clawhammer

So Friday I decided to change my differential fluid today. I went to Autozone and bought a 23 mm combination wrench and a 24 mm socket. I went to Autozone because Sears is 30 minutes (probably 40 on Friday afternoon), and Autozone is just 5 minutes away. So I raise my car up on jack stands today, and try to get to the fill bolt (that's the one the side, not bottom of diff) and try to get at it with the combination wrench, but it won't go on. I tried the 24mm socket and it went on perfectly, but could not get a ratchet on the socket. Did I buy sub-bar tools from autozone, or is it possible that I have a 24mm fill plug?

xviper

Is the car from a previous owner? I suppose it's possible that he lost the fill plug and bought a drain plug to put in there. I kind of doubt it but you never know.

Did the drain plug come off with the 24mm. I'm thinking the two may have gotten mixed up. BTW, don't take off the drain bolt until you get the fill bolt off. Just check to see if the drain bolt is in fact, a 24mm.
Yeah, there isn't enough room to get a rachet and socket for the fill bolt.

clawhammer

I will only have time for it tomorrow. Last time the fluid was changed was about 2 years and 6000 miles ago at a Honda dealership. I didn't even try the drain bolt yet. Are they threaded the same?

xviper

This I can't say with complete certainty as I've never tried to put one bolt into the other hole to see. With dealer techs, I wouldn't put it past them that if they are the same thread, they'll get it backwards. But looking at them side by side, they look really close.

SIIK2NR

I have always used a 10" cresent to get to the fill bolt. It's a tight fit but if you make sure to hold the cresent tight and have it tight on the head of the bolt...you will have about 1 inch play to tap the end of the wrench to start it loose.

With both of the bolts....once you "break" them free...they are hand loose.

Tim

ronblanford

And Tim knows what he's talking about. He just did my diff change yesterday.

Ubetit

We did 4 diffs today. No problem with any of the 24 and 23 mm bolts. My wrench and socket is a Craftsman. Even subpar tools should fit though.

jshimer23

can you just run down to autozone, ask if you can test a 23mm socket on the drain plug before you buy? there should be enough room to slide under a bit and test fit it without jacking it up. if the 23mm socket fits then you have your answer.

xviper

No need to even do that. He has a 24mm socket. We know it fits perfect on a 24mm bolt. If he puts the socket on a 23mm bolt, it'll be just a tiny bit loose. If he tries it and it fits perfect just like it did on the fill bolt, then he's got 2 - 24mm bolts.

Elistan

I ran into a similar issue and thought I had the wrong tool. Turns out that the fill bolt was munged by the dealership at some point and the edges were rounded off just enough that the wrench had a hard time going on. Once I realized this I was able to work it so that the 23mm fit, and everything was fine after that.

(It was difficult to get the fill bolt off, but the drain bolt was super easy. I hate the way dealerships do things sometimes.)