Any Tip For Removing Tranny Drain Bolt?

There is a filter to change, just use a big drain pan, loosen and drop the pan. Don't want to do that then just muscle it with a breaker bar. I would bet it will break loose. Worse case you buy another pan if it gets damaged , no big deal.
 
One thing these bitog guys taught me is that heat is a great friend to have. I don't understand how enlarging something makes it loose?????
But some heat and an impact should work.
 
One thing these bitog guys taught me is that heat is a great friend to have. I don't understand how enlarging something makes it loose?????
But some heat and an impact should work.
Different materials expand at different rates. Ideally, the female threads will expand (open) faster than the drain plug.
 
2003 Suburban 1500 transmission drain bolt is very tight.
I don't want to damage it or strip the pan.
Will this come out eventually or damage something if I continue to work it?

Would like to have this available for future drains, otherwise I will just lower the pan.
Project Farm (I know...) did a test on various socket sets. One of the interesting findings was that many brands, including high end, have a chamfer on the end of the socket that prevents actually gripping the nut/bolt. It turned out that the ones that had no chamfer woulde do better loosening a bolt even from a cheap set. So perhaps sacrificing a socket by grinding down the end until the chamfer is gone would be effective.
 
A chamfer just helps guide/fit the socket over the hex. The thickness of a bolt's head or nut is standardized and the socket will follow that standard. For example, a 3/8-16 bolt has a head that's 1/4" thick (max). Now, check your 9/16" socket's total depth. It will more than exceed 1/4", not counting the chamfer.
 
Project Farm (I know...) did a test on various socket sets. One of the interesting findings was that many brands, including high end, have a chamfer on the end of the socket that prevents actually gripping the nut/bolt. It turned out that the ones that had no chamfer woulde do better loosening a bolt even from a cheap set. So perhaps sacrificing a socket by grinding down the end until the chamfer is gone would be effective.
Wow, PF got something right.

I've done just that and it can make a big difference. The chamfer that helps it go on easier helps it come off easier too. When you're prying on that ratchet and it's got forces being applied in ways other than a direct loosening/tightening of the bolt, that chamfer can allow more play than a flat rigid socket end.
 
In that photo that is such a bad design. Must have be a high paid engineer with a fancy multimillion dollar cad system, that figured that out.
First off the raised area should be on the other side because you would never get all the fluid out of that pan since that hump allows a puddle to form about that same height actually the nut makes it even deeper. The nut should have been welded around the full circumference so it would not break away for any reason. That is the reason they stopped making them with a drain I would surmise. Just more thoughtless engineering in todays automobiles.

The drain plug was only to help prevent/decrease fluid loss during pan drops under warranty diagnostics/repair.
 
Perhaps it has already been said, but you can do a pan drop, and change the filter, without removing this plug. It’s just gonna’ be a bit messy…no risk of damaging that bolt. No leaks when done.
 
I have the same set up in post # 3 I'm looking for the seal for the small bolt any suggestions ?
 
The drain plug was only to help prevent/decrease fluid loss during pan drops under warranty diagnostics/repair.
Is that the reason for the shallow head and always seems to be overtightened? If so, that's pretty lame.
I have never been able to remove one manually. I never understood the reason why GM made them that way; I was sure it was a mistake.
 
Is that the reason for the shallow head and always seems to be overtightened? If so, that's pretty lame.
I have never been able to remove one manually. I never understood the reason why GM made them that way; I was sure it was a mistake.

The reason for the shallow head...And the reason it sticks up so high in the pan is because the drain plug couldn't stick down below the pan bottom.....GM didn't want to make any assembly line/crate changes to accommodate the plug.
 
When i had an 03 avalanche, i just dropped the pan and replaced it with one with a better drain bolt. Like 50-60 bucks.
 
Put your socket on and give her some good hits head on with your persuader of choice. Then snap on your impact driver of choice and burp burp burp to the right, burp burp burp to the left. Seems counterintuitive but sometimes going right first makes going left happen.
 
In that photo that is such a bad design. Must have been a high paid engineer with a fancy multimillion dollar cad system, that figured that out.
First off the raised area should be on the other side because you would never get all the fluid out of that pan since that hump allows a puddle to form about that same height actually the nut makes it even deeper. The nut should have been welded around the full circumference so it would not break away for any reason. That is the reason they stopped making them with a drain I would surmise. Just more thoughtless engineering in todays automobiles.

Since there is no edit button to fix a mess up.
 
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