The Nissan Path

The head on my rear differential drain plug was pretty rusted, so when I tried removing it with the necessary hex socket, it rounded out. Luckily, I have a set of large Torx sockets from my Wrangler days, so I was able to tap the T55 into the rounded hex slot with a hammer, and wrench it out pretty easily.

If anyone else runs into this problem, I hope you find this tip useful.

Nice save! I was always wondering, what if one of those hex sockets round out...

If it was that tight, I'd probably try the hex socket on an impact driver.

The drain plug stripped, not the socket, so I'm not sure an impact driver would have helped.
I had to buy a new drain plug to replace the stripped one when I finally got it out.

labsy wrote:Nice save! I was always wondering, what if one of those hex sockets round out...

then you can also put on your safety glasses, hook a chisel blade into the outer circumference of the drain plug, and whack it in the counterclockwise direction

eieio wrote:... hook a chisel blade into the outer circumference of the drain plug, and whack it in the counterclockwise direction

I'd not recommend this technique, as you only have topmost a quarter of inch of lever, hitting plug at the side.

By my experience best methods to release stuck drain plugs are:
- soaking it with some antiseize/liquid wrench spray few times
- hitting the plug with hammer few times to let rust crack a bit, but being careful not to damage the surroundings or housing. Impact driver might have similar effect, but honestly, it's a rough tool, very strong and I'd be careful with that.
- if still no avail, you can use some propane torch to heat it up moderately. Not too much, not till it glows red, but just enough to get some expansion and later contraction. Don't cool it with water or spray - just let it cool down, hit few times with hammer and try to undo again