Can't even get the oil filter adapter T60 wrench onto the bolt.

I tried to do my oil filter adapter today.
After about 1 hour of trying, I could not even get the L-wrench onto the T60 nut.
It wasn't a clearance issue, it just would not seat into the star.
Has anyone's ever rusted out enough to not allow a T60 to seat properly?
Or, do you think I have the wrong kind of T60? Is "star" different than "Torx"?
I used this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/110958008484?

Do people get this to fit from above or below?
There was no way I could get it to seat from above.
I did get it to seat once from below, but, from there, there was no way I could get any sort of twisting motion on it without it just falling out.

Forget getting a 3 foot breaker/cheater bar onto this to actually crack the red locktite. If you can only do this from below, this requires a lift.
Also, this seems to be a two man job, with one man holding the T60 wrench in place while the other uses the breaker bar.

Yet again, another DIY repair that takes 1 hour to get aborted before you can even complete step 1.
You gotta love this sh/t and laugh, or you'll kill yourself.
It seems like Jeep projects seem way more complex than BMW repairs.
Working on a BMW is like playing with Lego's compared to the crazy stuff you need to do with Jeeps.
I'm starting to realize people on the Jeep forums are highly expert mechanics, and a lot of this Jeep stuff is just not for beginners.

I found a narrower T60 socket at autozone when I did mine about five years ago. It just barely fit. I put it into the adapter nut first and then slipped a small beaker bar into the socket. It wasn't easy to break loose but it did. Others have used other methods. Don't dispare as it can be done. And I've had my share of frustrations on my E36 BMW too. Don't get my started on describing the fun I had replacing the water pump when the seal wouldn't release from the block or I cut my hand all to heck wrestling in new door lock actuators.

Take a small flathead or pick, and attempt to clean out the pocket for the bit.

My jeep is downright easy to work on, compared to my 01 T/A

I just picked up my new o-ring set from the dealer last week $6.10 with tax in stock.

Looked underneath and saw that my 88 has a regular hex bolt.

I feel for you, I know the one torxs bolt on my passenger side motor mount bracket was a PIA. Why that bracket has 2 regular and one torks bolt is beyond me.

Are you planning on replacing the torks bolt with a regular bolt? I wish I had on my motor mount, I think I stripped the torks head out a bit on reinstall.

A prybar wedged in so as to hold the bit tightly in its socket can also be a great help

Dont own a lift? Lift your jeep!

Yeah, Jeep didn't design the OFA to be easily disassembled while in vehicle. I'm a rather new e36 m3 owner(3 years) and must say that I'd rather work on my Jeep or m3 than most the other cars I end up working on(they are both "Legos"). I will say that the 24 exhaust nuts&studs I had to deal with on the m3's header upgrade kinda sucked compared to the "complicated" intake/exhaust combo on the Jeep.

Go to auto-zone. Buy the t-60 bit that is a two piece design made to fit on a 3/8 ratchet. Put it in a vice and knock the center part out. This leaves you with a t-60 bit that is about one inch long. Then you can put a box wrench (I think it's a 10mm but could be wrong) over the other end and it will come out slicker than warm snot.

DrMoab said:

Go to auto-zone. Buy the t-60 bit that is a two piece design made to fit on a 3/8 ratchet. Put it in a vice and knock the center part out. This leaves you with a t-60 bit that is about one inch long. Then you can put a box wrench (I think it's a 10mm but could be wrong) over the other end and it will come out slicker than warm snot.

Click to expand...

That's the same bit that I used. I had just barely enough clearance to get it in place w/out disassembling it. I know I used a box end wrench on it as well, but I don't remember if I slipped the closed end over the bit first, or if I just used the open end.

Unless you're saying my T60 L-wrench is the wrong bit to use.
My problem is not the clearance.
It is that my L-wrench does not sit in the star hole.
In fact, it barely goes in. It takes 5 mins to finally get it to "sit".
Turning it just makes it fall out of the hole.

Getting a socket does not address this issue.
I will pick scrape out the star hole and see if the L-wrench seats more securely.

souske said:

A prybar wedged in so as to hold the bit tightly in its socket can also be a great help!

Click to expand...

This might be a good tactic. I think this is a 2-man job.

gw204 said:

That's the same bit that I used. I had just barely enough clearance to get it in place w/out disassembling it. I know I used a box end wrench on it as well, but I don't remember if I slipped the closed end over the bit first, or if I just used the open end.

Click to expand...

That's why I said to knock the center put of the bit. Don't use the chrome part. Just the torx bit and a wrench.

When I did mine I welded the T60 socket to a piece of 1/4 x 1 flat bar with a slight offset, worked great.

Get some WD40, or PB Blaster and spray the head of the bolt ... work it in and out until it goes in fully.

If it's dry and crusty it'll make it hard to fit in. Lube it up and it will help clean the crud off the fastener walls.

FYI - I used the same 3/8" socket and knocked the bit out, worked way better when I used a crowfoot
bit for my ratchet.

Or a 50/50 ATF/acetone mix.

I used PB blaster and a pick tool to scrape this star hole out. As you can see below, the T60 wrench still barely goes into the hole. Can you see the faint depth marks? It only goes in like 1/8" of an inch. I feel there is no chance in hell I can put ANY turning force on this wrench without it immediately stripping whatever it's barely grabbing. Or just falling out. It barely even stays in the star. Ideally, it needs to be hammered into the hole to stay, but there is clearly no room for a hammer in here. If you need enough force to break an L-wrench, there is no F/cking way this thing can ever work. It will fall or slip out long before even 1% of that amount of force/torque can possibly be applied. If that's not it, I think the L-wrench is too bulky to use. It just gets in it's own way and has very little clearance to twist into the star hole. Beyond paying a mechanic $1000 to lift the engine out and drill F'er out, this is one possibility left.

Is anyone willing to lend/mail me their hand-welded T60 tool so I can try the socket/wrench/weld approach?
If so, PM me. I will reimburse shipping, and have it mailed back within a week.

Not being able to even BEGIN many of these write-ups is a serious wake-up call. Having to fab/grind/weld your own tools is the other. In general, I am starting to see that working on Jeeps is not really for beginner hobbyists without serious mentorship or garage setups (welders, bench vice, lifts, air hammers, etc). Someone like me who mainly turn bolts with a basic $1000 worth of tools might be better off with a cleaner RAV4 or X3 for winter commuting. I am starting to think buying a "clean 125k XJ" that has barely been maintained beyond $5 fluids was a mistake. I don't want to invest $7000 into "refreshing" an XJ that has a permanent oil leak. Maybe the smarter move might be to stop investing in this XJ, and just drive this thing into the ground or just sell it after the winter is over. I now regret dropping $750 on rotors, exhaust, hubs, and u-joints as my first mechanic repair. That's long term sunk cost, and I am slowing shifting my lens to that of temporary ownership that can be limited to a $1700 mistake, if I cut my losses right now. ($2200 for the 1998 XJ w/ 125k, already invested $2000 in 1 month, but can sell as is for $2500 I think) Ignoring this option would be foolish, unfortunately. This XJ project might get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

Of course, the other option is to just say "F/ck it" with regards to the OFA, just let it leak (always check the oil) and treat the XJ for what it is. A dirty beater spare car that will always has small issues that money can't fix. Maybe trying to make it "nice" (like you'd do with an older BMW) is barking up the wrong tree. If I just drive it, invest nothing beyond bare minimum repairs, that may be fine. The XJ does run fine right now, and it's only an oil leak.

Are you sure it is a T-60 you need and not a T-57? Perhaps it is a defective bolt, or odd ball, try a T-57, if nothing else it might aid cleaning it out.

Also IIRC some of them were not Torx but were hex in the 87-90 period. So try a hex bit.

One other thing is try a flat plate pry bar behind the Trox bit to force the Torx 60 in deeper. Try duct tape to hold the bit to the flat plate maybe. Are you sure you cleaned the mud dobber nest, dried up dirt out of it?

One other thing, that T-60 L you have in the photo looks like it has a casting flaw, not smooth in one spot, cheap metal. I junked the first two cheap Torx bit sets I bought, and bought a quality forged Chrome Vanadium (IIRC) set finally that has clean smooth lines and goes into tight spots much better, and does not break the bit when I use a cheater pipe three foot long :shiver: to get the damn thing loose!!!

IIRC I had similar problems with mine. I finally used the better quality CV- L and a 3 foot cheater pipe to get mine loose. I had to clean the groves first, and then use a flat plate to force it in deep.

See how smooth the finish is on this one in the photo!

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...724CE7C3327AFE21DAC72B22E9BC4C0EB9B21&first=1

Mike, that's just grease and dirt from the bolt. I just wiped it off. There is no casting flaw.

bimmerjeeper said:

Mike, that's just grease and dirt from the bolt. I just wiped it off. There is no casting flaw.

Click to expand...

There is one in the close up photo, look again, and look at the grainyness (very rough casting) of the skin. A little rust on the bolt and tool and a tight fit might be the problem. Also some of the cheap Chinese tools are just not made to tight tolerances, many are too tight, too loose and break if you look at them wrong.