Rear Diff Nut TOO Tight

jonney · May 9, 2015

Guys, just had the 10k service done and the mechanic said he couldn,t undo the rear diff oil fill nut cause it was too toght. he said it will be ok until the 15k service and will attack it then. what i would like to know is ; would this be covered by waranty if the job ended up bigger than just undoing a nut? also how would you do this job ? eg; heat / hammer etc etc ?? thanks.

Dion · May 9, 2015

Penetrant lube, a heat gun and a real rattle gun.

happy john · May 9, 2015

jonney said:
Guys, just had the 10k service done and the mechanic said he couldn,t undo the rear diff oil fill nut cause it was too toght. he said it will be ok until the 15k service and will attack it then. what i would like to know is ; would this be covered by waranty if the job ended up bigger than just undoing a nut? also how would you do this job ? eg; heat / hammer etc etc ?? thanks.

The "nut" is the mechanic. Take the car for a good run and get the diff warm, use a small extension on the socket and give a few good taps with a hammer. The rest should be easy, use an extension bar if you need more leverage.

bods · May 9, 2015

At least he didn't dump the old oil before deciding to try and undo the filler plug....

Rumpig · May 9, 2015

Or did he......

jonney · May 11, 2015

as mentioned, the mechanic said he will do this job at the next 15k service , all is fine until then. i hope there is oil in the diff.

Pedro123 · May 11, 2015

I'm with happy john. Take it for a run and try it and maybe if that doesn't work, take it for another run, and buy some freeze spray, and try that!

ShortyNavros · May 11, 2015

When I first got my D22 I did the rear diff oil and it was farking tight. Like it was the hardest nuts I have had to undo haha

Been a while · 2025-03-05T12:23:34+1100

Ahhh, this is an old argument me and a few mates have... yes, you can use a breaker bar socket connection on these plugs... My argument with a mate "that's a mechanic by the way who says I'm nuts" is you can, but you're a "shifty mechanic" if you think its the correct tool for the job... they have their own tool, it is shaped and tapered to fit the plug and apply even pressure on the plug wall and thread.. using a breaker bar will only put pressure on half of the plug.. yes you can break them and strip them.. They seem to me, to be made of a certain type of metal... look In the manual and it will give you the tool number and a picture... some called them box spanners but I think that's wrong, box spanners to me are a NUT mutil tool... the ones for these plugs is it own beast... they're cheap and do make the world of difference..