is nothing wrong with tapping the hole and using a different bolt, as long as you make sure the clean all of the shavings out completely.

While you are in there, install a bung for a trans temp sending unit :D That's my plan for whenever I do the fluid/filter change.
 
A self tapper would wear over time too. I only like self tapping bolts for permanant solutions. (IE. Its never coming out again)

Anywho. That idea for the trans temp sending unit is a good one too. You can actually get the gauge and everything you need to wire up a trans temp monitor. Drill a small hole in the pan and the sending unit sandwiches that little hole. Run a few wires and whoop the mountain passes with confidence.
 
Well I guess I'll give an oversized self tapper a try and just flush a quart or 2 of dexIII through to get any shavings out.

Do you guys know what size I should ask for on the oversized self tapper?
 
Another suggestion would be to change the tranny pan for another one. I did that years ago with a stripped out drain plug on an old powerglide tranny. Went to a tranny shop (Aamco or AAmatic) they have junk trannys that they strip parts off of. They might have an AW4 from a Toyota if they don't have a Jeep AW4. Worth a shot anyhow.
 
yeah, hopefully I don't have to get a new pan. One step at a time.

I really need to know what size oversized bolt to be looking/asking for though.

Can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction?

thanks!
 
Guess I'll try again since I can't find this info anywhere on the interweb....
I even used "the google"...

Need to know the drain plug specs for a AW4 in a 99 XJ so I can ask for a self-tapping oversized one to replace the one I stripped.

thanks.
 
99greenjeeper said:
Well I guess I'll give an oversized self tapper a try and just flush a quart or 2 of dexIII through to get any shavings out.

Do you guys know what size I should ask for on the oversized self tapper?
Click to expand...

Are you indicating that youdo not have the pan off? Drilling, tapping and fitting a temperature sender with the pan is asking for trouble. Metal particules could find its way into the valve body then who knows what else. Short of using the self tapper as an emergency solution, I would take the pan off.

My $0.02
 
If the threads on the bolt are shot, try and find a replacement bolt. Maybe it'll still work since you said the threads on the bolt were worse than the threads on the pan itself.
 
Blaine B. said:
If the threads on the bolt are shot, try and find a replacement bolt. Maybe it'll still work since you said the threads on the bolt were worse than the threads on the pan itself.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll be trying that tonight. The stock drain plug bolt is M10-1.5. So I picked up an M10-1.50 tap and a new bolt. I'll try to carefully run the tap to clean up the threads and then add the new drain bolt with a crush washer.

The only thing I'm a little uneasy about it the bolt I have is about 3/8" - 1/2" longer than the original. I couldn't find any as short as the stock one. I don't know how much clearance I have...
 
Seems to me I'd be buying a pan. Seems like way too much work and I'd echo the concerns about drilling and tapping with the pan in place.
 
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