Removing oil galley plug

In article ,
David Lesher wrote:

(Drew Dalgleish) writes:

Kroil probably won't work if it has never seize on the threads but it
can't hurt to try. If it's really stuck it's probably faster to pull
the prop and ring gear than to mess things up trying to work around
it. Flying long enough to get the case fully warmed up may help too.

Not NeverSeize but pipedope, but I tend to agree. Another trick that
comes to mind is a large American Beauty soldering iron applied to
the plug, getting it hot enough to disrupt the pipe dope. (The iron
will not melt the case so that's no worry.)

You are better off heating the crankcase area with a heat gun and
turning the plug with the Allen wrench. Heating the plug will just
expand the plug into the case, whereas heating the case will expand the
aluminum away from the plug.

Well, tonight I'll finish cleaning up the install of the wiring harnesses,
EGT, & CHT probes and tackle the oil galley plug.

I've already warned my A&P that he'll be expected to lead the way... and
he's already warned me that it might not be a pleasant path.

I'll report back with news of our adventure.

Thanks for all the great advice, I'm sure that we'll put more than a little
of it to use this evening.

Jim

On Thu, 9 Nov 2006 11:55:16 -0600, "Jim Burns"
wrote:

Well, tonight I'll finish cleaning up the install of the wiring harnesses,
EGT, & CHT probes and tackle the oil galley plug.

I've already warned my A&P that he'll be expected to lead the way... and
he's already warned me that it might not be a pleasant path.

I'll report back with news of our adventure.

Thanks for all the great advice, I'm sure that we'll put more than a little
of it to use this evening.

Jim

Good luck Jim.

z

GOT IT!
Well, thanks to all of you for your great advice, here's how we approached
it.

Strip out 3/16" internal hex head as expected.
Fit a 3/16" EZ out into the plug and we found that it bottomed out in the
plug without gripping the sides.
Ground about 1/4" off of the EZ out so it wouldn't bottom out and fit snug.
Heat the dog **** out of the case with a propane torch and an electric heat
gun, being sure to keep the heat moving and not burning the paint.
Tapped the EZout into the plug.
The EZ out I used had a 1/2" hex head, so we used a socket and ratchet to
turn the EZ out. This helped us keep it square and apply pressure against
it, driving it into the plug. As it tightened, we removed the socket,
tapped the EZout in further, applied more heat, turned the EZ out a little
more, more tapping, more heating, more turning slightly, more tapping....
finally we "thought" that something was giving... but we didn't know if it
was the EZout or the plug, OR if the exterior portion of the plug had began
to split! nope, I swear I saw the plug turn... ever so slightly... keep
turning...

YEP! bingo! Didn't have to drill... didn't have to pull the prop and the
ring gear... whew!

Thanks again for everybody's advice.

Jim

"zatatime" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 9 Nov 2006 11:55:16 -0600, "Jim Burns"
wrote:

Well, tonight I'll finish cleaning up the install of the wiring harnesses,
EGT, & CHT probes and tackle the oil galley plug.

I've already warned my A&P that he'll be expected to lead the way... and
he's already warned me that it might not be a pleasant path.

I'll report back with news of our adventure.

Thanks for all the great advice, I'm sure that we'll put more than a
little
of it to use this evening.

Jim

Good luck Jim.

z

"Jim Burns" writes:

GOT IT!
Well, thanks to all of you for your great advice, here's how we approached
it.


Bravo.

[Too bad no one makes Torx head pipe plugs.]
--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

In this location, I can see no reason in the world that it has to be an
internal hex plug. I think it could just as easily be an external square
headed plug.
Jim

"David Lesher" wrote in message
...
"Jim Burns" writes:

GOT IT!
Well, thanks to all of you for your great advice, here's how we
approached
it.


Bravo.

[Too bad no one makes Torx head pipe plugs.]
--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

"Jim Burns" wrote in message
...
GOT IT!
Well, thanks to all of you for your great advice, here's how we approached
it.

Strip out 3/16" internal hex head as expected.
Fit a 3/16" EZ out into the plug and we found that it bottomed out in the
plug without gripping the sides.
Ground about 1/4" off of the EZ out so it wouldn't bottom out and fit
snug.
Heat the dog **** out of the case with a propane torch and an electric
heat gun, being sure to keep the heat moving and not burning the paint.
Tapped the EZout into the plug.
The EZ out I used had a 1/2" hex head, so we used a socket and ratchet to
turn the EZ out. This helped us keep it square and apply pressure against
it, driving it into the plug. As it tightened, we removed the socket,
tapped the EZout in further, applied more heat, turned the EZ out a little
more, more tapping, more heating, more turning slightly, more tapping....
finally we "thought" that something was giving... but we didn't know if it
was the EZout or the plug, OR if the exterior portion of the plug had
began to split! nope, I swear I saw the plug turn... ever so
slightly... keep turning...

YEP! bingo! Didn't have to drill... didn't have to pull the prop and the
ring gear... whew!

Thanks again for everybody's advice.

Jim


A follow-up question... Looking back, would it have been easier to pull the
prop and ring gear in the first place? One thing that I hate is working in
awkward and/or confined areas. That kind of thing seems to lead to stripped
heads, busted knuckles, etc.

I have a fixed pitch prop and with the cowl off, I can have the spinner,
prop, and ring gear sitting on the hangar floor in 20 minutes or less.

I had to pull the forward metal baffle (2 screws plus 2 bolts) This gave us
approximately 4 inches of space between the plug and the back of the ring
gear. If we had a fixed pitch prop, I wouldn't have hesitated pulling it
and the ring gear, but with the adjustable prop I would have had to replace
the O ring and there's always a risk of creating an oil leak.

I've got another plug to pull when I get the other engine wired, hopefully
it will come out just as easy. We'll see.
Jim

"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
...
A follow-up question... Looking back, would it have been easier to pull
the
prop and ring gear in the first place? One thing that I hate is working
in
awkward and/or confined areas. That kind of thing seems to lead to
stripped
heads, busted knuckles, etc.

I have a fixed pitch prop and with the cowl off, I can have the spinner,
prop, and ring gear sitting on the hangar floor in 20 minutes or less.

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 23:12:56 -0600, "Jim Burns"
wrote:

GOT IT!


You must've felt like you won the lottery after it came out for you!

Glad it worked out.
z

That's an understatement!
Friday 6:30pm My A&P and I both arrive at the hanger at the same time. I
had plans to fly down to Jay H's Saturday afternoon after work, so to meet
my self imposed deadline, everything had to be completed and buttoned up
before I left the hanger that night.

We had the plug out in under an hour. My A&P looked everything over and
gave me a thumbs up then left for another job.
By 9pm I had everything recowled, tools accounted for, and every nut, bolt,
and screw double and triple checked. Plugged in the engine heaters,
preflighted the airplane, and was home by 10pm.

Some times things just work out.

Jim


"zatatime" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 23:12:56 -0600, "Jim Burns"
wrote:

GOT IT!


You must've felt like you won the lottery after it came out for you!

Glad it worked out.
z