Does anyone experience junk like this? Long story/need advice

[drone_pilot]

I thought I simplify and remove the prop oil return line on my engine since I am going with a Catto fixed pitch prop. The word of the day is "Simplify". It just rolls off the tongue. Sim-pli-fy.........ahhhhh.

I have an IO-360-A1A. The front plug on the crank is removed already because it was driving a constant speed prop in its former life.

With Service Instruction 1435 between my formerly Cheetos stained fingers, I gave it a good read to understand what needed to happen next. It said to either pierce or remove the rear plug, located about 7-8" down the crank shaft. Oh yeah, there is also an oil return tube running across this cavity a couple of inches in front of the rear plug. Fortunately, this tube is notched to give access to the rear plug. Easy, right? Sorry, forgot that we're talking about an airplane engine or anything airplane for that matter. Now its time to figure out where the catch is.

Being the often uninformed mechanic I am, I shined a flashlight down the crankshaft cavity and could see the plug with a 3/16 hex opening for removal. I ran to the Home Depot Aircraft tools aisle and purchased a socket drive 3/16" ball end Allen wrench as it was all they had that would reach waaaay back there. Hurried back to the hangar, grabbed my socket wrench, inserted into crankshaft and it fit like a charm. I began to twist the wrench and 1 second later the ball end snapped off in the rear plug.

Time to research....
I Googled something along the lines of "how to remove a broken allen wrench ball head from a bolt". I found a bunch of folks wondering the same thing. I wonder if they could be genetically related to me? I saw things like touch it with a welder, fuse the rod, then pull it out........maybe for a farm tractor. One said to cut a slot with a Dremel tool and use a flathead screw driver to unscrew the plug. Dremels aren't too big but its not going down that tiny hole sideways either. Some guy said try to hit it with compressed air ( "You'll shoot an eye out kid"). So there I was with the world of Google folks trying to figure this dilemma out. I thought I could hoist the plane up by the tail from the roof of the hangar and gently tap the nose on the floor in order to get this ball head jarred out of the socket. After all, this solution is about as good as the solutions others had to offer. Then it hit me!!!

I went back to the hangar, grabbed a 12" piece of hinge pin, dug a tube labeled Super Glue out of my tool chest and dabbed some on the end of the pin and stuck it to the severed allen wrench ball head nestled firmly in that dang rear pipe plug. I held pressure for 60 seconds then pulled. Nothing!!! Didn't even stick!! Not even tackey! I tried this over and over about 7-8 times. Threw it all on the floor disgusted. This Super Glue ain't so Super!! I picked up the tube in disgust and read the fine print under the bold faced, large font SUPER GLUE. The fine print said, "remover"........really. In fine print, under the words SUPER GLUE!

I drove 9 miles home to my shop and grabbed a 3/16" wooden dowel rod from my woodworking days (because it is porous). Then off to the Home Depot Aircraft Adhesives Department a couple of miles away. I put on my best pair of glasses and prepared myself mentally to examine the glue labels carefully. I purchased Lock Tite Super Glue Gel. Twenty something miles later arrived back at the hangar with very low expectations truthfully.

Took the dowel and dabbed some Super Glue Gel on one end. Did I worry about sticking my fingers together??? Heck no! I have SUPER GLUE remover on hand! Stuck the dowel down the crank and planted it on the broken off hex head ball. Pulled it out and felt nothing. Threw the dowel on the floor. Argh!!! I got my flashlight, shined it down the hole and lo and behold, no allen wrench ball in my rear oil plug any longer. I looked at the dowel that I threw to the floor and there it was, the ball tip of my Allen wrench from **** glued neatly to the tip!!! Hooooray!! This was a good day!!

So, if you stayed with me this long I have a question. Is this rear plug usually hard to get loose? Is there a trick, etc in unscrewing this thing? If its not going to come out, I'll keep the oil return line. Geesh!

I now know to never use a ball head Allen wrench on a tight screw/plug. Duh! Read that comment all over the Internet today. Live and learn. New knowledge to file in my brain of what not to do.

[eddieseve]

I hope you get a few answers to this as I am going to replace my internal crank plug next week and I'll probably follow in your footsteps knowing my luck.

Cheers

[PCHunt]

Thanks for the humorous write-up!

[grubbat]

Ben,
Search the Internet for another option besides removing the plug. Seems like there used to be a kit you could buy that would eliminate the need to remove the hex plug but I think you had to retain and redirect the prop oil return line. Im thinking this option was for the folks who wanted to convert to fixed prop but retain the ability to easily convert back to CS without too much trouble.
Good luck on your adventure.
Cj

[BillL]

Just a question - since the engines come with the front plug in place for fixed and it gets removed, why not reinstall the front plug?

This is a good story for justifying the extra price of Snap-On tools, or MAC or the like. I have a few Snap-On for this very reason. 2 AM and I really need that bolt off to get this engine out, and snapped 3 craftsman sockets. I used the blue wrench that time, but got a Snap-On and it never happened again! The "but they have the same lifetime replacement guarantee" argument does not mean anything in this situation. And - - don't use the ball end allen for high torque work. Allen sockets are one tool that demands commercial quality, forged, not sintered.

Thanks for an interesting story!

[Tbone]

Now to the serious stuff........do you want to sell the old governor line?

[guccidude1]

I just did what you are trying to do. I am converting a constant speed to fixed, RV-9A. The rear hex plug has to be removed, pierced, or entire rear plug removed. That oil slinger tube lubricates the main bearing. With a constant speed, the governor supplies the oil, without, the oil comes from the hollow crank. If you damage the oil slinger, the crank has to be removed to repair. With that in mind, I used the local FBO mx shop to remove the hex plug, that rear plug can have or not have the hex plug. The mechanic first used a 3/16 hex wrench which promptly spun, next he drove in an ease out to get the hex plug to spin, it did. The entire hex plug boss broke loose and dropped behind the rear plug. Now with a large hole in the center and the hex plug and it's boss lying in the crankshaft behind the rear plug, he pulled out his slide hammer and fabricated a "cat's paw" to hook the rear plug and pull it out. After about 40 minutes of failed attempts and 3 different fabrications, it came out with no damage to the oil slinger. A magnet removed the errant hex plug and boss. He then installed the front plug. The only damage was to my wallet, $209 labor bill. But compared to an engine teardown to remove the crank to repair the oil slinger tube, probably a good deal. Dan

[plehrke]

Originally Posted by drone_pilot

The word of the day is "Simplify". It just rolls off the tongue. Sim-pli-fy.........ahhhhh.
.
.
.
With Service Instruction 1435 between my formerly Cheetos stained fingers, I gave it a good read to understand what needed to happen next.
.
.
.
I thought I could hoist the plane up by the tail from the roof of the hangar and gently tap the nose on the floor in order to get this ball head jarred out of the socket. After all, this solution is about as good as the solutions others had to offer. Then it hit me!!!

.
.
The fine print said, "remover"........really. In fine print, under the words SUPER GLUE!
.
.
.
Did I worry about sticking my fingers together??? Heck no! I have SUPER GLUE remover on hand! Stuck the dowel down the crank and planted it on the broken off hex head ball.
.
.
.
I now know to never use a ball head Allen wrench on a tight screw/plug. Duh! Read that comment all over the Internet today. Live and learn. New knowledge to file in my brain of what not to do.

Great read. You need to write a column in Kitplanes of "What not to Do". Would be entertaining and useful.

[skylor]

Originally Posted by BillL

Just a question - since the engines come with the front plug in place for fixed and it gets removed, why not reinstall the front plug?

Reinstalling the front plug without opening up the rear plug is a terrific way to get oil all over the windscreen and possibly lose oil pressure in flight. The front plug must be in place, but it's not designed to retain oil pressure. This is why the rear plug has to be pierced, or have the pipe plug removed if one is installed. The oil pressure comes from the nose bearing lubrication that finds its way through the CS oil transfer port into the crankshaft. If the rear plug doesn't have the hole opened up for drainage, this oil has nowhere to go and the pressure builds until the front plug blows out!

Skylor

[Snowflake]

On the plus side, you now have an allen wrench without a ball tip... Just grind the remaining end flat, and you'll have a much stronger tool to use on the plug the next time.

Assuming the removal of the ball didn't make the wrench so short that it will no longer reach the plug...