stripped oil filter bolt

okay guys....the dreaded day has come (and passed a little) for me to do battle with my stripped oil filter bolt. i have a replacement, but am having no luck getting the damn thing off. vice grips didn't work and only stripped it more.

a couple of you guys mentioned a stripped bolt extractor from sears. what exactly is this? it's not the same thing as the bolt extractors that use the drill bits, is it? if that's the case, i could get it at the auto store. can anybody shed some light on the sears bolt extractor? thanks!

 

Yes, you need a GOOD extractor.
You will need to drill into the bolt, and then if I remember correctly grind off the washer. Then use the extractor.

Sucky sucky process. Afterwards, you can either return that new bolt and get a spin on adapter, or use anti seize for sure on the new bolt.

Be VERY careful with the extractor, and do it RIGHT. Use the correct bit and everything. Follow instructions to the T. They can be very tricky, but work well when you do it right.

 

52060

 

Oops - I said you need to grind off the washer- that's only if you need to take the housing off before the bolt, IF the extraction kit does not work.
Be careful if you have to do that, if you grind more than the washer part, you'll ruin the housing.

 

I have a pretty much the exact same problem. I managed to get the rounded bolt out, but I need to know where I can get a replacement.

Thanks

-Josh

 

PM Chacal he will give you a price on one.

 

Oil Filter bolt, hmm...do all the XJ's have the specialized drain bolt like the Maxim-X that is really hollow and helps distribute the oil through the filter? I think I have a link to a place that sells them. Yes, found it,

http://www.jcwhitney.com/CHROMED-OIL-FI ... owCustom=0

 

You can also readily find those bolts on eBay. I've seen lots of NOS of those.

As far as an extrator, I have a 3 piece set from Sears, that I couldn't get to work when I tried it. I picked up a set at Advanced auto, those didn't work, so I bought an $8 set from Harbor Freight and those worked great.

Mind you, I was using them on something else. Now, no one suggested the extractor bit to me, but I doubt it would have worked as I had spun the bolt with an impact wrench running @ 90 psi - the wrong direction!!

I tried vise grips, the chisel and hammer approach, pipe wrench on the bolt, pipe wrench on the housing ... nothing. I had to remove the header pipes to get in their with the pipe wrench.

So the solution I ended up with was using an air hammer with a chisel to turn the bolt. That worked.

Fortunately, I had a spare set of bolt and cover that I had from a parts bike ...

YMMV.

 

OK KIDS.... YOUR SCARING ME!! now i dont want to change my oil filter ...you know i seem to remember a similar discussion at the virago forums..something about a screw on adapter. I know saw a link in for that..just add that to "my list"

 

Chacal has them.

 

Yes chacal has the screw on.

Start with going to town on the bolt with an impact wrench after drenching the bolt with penetrating oil and soaking for an hour.
Nail it with the impact wrench, see what happens.

Highly suggest against power tools, as when they GO, if it GOES, you may have just rounded it and no going back!

 

Uhmmmmm, an impact wrench IS a power tool ...

 

DOH.
Wording wrong.

Impact DRIVER.

 

A special type of penetrating oil that is great for loosening frozen bolts is kroil (see http://www.kanolabs.com/google/).

Also, I've heard of guys taking a dremel tool and cutting a screw driver slot in the head of bolts like this which then makes it possible to use the bits on an impact driver like the one shown by dpawl31.

 

Take the Pipes off.
There's enough Purchase on the shouldered section of the bolt to use a
Pipe Wrench.
Pipe Wrench.
A Pipe Wrench is not Vice Grips.
A Pipe Wrench grabs the surface with more force as more force is applied to the Wrench Handle.

 

I tried the pipe wrench after removing the pipes on one side. They didn't work. I even tried to use the pipe wrench on the filter housing itself! Ended up just breaking off some fins.

 

Rick what if his pipes are more hopeless than the oil filter... he's looking at even more trouble, even though he's going to inevitability have to deal with the pipes too.

Remember my SECA? All 4 pipes the purdy color of pure 'rust-n-disgust'?

I definately get what you are saying, but I think having a go at it with an impact driver first is worth a shot, just in case it works. Taking the pipes off really isn't a 10 minute deal

 

On the 400 the filter housing is on the bottom of the bike, once on the centerstand you can get at it ok....

The head on mine was round....nothing to grip, I used a dremel with cutting wheels (many) to cut away the flange of the bolt , once the pressure was off I could unscrew it with my fingers....

It takes time a patience.... penetrating oil is useless as the threads are about 3 inches away from the base

Hopefully you grabbed a 3rd party bolt with the larger head..