A simple job turned difficult
 

So I went to perform an ATF drain/fill on my '02 and was pissed to see the trans. drain plug have a stripped head :mad: My car had the infamous Accord trans. failure at 137k miles so I had AAMCO put in a rebuilt unit about 30k miles ago. It's upsetting that those idiots put in a unit with a jacked up drain plug. So a simple DIY that shouldn't take more than 20 min has become a drawn out chore. Does anyone have any relatively pain-free ways to remove this thing? I really don't feel comfortable blow-torching anything and want to be careful to not damage the transmissions's aluminum body. Thanks in advance.

Pic.....pic...pic.

Hard to say without having some idea of the plug. As you know, insert a 3/8 drive ratchet into the center of the bolt and then remove...

Agreed with poorman, post a pic if you can.

The trans plugs on these are supposed to be perfectly round with square hole in the middle for a 3/8 ratchet although they are tight to initially "break" loose sometimes the 3/8 hole doesnt normally strip/round easily. (note i said normally as it is possible)

Try a locking extension to give it a little more bite while try to loosen it.

I'll put up a pic after work tomorrow. The square hole is chipped and rounded on top; when I firmly put in the 3/8 in ratchet and crank it counterclockwise, nothing happens but the hole getting more deformed.

I'm new to Honda, but car problems are car problems. I would suggest an easy out that is large enough to get a good bite. Its going to tear it up, but you have to replace it anyway.

You might be able to get a bite on the outer edges of the plug/bolt with a vise-grip pliers?? Again, you're gonna replace that plug anyway.

Worst case, you might find someone who can weld some kind of rod or stick into that hole, just so you can grab it with a pipe-wrench.

Or.....put the 3/8 extention in.....use the vise grips to clamp around the drain and the extention into the plug.....chipped edge is important to clamp...and try to remove.

Just me but sometimes I've had a bit of luck with giving the "dang thing" a bit of a turn towards the tight - right. Then back to the left.....breaking the tension on the bolt/nut. It is kind of a touch/feel thing so use caution.

I don't know if it's too far gone but sticking a 3/8s extension in and whacking it with a decent size hammer usually shocks the plug threads enough to get it turning. I think the problem is corrosion on the threads of dissimilar metals.

Here are some pictures of the offending bolt. I tried using a vise-grip but there just isn't enough room for it to properly bite down on the bolt. You can see some of the marring the vise-grips caused in the surrounding areas of the trans. body. I tried using a 3/8 ext but again there was a clearance issue as it hit up against a metal support piece of the body. I'm just considering taking it to my indy and having him deal with it. :(