Easter quiz bolt size question?

[anonymous-user]

Not a bolt relay but I need to change the oil in the diff on my 1999 2.5 i three series convertible.

The fill and drain are hex bit heads but does any one know what size as I will have to buy one tomorrow.

Thanks

David

[clabcon]

Most people don't have a 14mm hex sockets in their tool box and a lot of local hardware stores don't stock 14mm hex sockets. Here's a quick and easy way to make one from your local hardware store for under a dollar.

Another benifit to this, is it can be used in tight spaces. On E36, there's not enough room to get a hex socket on the drain/fill plugs.

You can also use this to create other hex wrenches over 10mm. Another common one people make are 17mm hex adapters for e36 transmission fluid changes.

Parts Needed
1 bolt, 14mm head.
2-4 nuts that fit on the bolt.
14mm wrench

Loosening drain/fill plugs:

1. Put the nuts on the bolt like the above picture.
2. When you loosen the drain/fill plugs, place the closed ended side of a 14mm wrench on the top nut. The head of the bolt is used as the 14mm hex wrench. (as pictured below) Turning on the top nut tightens it against the bottom nut, which prevents the nuts from coming off the bolt.

Tightening drain/fill plugs

There's a couple of ways you can do this.
1. Use the same setup as before, except wrench the outer nut
2. Fill the bolt with nuts. Wrench on any of the nuts.

http://www.bokchoys.com/differential/14mm_bolt.htm

[mrmr96]

Photos on the link explain well. That's actually a pretty good tip if you don't have MASSIVE allen keys.

[anonymous-user]

Great thank you..

[bolide]

One good tip I have heard is to remove the filling plug before the drain plug. That way, if the filling plug won't move, you don't end up with a diff with no oil and no way of filling it...

Nick Froome