4.3 merc drain plug SOCKET broke

[rderenzy]

Was winterizing my engine for winter storage - one side of my engine, when i went to remove the brass drain plug, no only did the plug come right out, the dam socket came with it, so i know there are sockets threads still in the engine. see picture, normal plug on left, plug thats in the socket which ripped out of the engine on the right

questions....
1) i know its not called a drain plug, what is it called
2)how big of trouble am i in? hours to repair, cost to repair? i dont think the engine needs pulled, but i'm sure that hole needs redrilled?

 

[Bt Doctur]

its a reducer from 1/4 inch pipe to 1/8 th pipe. And yes the remaining threads are in the block. Get the drill bit for 1/4 inch pipe plug , redrill and retap

 

[Alumarine]

In the future the plugs don't have to be that tight.
There's no pressure to speak of.
Just a bit more than snug is fine.

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

That should come out with an eze out torx bit or something driven into it and worked tight and loose a little at a time its brass the block is cast iron. Depending on what your access is it may be something worth taking to an auto shop and letting someone thats dealt with this type of thing. I’m pretty sure I could get that out in 30 minutes. I own A similar 4.3 and i pull those plugs often when I’m boating early or late in the season and freezing is going to occur. I’m also an auto tech getting a brass plug out is a cake walk compared to some hardened exhaust stud on the back end of an engine.

And after you get it out throw both of those plugs away and move to a solid plug with a 9/16” head and dont over tighten them there brass signed to take the shape of the opposite thread and seal. Pulling that smaller plug as a drain leaves you with a very small drain hole which can plug with debris leaving water in your block to freeze over the winter.

 

[rderenzy]

thank you all for your responde....

agree...way way to tight

yes i always use weed whip line to push up into the holes to flush debree

so....the quesiton is - what can i expect to pay to fix this? i'm not comfortable drilling into the engine....
i "think" there is enough room to work w/o pulling the engine .....

 

[Ncherry84]

My reman I just installed came with 1/4" NPT hex plugs....I pulled them and tossed them in the garbage...they were new and I had to drill one out. I wasn't gonna mess with that in the boat while trying to winterize, so I pulled both of mine and replaced them with 1/4" ball valve air fittings.

No idea if it's really a great idea yet or not, but I can't think of a reason why not. They're Male threads both sides and the valve opens either direction. I teflon taped them in as well as a light bead of high temp rtv, no leaks, fit perfect. When I get done boating, I pull the bilge plug and drop the lower, and then hop in quick and just lean down an flick the valve and drain the block both sides while I pull the riser and exhaust manifold plugs.

Come winterize time, the other threaded end on the valve I can spin on a female air hose fitting and hook it up to my compressor, blow my block out and be done.

Just a thought.

 

[rderenzy]

Ok....so i think i'm going to attempt this myself...because why not try...? but i know nothing about or have ever done this....

I'll remove my seats and souroundings and have plenty of room to access this drain plug, can someone review my thoughts here and kind of walk me through it?

I'll need to buy this (and apprantly i'll screw them in reverse) using the 1/4 extractor
https://www.amazon.com/ATE-Tool-piec.../dp/B0002UJNWE
Will i use a hand rachet? drill? or must i use a tap wrench? now this wont break it up, i need it smaller than the engine block thread, so it latches on the socket from inside and pulls out right?

After i work that extractor back and forth and get the brass out - i see other kits come with drill bits, but the bits are only for when its a solid screw/bolt left in the socket right? where mine is not, i think its on the socket that is left.

What chance do i have of ruining my engine block thread and end up with a very costly repair? if this is possibly, maybe i'll have someoen else do it

Lastly, where do i buy replacement plugs or how to find them to make dam sure they fit or are correct?

please and thanks for any help on this first time engine screw bolt extraction

 

[rderenzy]

it wont let me edit - video i just watched, same exact problem but he said a "flute" extractor is required for this, which the link i posted is NOT a flute extractor - does it matter?

 

[Bt Doctur]

If using a easy out (easy-break) for the first time then I would not do that. Breaking the tool steel in the block will lead to pulling the motor to trying and remove it. Much easier and safer to drill it and retap it

 

[Bondo]

What chance do i have of ruining my engine block thread and end up with a very costly repair? if this is possibly, maybe i'll have someoen else do it

Lastly, where do i buy replacement plugs or how to find them to make dam sure they fit or are correct?

please and thanks for any help on this first time engine screw bolt extraction

Ayuh,..... I've never used the extractor kit you linked too,.....

In yer case, you can go to yer local hardware store, 'n get yerself a few things to do this job,.....

You want a small extractor kit, with an extractor 'bout 5/16" on the small end,..... the rest you don't need, but few hardware stores sell single extractors,.....
You want the small end to just barely start into the hole yer lookin' at,....a few hammer taps will set it into the brass bushin', so that when ya turn it lefty-loosey, it'll turn out,.....
If it slips, tap it more with the hammer, 'n try again,....
It'll most likely have a square end for drivin' it,.... a 8" or 10" quality crescent wrench would be My choice of driver tool,...
I donno how well Yer elbow is calibrated, but Mine, applies probably 15 to 30 ft.lbs, on an extractor that size,......

The danger involved is how deep into the hole the extractor goes, before bitin' into the bushin',.... if to deep, bitin' way up on the shoulder of a too small of an extractor,......
The tip could punch a hole into the opposite wall of the water cavity, into the oil side,.....
Drillin' also carries the same danger of course,....

You also wanta grab a 1/4" brass pipe plug while there,..... The new drain plug,..... maybe 2, so ya got a spare,....

What you had was a 1/8" pipe plug, 'n 1/8x 1/4" brass bushing,.... the bushing broke, get the right plug that fits, the 1/4" brass pipe plug,.....

Probably 'bout a $20. or $40. afternoon,....

 

[rderenzy]

If using a easy out (easy-break) for the first time then I would not do that. Breaking the tool steel in the block will lead to pulling the motor to trying and remove it. Much easier and safer to drill it and retap it

thank you - i agree that its safer to just redrill, however there isnt enough room to drill it out, nor am i capable, so someoen would have to pull the engine to do it

there isn't much threading in there, so i think i can just be easy with it

 

[rderenzy]

Ayuh,..... I've never used the extractor kit you linked too,.....

In yer case, you can go to yer local hardware store, 'n get yerself a few things to do this job,.....

You want a small extractor kit, with an extractor 'bout 5/16" on the small end,..... the rest you don't need, but few hardware stores sell single extractors,.....
You want the small end to just barely start into the hole yer lookin' at,....a few hammer taps will set it into the brass bushin', so that when ya turn it lefty-loosey, it'll turn out,.....
If it slips, tap it more with the hammer, 'n try again,....
It'll most likely have a square end for drivin' it,.... a 8" or 10" quality crescent wrench would be My choice of driver tool,...
I donno how well Yer elbow is calibrated, but Mine, applies probably 15 to 30 ft.lbs, on an extractor that size,......

The danger involved is how deep into the hole the extractor goes, before bitin' into the bushin',.... if to deep, bitin' way up on the shoulder of a too small of an extractor,......
The tip could punch a hole into the opposite wall of the water cavity, into the oil side,.....
Drillin' also carries the same danger of course,....

You also wanta grab a 1/4" brass pipe plug while there,..... The new drain plug,..... maybe 2, so ya got a spare,....

What you had was a 1/8" pipe plug, 'n 1/8x 1/4" brass bushing,.... the bushing broke, get the right plug that fits, the 1/4" brass pipe plug,.....

Probably 'bout a $20. or $40. afternoon,....

awesome stuff here, i'll be very careful with it...read alot of warnings not to use a wrench, so i'm going to grab a tap wrench and be easy with it. ok great to know i can get the bushing at a hardware store, i thought it would have to be an auto or marine store. good stuff, thank you all

i keep reading the 1/8 and 1/4 - but the plug, that is supposed to come out, i measured the threads, and its actually 1/4, and when i measure the bushing, it measures 3/8ths

does that make sense? either i'm wrong and dont know how to measure, or its a different size?

 

[Bt Doctur]

The thread is 1/4 inch pipe for the engine block plugs, the one broken is 1/8 th inch pipe thread

 

[rderenzy]

so, should i just get a 1/4 plug and be done w/ it? screw the reducer?

 

[Ncherry84]

You can.....but if you do that you run the risk of dealing with this scenario all over again if it gets stuck in the block. Replacing the 1/4 inch bushing that has the 1/8 inch plug you ideally only risk the 1/8 plug. My thoughts.

Tough to say because I did away with mine completely, but I did bust both off in my old block thinking I'd reuse them in my new one but after busting both off....I changed plans lol

 

[rderenzy]

Using a 10" wrench, was able to get the extractor to bite real good (bites enough when i remove it i can see the teeth marks on the inside of the reducer) - but comes a point where it wont move anymore, no matter how much pressure i put on it (but i dont want to put enough where the extractor breaks off inside, and i haven't tapped wrench with a hammer)

seems like the sleeve/reducer is siezed up? should i be using some fluid or something to see if i can get it to loosen? worried the soft brass is reforming from the extractor pushing out on it

 

[rderenzy]

getting quotes of 100$ - wish i would have known that before i tried this myself, lol, thats pretty darn simple, they shoudl be able to just hit w/ a torch and be done with it

 

[Bt Doctur]

they will drill and retap it, just dont break the easy out..Brass drills very easily 1/4 x 18 pipe thread uses a 7/16 ths drill bit

 

[Scott Danforth]

use a small dremel tool or small saw blade and cut the brass until you see the thread. I usually quarter it.

then use a small punch or a small chisel and remove the brass - it will get quite easy.

then use a tap and clean the threads. you will need to grind the tip of a 1/4" NPT tap down as the end of tap will hit the inner cylinder wall.

with clean threads, the most you will ever need to tighten a NPT fitting is 2FFT (2 flats-past finger tight).

 

[rderenzy]

use a small dremel tool or small saw blade and cut the brass until you see the thread. I usually quarter it.

then use a small punch or a small chisel and remove the brass - it will get quite easy.

then use a tap and clean the threads. you will need to grind the tip of a 1/4" NPT tap down as the end of tap will hit the inner cylinder wall.

with clean threads, the most you will ever need to tighten a NPT fitting is 2FFT (2 flats-past finger tight).

yes! if the easy out has problems, this is an easy solution, the reducer is extremely thin, and can easily be sawed in quarters and removed