J

JVolkober

Well Known Member
Need some assistance. I want to remove the plug from the front of the O-320 crank. What is the method for accomplishing this?

John
 
Drill a hole in the center to relieve the plug, the use a pointed punch in the hole, move the plug around a bit and she will come out fairly easy. :)

Also, clean out any small shavings when you're done.
 
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Place the ball end of a ball-peen hammer against the plug and hit the hammer with another hammer.

May need a magnet to pull the plug out.
 
az_gila said:
I wouldn't drill as mentioned earlier. I would follow the Lycoming instructions (aka RTFM) and "pierce" a 1/8 to 3/16 hole.

http://www.lycoming.textron.com/support/publications/service-instructions/pdfs/SI1435.pdf

I've done it a couple of times and found it easier than expected. The plugs are relatively soft material.
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Drilling a small pilot hole also will eliminate the chance of a larger chunk of steel breaking off of the plug when using the piercing method. YMMV... both methods will work.
 
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use a softer hammer if you do this

RV6_flyer said:
Place the ball end of a ball-peen hammer against the plug and hit the hammer with another hammer.

Safety alert !
NEVER hit a ball peen hammer with another ballpeen hammer.....splinters of metal could ruin your day not to mention your vision.....If you insist on doing this use a soft hammer (brass would work) to smack the ball peen.
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LifeofReiley said:
Drilling a small pilot hole also will eliminate the chance of a larger chunk of steel breaking off of the plug when using the piercing method. YMMV... both methods will work.
Click to expand...

I disagree, and so does Lycoming. The material is quite soft (that's how it seals) so a sharp punch won't cause chips.

Why take even the small risk of getting metal chips directly into your crankshaft oil system if you don't have to?

Use the manual....:D
 
I did this in a IO-360 and the plug was not as soft as I expected it.

I dipped my drill bit in grease and drilled a small hole in the center. The grease helps keeping all the metal shaving, then used on of those dent removal tool for body shop to pull it out. There was little oil coming out but not a whole lot.
 
Bavafa said:
I did this in a IO-360 and the plug was not as soft as I expected it.

I dipped my drill bit in grease and drilled a small hole in the center. The grease helps keeping all the metal shaving, then used on of those dent removal tool for body shop to pull it out. There was little oil coming out but not a whole lot.
Click to expand...

John,

This is the way I pulled mine out. Works great. Take
your time and it is a no factor. 2 pulls on the dent
remover and it was done.
 
There will be some residue behind the plug. Not good for the skin but should be cleaned out. There is/was an AD I believe for an inspection for corrosion on some engines i.e. O320/160hp. If you don't have a dent puller, insert a screw and use a claw hammer to extract.
 
Result

We tried the "drill the small hole and pointed punch" routine without success. The plug seem to stout for that, at least for us.

While waiting for additional suggestions, I cut a large, 5/8 inch hole (yep, left lotsof shavings behind) figuring that that might relieve the pressure on the the plug. No joy there.

Receive a suggestion from a local builder to pound the concave center portion of the plug further in, thereby shrinking the outside diameter of the plug. This worked. Thoroughly cleaned the inside of the crank after extracting the plug.

Clearly there are a number of ways to do this. Thanks for all the suggestions.

John
 
JVolkober said:
...
Receive a suggestion from a local builder to pound the concave center portion of the plug further in, thereby shrinking the outside diameter of the plug. This worked. Thoroughly cleaned the inside of the crank after extracting the plug.
....
Click to expand...

I think this is partly how the punch method works. As you hit the pointy punch to make the hole you are changing the plug's shape slightly at the same time...:)
 
Screw method

See below my method to remove crank plug. I tried to pierce the plug but didn't even make a dent hitting it as hard as I was comfortable with. Then tried to drill a #30 hole in the center, insert screw, and pull with hammer (like pulling a nail using block of wood between hammer and prop flange) but it would not budge.

I then drilled out to 1/4 inch and tried again to dent the plug further into the shaft with hammer and chisel. I may have made a slight dent but still wasn't going anywhere.

The cone shape in the photo was already there from the factory when they set the plug. I don't see piercing or indenting this plug. It's a stout hunk of metal.

Finally had success drilling #30 again about 1/4 inch from edge and retrying the screw and hammer pull method again. I pulled hard once and failed. Heart sank. Pulled hard again and she popped out.

If I had to do it again I would drill 1/4 from edge and either use a slide hammer tool or screw method used here.

Many chips in shaft to clean out but they have nowhere to go so easy to see and be confident you got them all.

Hope this helps.

m2yw.jpg
 
Plug removal

I've probably done this 50 times. I use to do the hammer and punch method, but slide hammer/dent puller is the easiest way. Mine needs a #10 hole and I use grease on the drill bit to collect the shavings. 2 or 3 taps and they usually pop right out and normally don't leave any drill shavings behind. Any debris is easily removed. Use this opportunity to clean and inspect the crankshaft bore.


Don Broussard
RV 9 Rebuild in Progress
 
Is this required?

It seems to me that later model engines do not require removal of the crankshaft plug. I thought Lycoming modified later models to avoid removal by using a noncorrosive coating inside the shaft, and this also avoided the SB which required periodic cleaning inside the shaft. Maybe I am just dreaming but wonder if removal of plug is necessary on late model engines. :confused:
 
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