[dman25]

Went to replace the diff fluid today... Guess who owned the mdx before me cross threaded the bolt or something. Looking for any smart ideas on how to get this out (broken adapter) and the bolt. I broke it using a breaker bar to unscrew the bolt.Car is still driveable as I didnt remove the drain plug.

 

[skirmich]

Get a spot weld to remove the socket point and get a better quality socket so it wont happen again. Also do not torque to manual spec of +30lb that is what happens when you do, When you remove it tighten to 27lbs max.

 

[carguy07]

I would think you could pull it out with some needle nose pliers. The ball bearing is right there to pull out.

 

[dman25]

Got it out! Took out the spring and ball with a small flat head screwdriver then i used some strong neodymium magnets i had to pull out the broken adapter. Off to harbor freight to buy an impact gun

 

[skirmich]

You can undo it with a breaker bar... I used a torque wrench to undo it the first time..
The problem is tighten to the OEM Spec of 32lbs... If you tight it to that again you will have problems again next time.

 

[-jon-]

I had problems loosening that fill bolt on my X, though I didn't quite get to the point of breaking my breaker bar. I finally said eff it and took it to a shop for a fluid change. Also did the transfer case at the same time. Cost $140 for both, which included the fluids. Worth every penny. And fwiw, I really don't get why engineers thought it was a good idea to have a fill plug without a standard hex or torx head.

 

[Emmet]

I had problems loosening that fill bolt on my X, though I didn't quite get to the point of breaking my breaker bar. I finally said eff it and took it to a shop for a fluid change. Also did the transfer case at the same time. Cost $140 for both, which included the fluids. Worth every penny. And fwiw, I really don't get why engineers thought it was a good idea to have a fill plug without a standard hex or torx head.

I've had good luck using a cheater pipe to get them loose, but I can see your frustration. The $140 isn't a bad price at all, as I think that my dealer would charge about $190 for doing both services.

I think I can kind of see why Honda stuck with the square head drain and fill plugs. Aside from their timing belts, Honda seems to have had the philosophy of designing vehicles with ease of maintenance in mind. While torx tools are quite common now, I don't think you can say that they're as common as a 3/8" ratchet and/or extension. I would also imagine that hex head fill plug would be much more prone to getting rounded off. I could see that being a potential problem on these vehicles, in which the drain/fill bolts can be pretty tight, the fluid change intervals are somewhat frequent, and they can be still be on the road after quite a number of years.

 

[Bluepill]

Lesson #1:

Harbor Freight Tools (Pittsburgh Brand) are junk.