I would really like to know.......
 

who the gorilla was that tightened my transmission drain plug! It took a 1/2" drive breaker bar and way more force than I felt comfortable placing on the plug to break it loose. Fricken idiots!

Anyways, she is now loaded up with Swepco 201 and shifting buttery smooth! Can't say for sure it is the Swepco as the reason, or just having fresh fluid. Gear wine is way down as well. I did find 3 dog teeth on the mag plug though. Doesn't seem to be affecting shifts, as it's shifting the best it has since ownership.

Also centered a few rocker shafts that were leaking and adjusted the valves. Car is just running as smooth and powerful as it should!:cool:

There might not be a gorilla in the past.
The plug is steel and the casing of the trans is either aluminum or magnesium...in any case different materials.
The galvanic action between dissimilar metals can really sieze up a plug.
I always put some anti-seize on the plug before installing to prevent such an occurance.
Bob

Remember to loosen the fill plug first.
The gorilla may have tightened it even more.

No fun having the drain plug (and oil) out and unable to get the fill plug out.

I’m convinced that the internal hex plugs are more difficult to remove.
This may be due to more gorillas in service.
This may be due to galvanic action.
This may be due to when torqued, the internal hex is expanding the plug in the case threads.

I prefer the earlier plated steel version with an external hex - and anti-seize.

Best,
Grady

Unlike the engine sump and oil tank drain plugs which are straight and use an aluminum gasket, the transmission drain and fill plugs are tapered.
Tapered plug + Gorilla = rediculous torque to remove

The threads were clean with no signs of corrosion or galling. This was just a case where it was simply over torqued by PO or shop, probably to fix a drip from the plug. The fill plug wasn't nearly as difficult to remove, and the hex was in much better shape.

there may be more teeth inside still, so whenever the rest break off, the syncro expands and you lose 1st or 2nd gear, don't drive it any more, or nefarious bits may go through the gears.

Yes, that would be bad.

But to clarify, are you saying if the syncro expands and I lose 1st or 2nd gear to stop driving, or stop driving now? This could be a condition that has existed for thousands of miles. The car shifts fine right now.

PO had problems with 1st and 2nd and had syncros and sliders replaced about 20K miles ago. Maybe they failed to clean the drain plug or remove the bits then??

Same thing for me 4 years ago and I heeded JW advice. Stop driving it and tear it down.

ALWAYS antiseize those types.....

,..and torque to spec.

If JW were to tell me to stop driving my car until "XYZ",..I probably would....just saying.

Best,

Doyle

+1, me too.

+1

Well, not driving the car is not going to happen. It is my daily driver and I have $2K worth of A/C upgrade parts I'm currently installing. I'm not yanking the box right now.

I'll roll the dice. If it goes boom, well.........

There really is no telling how long these three dog teeth have been chipped off. This could be a condition that has existed for thousands of miles. Am I on borrowed time? Maybe. The car shifts great right now. If conditions change, then I'll have to reconsider. In the mean time, it has a fresh fill of Swepco and I'll be diligent with my shifts. Not to undermine JW, as he's far more an expert with these cars than I am, but I just don't feel this as impending doom.

I didn't feel the impending "doom" eiither after finding the same little surprise on my plug while changing over to Swepco, and then one night accelerating in 1st, BOOM!!! I guess it let go of the last remaining dog teeth and the result no 1st gear. I read JW's post about doing it with the trans still bolted to engine (great work stand) and things went well. Order some extra paper gaskets because they tear easily.

Do you have a link to the thread so I can see what I'm in for?

I think the same gorilla tightened the lines to my fuel filter, I had to take it in, I had cracked ribs when I tried to loosen it but I gave it till I almost passed out from the pain and it wouldn't budge, I hate when fools do that kinda thing.
Finn

I couldnt get mine out with the engine out of the car. had to put it in to get something to push against, and even then I had a huge breaker bar on it.... I "made" a tool out of an inverted vw lug bolt. I could feel it twisting and ended up getting the proper tool. it came off with a grunt, but it came off none the less.

Josh, I sent you a PM and one to John Walker, he can tell you the link or maybe he will post on here, very helpful. rick

I took my daily driver to a quick change oil place once as it was the winter and I had no where to change it myself. When the weather warmed up I went to do another change myself and no mater what I did the plug would not budge I was also afraid of breaking the plug or eevn worse cracking the pan. Finally had to take it to the dealer where they used a huge pipe wrench to remove it. The tech could not believe how tight it was. Never used one of those places again. Just because someone works in a "professional shop" does not make them a professional as you and I both learned.