Stuck removing the sump plug

[Matthews 855 T5]

Hello

I am totally stuck removing the sump plug. I've managed to round it off and now I don't know how to remove it, duh!

I went to see my mechanic, who laughed at me, and suggested I hit it with a chisel. I was too embarassed to ask how.

Any ideas how I can remove the sump plug?

Car is a 1994 855 T5 auto.
Thanks
Matt

[DaveNP]

tricky one but if you use either a cold chisel (or an old wood chisel) and hit it at a tangent (think of the letter b with the plug being the round bit at the bottom and the chisel as the stem) it may be possible to drive it round, being careful not to mash the sump.

Other alternatives
use mole grips,
file/grind new flats/slot on plug,
use heat(although this needs a concentrated high heat)
remove head of plug so threaded section is no longer under tension and should then be easier to drift out with punch/chisel.

[darren_eire]

vice grips as tight as it will go and that should grip it..replace the sump bolt then

[mikealder]

Get a new one BEFORE you try removing the old one as it will be knackered by the time you get it out!

Vice grips to start with then the chisel as descibed above but don't belt the crap out of it as it's only soft and if you miss with the hammer you don't want to damage the sump, once it starts to move with the chisel have another go with the vice grips, I assume you know which way it should be turning to undo, I appreciate this might seem a condecending question but if you turn it the wrong way you will make the issue worse - Mike

[stevo48]

Rule of thumb when removing nuts or bolts, righty tighty, lefty loosey, doesn't matter if you are looking up at the nut or down at it, the same rule applies.
I would try filing some new flats on the sump plug and use a (small) stilson wrench to try and remove it. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=sti...,r:2,s:0,i:106

[DaveNP]

righty tighty lefty loosey is good until you're laying under the car working upsidedown at which point I sometimes need to think 'OK which way is left and which way right?' - and yep sometimes I'm glad no-ones watching as I get it wrong

[t+m]

a good set of stilsons will definitely get that off,vice grips like mole grips will probably start slipping but stilsons get tighter and cut deeper the more pressure you apply and you don't need the grip of hercules to put them on.

[k1cul]

did the same a few months ago use a hacksaw to reshape it the managed to get off with a shifting spanner, make you got a replacement plug handy

[liveforspeed]

Originally Posted by t+m

a good set of stilsons will definitely get that off,vice grips like mole grips will probably start slipping but stilsons get tighter and cut deeper the more pressure you apply and you don't need the grip of hercules to put them on.

agreed. or hammer a socket on.

[Spike1918]

I recently replaced a broken small stilsons wrench with one of these from Screxfix, very efficient tool:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/irwin-reco...0Wrench%2012in