Frozen lube inspection cap 250 BR

[sawgrass]

Hello everyone, I'm new here.

I picked up a parts trike yesterday and was checking the oil and rear lube but am having difficulty removing the inspection cap on the differential. Started with a 17mm which started to round out, next a few taps with a hammer and a screwdriver which served only to chip the thin aluminum edge of the cap. Knowing that the cap isn't going to be worth saving now, I then locked on with some vice grips which produced no joy. I am hoping your vast knowledge will help me remove this stubborn cap without further destroying it and getting shards into the case. Any options or should I just go on the demolition route? Thanks

Rick

[shortline10]

A little heat for 30 seconds with a torch and the vice grips should do it , if all else fails use a chisel very carfully .

[ps2fixer]

A little heat for 30 seconds with a torch and the vice grips should do it , if all else fails use a chisel very carfully .

+1 to that

Also you can buy the caps new from honda yet so you can keep the diff good :). It is the same one as the 17mm cap on some Honda heads for the valve adjustments.

Was your 17mm 6 point? I never rounded one off before, but I have had some stubborn ones before. Heat does amazing things though. Slow and easy is better than jerking.

[sawgrass]

Thanks for the help guys but it's not budging. Tried heat with vice grips, so it looks like I will be chiseling (carefully). PS2fixer, it was not a 6 pt. which I do have, just thought that this would not be any problem(o ring gasket, not torqued). So much for that idea. And not my first time for going to "plan b". Learn from mistakes.

Rick

[ps2fixer]

Understandable, good luck. If the housing gets damaged, I'm sure I have a spare around, of course you'd need the pinion special tool and such, but since you mentioned it is a parts machine I suspect you probably won't be needing it either way.