Transfer case drain plug - damaged

[SimonM]

Hi all,

I am after some advice. I was draining the oil on the transfer case, on my 95 Defender 300tdi, this morning and was greeted by a damaged drain plug as pictured. What would be the best course of action? I am guessing remove the inspection plate and ensure all foreign objects are removed. Anything else?

Oil looked fine by the way.

131184

Thanks

Simon

[workingonit]

Don't know if yours is the same situation, but I have a similarly broken bolt in a D1. The bolt is factory drilled to hold a magnet. The drill hole leaves the bolt thin walled and for some reason can be prone to breaking. More than likely broken parts are sitting at the bottom of the casing - there is little clearance between the side face of gears and the casing so it is unlikely to be attached to a gear, other than being crunched between meshes which you don't want happening. The magnet is quite softish, but the bolt fragment is not.

Try draining oil, then insert one of those magnets on a telescopic rod into the hole and gather the broken magnet and bits of bolt (likely just one piece of broken bolt). Or drag one of those cheap super magnets around the outside of the case and see if you can make a connection with the broken part(s).

Grind off the broken bit of the bolt and reuse with no magnet; get a replacement bolt with magnet; go to the hardware shop for same dia and pitch, optionally drill and glue in the old magnet if you recovered magnet.

[SimonM]

Thanks mate that sounds like a good plan. I will source a new bolt tomorrow.

Cheers