T70 is a pain to deal with for a 30k service item

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
09/29/2020 at 00:45 • Filed to: None

This damn bolt is the drain plug for the front diff on my Subaru. Since the car has been living on jack stands for a few days I figured I’d do some overdue preventative maintenance. I had to shop around a bit to find the tool for this bolt but I found one for $6 at an O’Reillys. I’m surprised I didn’t break the bit though considering how dawn torqued on it was. Someone hit it with too many ugga duggas because it took this to break it loose:

For reference it took more force with this pole to break that bolt than it did to get the lower strut mounts loose. Granted, it’s always going to be harder to get a stupid screw loose since getting torque on it isn’t as easy as a bolt head. Plus this pole isn’t the sturdiest since it’s part of my closet. I have a really nice 4 foot extension made for that purpose but it’s in the other miata locked behind a gate.

Anyways, got it done and now I have fresh new gear oil in the front diff/transmission since it’s shared. I test drove it a bit and it shifts much smoother than before so it was certainly overdue. Also adjusted the rear to get it about a half inch higher and set an alignment appointment for Wednesday.

Finished off the day with a pizza. Frozen plain pizza from Costco. Heavily doctored with lots of spices, bell peppers, onion, and jalapeño. The sauce is near flavorless otherwise but this was a pretty excellent improvement.

DISCUSSION (26)

promoted by the color red > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 00:52

This is why I splurged on a good impact. My Volvo’s crank bolt put on a helluva fight and I knew from my observations under the car that the rusty balljoints would fight just as hard.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 00:54

Torx bolts are evil and need to be abolished

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > promoted by the color red
09/29/2020 at 01:00

Yeah now that I live somewhere where I have access to a power outlet nearby when working on the car, that’s definitely something I’m interested in. I have a low powered cordless impact which is great for just doing tedious things quicker (like lug nuts). But a nice plug in compressor plus an air impact would work wonders on stuff like this.

facw > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 01:03

That’s a pretty good cheater. I used to a breaker bar together with a floor jack to get one of my lower strut bolts loose, but on the other that contraption slipp ed a bit and just rounded things off, and then my impact finished the job (of rounding off the bolt, not removing it). Not sure why they were so tight, the other side was fine, and the torque spec isn’t very high.

In any event I had to buy a new torx set for the strut job, but even that I don’t think had a T70, that’s clearly way too big.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
09/29/2020 at 01:05

I suppose it's better than if it were a Phillips head. That would have NEVER come out. I just can't imagine how difficult this would be to get out in a place with salt. Being at the bottom of the car, it would be easy to end up rusty someplace other than Socal.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > facw
09/29/2020 at 01:12

I was somewhat surprised to not strip/break/ruin any bolts/fasteners on either of these jobs. The amount of torque to remove these things seemed insane to me. Thankfully no rust on anything though and these are hefty bolts so it worked out. I definitely should just buy a real impact and update my stripped bolt tool collection. I could have probably also used some penetrant on most things. And yeah biggest torx I had was T55 which was nowhere close to big enough. I thought I was going to have to order from Amazon but got lucky in the auto parts store!

ClassicDatsunDebate > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 01:16

That pizza tho. I need it. And some tums.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ClassicDatsunDebate
09/29/2020 at 01:47

I ate 5/6 of it. That one last slice would have killed me for sure! An acceptable way to die if I had to choose. But if I live to eat another day, I can eat another one of these. And that, that is why I keep on living.

Boxer_4 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 01:50

That must have been put on pretty tight ( should be ~51 ft-lbs if using the steel gasket ) . I can’t say that I’ve ever had a problem with the front diff drain plug on any of the Subarus I’ve changed gear oil on using a standard 1/2" drive ratchet ; 2x SH Foresters with 4EATs ( PA cars ) and a GD WRX with a 5 Speed ( PA car originally, now lives most of the year in Iowa ). The 13mm square drain plugs for the rear diff always seem to give me a lot more trouble - usually requiring a light application of an air impact gun.

Kinja'd!!!

I got this from Amazon a few years ago and it hasn’t let me down yet.

T50 and T40 are significantly worse - I learned that when helping a friend change the water pump on his ‘88 Camaro 2.8. We ended up using multiple bits, an air impact, and a blow torch. Those were all replaced with hex head bolts.

Sovande > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 05:48

I traded my cheater bar in on one of these.

Kinja'd!!!

Sovande > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 05:55

I have a Milwaukee 1/2 impact that is more powerful than the air compressor powered one I used to have. The air tool was 800 ft/lbs and the cordless is 1400 ft/lbs.

Urambo Tauro > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 06:28

Yeah, I actually love Torx if it’s a small fastener where the alternative is Phillips head. But if it’ s large enough that the alternative would be a standard hex head, then fuck To rx.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 07:17

Did you research what flavor/viscosity of fluid is required in that differential?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Urambo Tauro
09/29/2020 at 07:19

If it's got to be a socket head, then please make it Torx. If his had been hex socket head, then he'd have been doomed.

My bird IS the word > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 07:33

Oof. lucky the plug didnt snap with that much leverage. Ugga dugga indeed.

notsomethingstructural > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 07:48

I have a dewalt cordless 20V impact that blows away any air tool I’ve used. It’s heavy, only downside.

66P1800inpieces > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 09:47

Probably would not have helped in this case but giving those bolts with sealing washers a nice tap with a hammer first often helps loosen them up for easy removal.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 10:00

Reminds me of the bleed “screw” on the Jag. 19mm hex. Apparently most people just use a big bolt and two nuts to make a tool, but I didn’t have a bolt big enough. 19mm hex doesn’t sound huge, but trust me it is weird.

Kinja'd!!!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
09/29/2020 at 10:07

Yeah any GL5 75W90 is fine for that. Sure there are people who claim the wonders of different fluids but I just went with some valvoline. The rear diff is the picky one, requiring a specific Subaru fluid only. That I haven’t been able to source yet.

Urambo Tauro > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
09/29/2020 at 18:44

Oh I totally get where you’re coming from. Yeah for socket head fasteners, Torx is much less likely to round off than an allen bit/ key. But a bolt with threads that big is bound to take a lot of torque to break loose, and it risks breaking the little Torx bit itself. Especially if there’s corrosion involved... That’s why I hate seeing them on Chevy brake calipers or Ford truck beds.

There is one type of Torx that I do like, though: the E-Torx heads. I don’t see them very often, but my brother’s Saab had head bolts like that. I think they took an E16 socket.

For a drain plug like this, if it’s gotta be a socket-head style, I think I’d rather see a good old-fashioned square drive like the one on my diff.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > notsomethingstructural
09/29/2020 at 21:58

but its so much better than dragging out the hoses, waiting for the compressor to fill up...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/29/2020 at 21:58

Have you looked at Red Line or Amsoil?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Urambo Tauro
09/29/2020 at 22:02

The flex plate on my Nissan Versa was held on with E-torx bolts. I’d never seen them before. And they were tight .

notsomethingstructural > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
09/29/2020 at 23:03

oh i’ll take the cordless 8 days a week. it’s amazing. heavy, but amazing. i live in NYC so i can just pick it up and bring it wherever my car is parked. amazing.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
09/30/2020 at 00:13

Yeah the rear diff being mechanical supposedly makes it a bit picky. Im currently reading forum posts to find suitable alternatives. The only one I have seen is Motul 90PA Extreme Pressure. I presume the “ONLY USE OEM” folks are just being over cautious. Even Subaru dealers dont sell the stuff so Id rather order the Motul.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2020 at 00:55

I bet Red Line has something for that application.