Sump plug question

tim · Post by **tim** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 5:59 pm

Why waste money on a tool you can make yourself in 2 minutes? Piece of steel rod about 11mm upwards (though the more metal you have the more you have to grind....) turn on cheapo bench grinder, whizz whizz, clamp rod in vice and clout the crap out of the round end until it's bent 90 degrees, hey presto, one tool. If you have ground it properly you will NOT harm the sump plug as it will be as good a fit as the bought-in one. I suspect the one I made recently will still be around in fifty years even if no-one knows what the hell it was supposed to fit!

Post by **Defender110** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:47 pm

So don't waist money on a £5 sump plug key just go out and buy a piece of steel rod, a bench grinder and a vice!

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:45 pm

Obviously most of us will already have the above, although I know you are only jesting Kevan. I made one once too, from an old allen key but I now have a full set of the various different sizes (and a sump plug on the BX with a square drive on the inside, and a standard hex on the outside).

Reminds me of something on another forum though (LT van) where people were asking where they could possibly get a linkage for the handbrake. One bloke proudly proclaimed that he’d eventually managed to find a blacksmith who could make one up for him, and it only cost him a tenner. I pointed out that I simply phoned up a VW dealer and they put one in the post for me the next day (had 8 in stock) and it cost me just over 8 quid including the postage...

KevR · Post by **KevR** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:23 pm

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but noticed in the local supermarket here (Leclerc), that they've got new sump plugs for BX, with washer, and designed for standard hex key rather than square key, for 1.65 euros. Got to be a good excuse for a booze cruise from UK...

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:19 pm

That's exactly where I bought mine! But it also had the square key fitting, so either way you're covered. Bit of an unusual holiday souvenir, but there you go...

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:20 pm

I have absolutely no idea what I used. I did service the BX last year so I must have undone it somehow!

KevR · Post by **KevR** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:56 am

mat_fenwick, sort of wrote:That's exactly where I bought mine! But it also had the square key fitting (square drive on the inside, and a standard hex on the outside), so either way you're covered.

This is different - allen key in the centre, no square peg fitting at all.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:09 pm

The sump plug with a square hole in the centre is the most usual one.

I have previously used the square shaft that links domestic internal door handles.

Easy to find, and with an ajustable spanner fitted as close the plug to eliminate twisting the shaft, works very well.

I have also made a tool with a short lengh of the shaft, welded to a large nut,
works a treat.

toddao · Post by **toddao** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:14 pm

That's a work of art that is Brian!

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:36 pm

Thanks Todd for that comment.

Yes it did take a while to produce the design on the visible side of the square shaft.