Differential Drain Plug and Fill Plug Replacement

[ksdon]

Way back when, Flip posted a service guide showing that Ford specs that the differential drain plugs and the fill plus are One Time Use. Take them out and toss in the trash....install new ones.

That was from a post back in 2021... I trust what Flip posts...he is a good guy on this website.

But I have to ask: Why does/did Ford specify these as 1 time use?
Do any of you do throw them away?........If I ignore this, will that chunk of steel the plugs are made of fail????

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[Ducati1098]

Way back when, Flip posted a service guide showing that Ford specs that the differential drain plugs and the fill plus are One Time Use. Take them out and toss in the trash....install new ones.

That was from a post back in 2021... I trust what Flip posts...he is a good guyot this website.

But I have to ask: Why does/did Ford specify these as 1 time use?
Do any of you do throw them away?........If I ignore this, will that chunk of steel the plugs are made of fail????

I think It’s mostly a safety or fix it right the first time thing. Almost any part that comes with a sealant or loctite on it is considered a one time use part and Ford requires us to replace them.

In this case, the plug comes from Ford with a sealant on it already.

You could just as easily clean off the old one and apply some new sealant.

 

[ksdon]

Thank you.
That is what I did the first time...took a so wire brush to it and it looked new.
Getting ready to change diffs and really questioned it.

EDIT: You are a good guy also!!! I trust what you post.

 

[Brian_B]

There are a few nuts and bolts that are prevailing torque - the front wheel axle hub nuts are a common one.

Those nuts you aren't supposed to re-use because the tightening them to the torque spec actually deforms the threads by design - that's how they lock.

Ford just specs one-time use probably because they don't want to trust the end user to use the proper additive in the proper manner and/or amount... some of those things are kind of tricky to get right, and many of them are a bit more involved than just a few drops of blue loctite (although, I freely admit, that's all I do for most of this). And some are prevailing torque, and it may not be obvious.

The differential drains... are not that. Just throw some teflon tape or pipe sealant on there and you are fine (and will probably be fine without it to be honest).

 

[ksdon]

I agree. It is simple. In that long ago post, Flip said there is no rhyme or reason with Ford.
I think maybe they can rhyme!!

 

[23OBX2.7]

Way back when, Flip posted a service guide showing that Ford specs that the differential drain plugs and the fill plus are One Time Use. Take them out and toss in the trash....install new ones.

That was from a post back in 2021... I trust what Flip posts...he is a good guy on this website.

But I have to ask: Why does/did Ford specify these as 1 time use?
Do any of you do throw them away?........If I ignore this, will that chunk of steel the plugs are made of fail????

All Ford bolts and nuts aside from trim are one time use so they can sell a $0.05 bolt for $6.00 capturing huge write offs on warranty work parts "price" and ripping off insurance companies and consumers.....and they still lost $19 billion LOL.

 

[Ducati1098]

All Ford bolts and nuts aside from trim are one time use so they can sell a $0.05 bolt for $6.00 capturing huge write offs on warranty work parts "price" and ripping off insurance companies and consumers.....and they still lost $19 billion LOL.

Has absolutely nothing to do with money. If anything it’s costing them a ton of money on warranty repairs for mostly unnecessary parts.

 

[swamp2]

There are a few nuts and bolts that are prevailing torque - the front wheel axle hub nuts are a common one.

Those nuts you aren't supposed to re-use because the tightening them to the torque spec actually deforms the threads by design - that's how they lock.

The rest of your post is .

However, you're not describing prevailing torque above, this is TTY or torque to yield.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Has absolutely nothing to do with money. If anything it’s costing them a ton of money on warranty repairs for mostly unnecessary parts.

Its a global corp accounting trick. One entity paying for warranty repairs buying parts at full price gets to write off the repair cost against income.

The part purchasing entity, buying the bolts in CN, thats perhaps located in Hong Kong or Singapore etc with very low or nil tax, captures all the profit between the $0.05 cost and the $7 sell proce to internal reseller entity that resells to parts distribution at nil profit, who sells to dealer who is then paid by Warrantly entity.

So on my Bronco that has about a $4200 net margin, that needs new turbos that cost $800 ea to make but booked as a $9K loss w labor, against warranty liability entity USA profits.

Meanwhile the low lax enity is reaping massive profits then rolled up into quarterly results.

 

[Ducati1098]

Its a global corp accounting trick. One entity paying for warranty repairs buying parts at full price gets to write off the repair cost against income.

The part purchasing entity, buying the bolts in CN, thats perhaps located in Hong Kong or Singapore etc with very low or nil tax, captures all the profit between the $0.05 cost and the $7 sell proce to internal reseller entity that resells to parts distribution at nil profit, who sells to dealer who is then paid by Warrantly entity.

So on my Bronco that has about a $4200 net margin, that needs new turbos that cost $800 ea to make but booked as a $9K loss w labor, against warranty liability entity USA profits.

Meanwhile the low lax enity is reaping massive profits then rolled up into quarterly results.

Yeah it doesn’t really work that way.

Ford reports one set of numbers for the whole company. All the “entities” get added together in their official financial reports.

Warranty repairs are obviously a huge real cost that hurts their profits. If marking up one time use parts (or any other clever accounting trick) was making them any money, their overall profits would look better, not worse because of warranty expenses.

Yet Ford has repeatedly said that higher than expected warranty costs have significantly dragged down earnings and cost hundreds of millions extra in some quarters.
Any “profit” from transfer pricing on one time use parts would still appear in the overall financial results, but warranty remains a big expense that has repeatedly hurt earnings.

One time use parts are a safety/liability decision, not some global accounting scam that magically saves Ford money on repairs.
Warranty is a cost drag, not a profit center.

 

[Brian_B]

However, you're not describing prevailing torque above, this is TTY or torque to yield.

Yes! You are correct. I couldn't remember the exact name and tried Googling it... and that's what I got. So apologies - you are absolutely right. Thank you

 

[Valhalla]

It's all a scheme by the political elite!!!!!!
or not...

 

[White Zombie]

WHAT?? really? the drain and fill plugs are a one time use. damn, good thing I saw this before I change all the fluids. Is that true for the transfer case and the manual transmission also?

 

[swamp2]

WHAT?? really? the drain and fill plugs are a one time use. damn, good thing I saw this before I change all the fluids. Is that true for the transfer case and the manual transmission also?

Read the whole thread. They can, and have been by many of us, repeatedly reused.

 

[Ducati1098]

WHAT?? really? the drain and fill plugs are a one time use. damn, good thing I saw this before I change all the fluids. Is that true for the transfer case and the manual transmission also?

Nothing to worry about on the manual transmission. It has a built-in rubber seal on the plugs which should be perfectly reusable if not damaged.

4A transfer case plug can be reused with new PTFE sealant.
But the part time transfer case uses crush washers, which should be replaced, but can realistically likely be reused without issue also. To each their own there.

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