Go Fleiter Posted May 13 Author Report Share Posted May 13 (edited) Thanks for all of Your hints: The frost plug has been exchanged successfully! Taking out the leaking plug was not difficult from below. It´s seat showed up in as-new condition. We used sealant for the replacement. However, it was impossible to hammer the new one flat in the available space. We had cleared the surrounding area (oil pipes and filter, batteries, starter…) , but that was not enough to allow for a good, strong hammering. This plug is the one closest to the oil dipstick. As an alternative to removing the engine, after having drilled a small check hole to peer through, we then drilled a 1.5 inch hole in the inner fender. Thus, avoiding interference with steering column and shift linkage, we had straight access to exactly hammer the plug flat with a strong, long rod. When turned to right, the tire did no longer impede the access. Everything went as expected except the re- connection of the oil pipes, The lower one must go into a 45 degree nipple, and neither from above nor from below could one judge the correct orientation of the union nut. Not wanting to deteriorate the thread, we only used the fingers to skrew the nut in. What may take 30 seconds under normal circumstances, this nightmare had cost us 1.5 hours, until the skew finally happened to sit. Torn fingers and a crooked back were a free extra! I alternated with my mechanic every 10 minutes because of the exhaustion we both suffered. While peereing through the check hole, we noticed that the oil pipes of the filter did not obstruct this accessway to the plug at all! Now, the plug is watertight and the oil- pipes too. With all that dirt on me, I didn´t want to touch the smartfone for pictures. Lesson learned: - dedecide if the engine has to come out - decide if you want to accept an extra hole in the inner fender- You can leave the oil pipes untouched. - decide whether the complained plug becomes reachable exactly straight through the hole - decide if You prefer to take fender and inner fender off (shield 12-04-4) Gretings from Düsseldorf Go Edited May 13 by Go Fleiter multiple errors... Bryan, Dodgeb4ya and p15-1948 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 1 hour ago, Go Fleiter said: Thanks for all of Your hints: The frost plug has been exchanged successfully! Edited for multiple errors? Your English is better than my German. Could always speak better than I could write it. If you want to get a laugh, wait til you go into a parts store and ask for Verbrecher kontakte instead of Unterbrecher kontakte. Guy told me with a smile "Leider nicht". (Instead of breaker contacts (points) I asked for criminal contacts. Guy told me Unfortunately not.) Anyway, as much trouble as it was, was a lot better than pulling the engine. Go Fleiter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyd Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 A suggestion regarding installing the plug and flattening it so it wedges into the hole edge is to use the largest,heaviest mallet such as a bricklayers or stonemasons mallet which have a very heavy head compared to a normal or even a ball peine hammer.......the extra weight in a mallet will help to dimple the plug at the first hit rather than you having to hit the drift a few times to flatten the plug when using a standard type of hammer.........andyd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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