[johnlo23]

I have a 2004 TJ with the NV3550 5-spd. Does anyone know where to buy replacement drain and fill plugs for this tranny?

I am going to change my fluid soon. The drain plug has rust on it and I would like to buy a replacement before I remove it. I've search online and in the forums, and cannot find one. I'm trying to avoid the dealership.

 

[afusco1222]

Have you tried calling a junk yard?

 

[TheBoogieman]

Any auto parts store has them. Dorman #65267.

 

[chris142]

I bet most if not all NV transmissions use the same plugs. Dodge truck, Dakota? Liberty?

 

[johnlo23]

Any auto parts store has them. Dorman #65267.

Thanks for the input, but Dorman #65267 looks like the engine oil drain plug.

 

[jhanna]

Most quick lube centers have large selections of various drain/fill plugs. And some will sell them. Call around.

 

[Opihi59]

Rust on your drain/fill plug? Really that makes no difference whatsoever. So long as it seals, some cosmetic rust makes no difference. Honestly, if I replaced every rusty head/rusty socket head fixture, I'd run out of beer money.

Don't waste your money on buying a 17mm allen head socket or allen wrench either to remove the drain/fill plug. Just take a bolt with a 17mm head, heat and bend and you've got the removal tool with the addition of a cheater bar. I KNOW I have photos of this, I just can't find them to post up. Always best to make sure you can break loose your fill plug first. Then work on removing the drain plug. If you drain it first and find you can't remove the fill plug, you're in a bit of a pickle until you pull your shifter tower off the top of the transmission and fill thru there. Painful, but that's the other way to fill.

Nothing quite like filling your tranny with lube in the dead of a cold NY winter. Unless you heat it up first, it's going to be painful getting it to flow.

 

[johnlo23]

Rust on your drain/fill plug? Really that makes no difference whatsoever. So long as it seals, some cosmetic rust makes no difference. Honestly, if I replaced every rusty head/rusty socket head fixture, I'd run out of beer money.

:laugh: Didn't want to risk having a stripped drain plug that I couldn't tighten up, but you're probably right that it's not a big deal.

Thanks for the other advice.

Nothing quite like filling your tranny with lube in the dead of a cold NY winter. Unless you heat it up first, it's going to be painful getting it to flow.

Most of this winter hasn't been a real NY winter. It's been a warm one. I hadn't thought of the the temp being an issue with the fluid. The fluid heats up when driving, right? The hot fluid settles in the bottom of the tranny and should flow easily enough out the drain, even when cold, no?

I have a fluid pump to inject the clean stuff in.

 

[Opihi59]

No worries with it cold once inside the tranny. The thickness issue is problematic when trying to get the fluid into the tranny. You may want to keep your synchromesh inside the warm house until the last second.....and/or submerge sealed containers of it in a bucket of HOT water, that way the viscosity will be so much lower and you'll be able to pump it into the tranny easier via the fluid pump you are using.

 

[johnlo23]

I found this pic of the bent-bolt tool

 

[Opihi59]

Yes that will work, so long as the head is 17mm. You'll find that for the fill plug, you'll need a tighter bend, so there isn't such a long section between bolt head and the 90* bend. That one above will work fine for the drain though as you'll have your skid plate off most likely (recommended, yes put a jackstand under the tail housing of the Transfer case.) Best to put the bolt in a vice and heat it with MAPP gas torch or other healthy heat source and keep the bend closer to the head. Otherwise you can get one of those long "coupler nut" like for joining two pieces of all-thread together end-to-end and that will work too.
If you've gotta have the "right tool," Sears Craftsman has a 17mm Allen key for around $10, will still need a cheater bar, or they make a set of 4 Oversized Allen sockets in 1/2" drive that includes the 17mm size. I'm thrifty, so I just bent up a bolt from my box of bolts I scavenge every time I go to the junk yard.

 

[J03_TJ]

Funny, I was under my jeep last week and noticed the rusty drain plug on my transmission also. It's probably the rustiest thing on my jeep. Also thought I'd mention how I fill the transmission. I take a section of garden hose and duct tape it to my funnel by the brake booster in the engine bay and route the hose down to the fill hole. Makes pouring the synchromesh in a breeze. No pump required.

 

[Opihi59]

Yep, they rust.

Mine: Drain



Fill

 

[JFM626]

Funny, I was under my jeep last week and noticed the rusty drain plug on my transmission also. It's probably the rustiest thing on my jeep. Also thought I'd mention how I fill the transmission. I take a section of garden hose and duct tape it to my funnel by the brake booster in the engine bay and route the hose down to the fill hole. Makes pouring the synchromesh in a breeze. No pump required.

Yes, indeed. That's how l do it too.

 

[jhanna]

I found this pic of the bent-bolt tool

Yes that will work, so long as the head is 17mm.

17mm written right on the handle with a sharpie marker ! This guy is organized ! :2thumbsup: