Differential Fill Plug Woes

Hi all,

My differential in my ST185 was self destructing because I believe the incorrect fluid was in there. Anyways, I drained it, but now I cannot get the fill plug off. The 12mm portion is completely stripped and gone, and I cannot get a socket around the 24mm part, because it is sitting too low in the access window thing. Is there any way to move the diff up in the mount to access that 24mm part of the bolt, or is there some voodoo magic I can use to get the plug off?

Thanks for the help guys!

P.S. can I still buy a replacement plug?

If it's sitting too low your diff mount is probably bad. I would probably start by unbolting the diff from the cushion and jacking the diff up from below.

Second option would be to take something like an 11mm or 7/16th socket and try to beat it on to whatever is left of the 12mm part.

3rd option is to get a set of reverse fluted socket extractors, or turbo sockets they are sometimes called.

https://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt- ... p-well-set
Pictures for reference of how the diff should sit in the carrier.

Oh man, I think somebody might have hacked together the differential mount on this car...

Can I swap in the factory mount without dropping the whole rear subframe?

This is what mine look like

Yeah that's definitely hacked together. I would put a jack under the diff and unbolt those 2 going through that extra piece of metal and try to raise the diff enough to get a 24mm socket on it.

That's not right at all.
I just pulled the diff on my car without dropping the subframe.

https://www.alltrac.net/articles/mount.html

That guide is really helpful. You're going to need a breaker bar for the 4 bolts that hold the diff in. And there are portions of the diff drop/install that practically require 2 people. I'm stubborn about that usually and even I gave up.

My filler plug was pretty much stuck on there as well. I hammered a 6 pt socket on it before using the breaker bar. It is definitely accessible while in the car though. The pic Magroo shared is exactly what it should look like.

Good luck.