Removing oil galley plug

writes:

plug will loosen slightly. More effective than the loosening will be
the relaxing of the grip of the teflon dope. I used to rebuild air
compressors that often had steel plugs in aluminum, and we used to
torch just the plug, let it sit, then back it out. The biggest risk
with this was the tearing out of the aluminum threads, especially with
the softer casting aluminums.

Here's another approach:

Get a sacrificial Allen key.

Put it in place. Have plier handy & H2O.

Heat the key with a torch. Done right, that will heat the plug
without torch spray hitting the case.

Monitor the case temp but you should see the dope smoking.

Pull the ruined Allen wrench; quench in H2O to avoid starting
a fire. Then, ASAP, use dry ice on the plug. And/Or use the
hand impact tool CAREFULLY.


That said, there have been times I haven't been able to get
plugs or other fittings out of the engine core when installing a new
one, and rather than risk damaging the core ($$$) we put in a new
fitting and let Lycoming fuss with getting the old one out.

I hate steel plugs in Al bodies. I don't know what should be
used there, but that's not it.

--
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

There's a trick that I read about on the web for removing broken steel studs
from aluminum engine heads where you find a washer with the same interior
diameter as the stud, use a TIG welder to weld the washer to the stud, then
weld a nut to the washer. Use an impact wrench at the lowest setting to
turn the stud out.
Jim

"David Lesher" wrote in message
...
"pbc76049" writes:

I had a real tough plug to pull once. I JB welded the allen wrench into
the
socket
and it cane out with little fuss after massaging the case with a heat gun
to
250f
measured with my trusty IR temp gage.........

This was my next suggestion.

--
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

I have done this...last ditch effort...ran the engine to warm, iced
the allen wrench/plug, (it was a "socket" allen wrench) twisted with a
"T" handle to equalize torque...

It came out...

Heated the plug with a torch, the J-B let go, allen "socket"
salvaged...

Dave


On Tue, 7 Nov 2006 09:12:37 -0600, "pbc76049"
wrote:

I had a real tough plug to pull once. I JB welded the allen wrench into the
socket
and it cane out with little fuss after massaging the case with a heat gun to
250f
measured with my trusty IR temp gage.........

I wouldn't reuse it.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
I have done this...last ditch effort...ran the engine to warm, iced
the allen wrench/plug, (it was a "socket" allen wrench) twisted with a
"T" handle to equalize torque...

It came out...

Heated the plug with a torch, the J-B let go, allen "socket"
salvaged...

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

"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.

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