Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Grumblebuns on Friday,April 22, 2016, 10:35:03 AM
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Who would've thought that locating a metric tool to remove the fill plug on the transaxle would so difficult. According to the KB, a 3/8" female drive socket is suppose to fit and it does for a 10mm male pipe plug found on the Renault trannies. For some reason the 336 tranny on 2501, my S2, has a 11mm fill plug.
10mm four point sockets are apparently rare, 11mm four points are damn near impossible to find, at least here in the US. After searching for several days, I gave up and ordered a 7/16" eight point socket. It was a loose fit for my fill plug but by adding a shim around the plug, I got a reasonably good enough fit that I could finally remove the plug without damage.
I did find and order a 10mm square socket from Snap-On, specified for the Renault LeCar for the 10mm plugs.
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I found a Kobalt 7/16" combination wrench where the box end side has that castellated universal type end works perfectly on the drain/fill plugs on my NG3 and 365. I found an open end wrench never really grabbed that square securely enough not to try to round the corners.
Here is the page on it: http://www.lowes.com/pd_359542-25428-86253___?Ntt=359542&UserSearch=359542&productId=3654200
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That's the first time that I've seen that type of wrench before. The boxed end almost looks like it's square splined.
For regular 10mmfill plugs, 4 point square sockets are available or just use a 3/8" female drive. If the plug head has rounded corners, you may have to use a hammer to tap the socket in.
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Square spined is probably a better description. Sockets are also made that way as well as ratcheting box-ends. They are supposed to be able to grab anything - square, hex, torx, etc.
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7/16" = 11.1 mm
Sockets for square male plugs are commonly available in the 7/16" size.
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7/16" = 11.1 mm
Sockets for square male plugs are commonly available in the 7/16" size.
That's what I ordered. A bit of shim material from a top lid of a sardine can was all that was required to get a decent fit. The plug finally came loose.
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If you have a somewhat dodgy fit between a tool and a reluctant fitting, use some valve grinding paste between the two. It really works a treat BUT, clean everything METICULOUSLY afterwards. Valve grinding paste is worse than no lubricant at all!
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Good tip JB Thank you