So, with the tranny warm (20 miles or so coming home from work) I took a torch to it. I got it plenty hot but it still won't budge. My plan for tomorrow is to pull the console and the shifter and fill it that way.

 

I finally got it. I was able to pull the shifter and do it that way. It was kind of a trick because the back bolts are hard to get to, but I made it work. Test drove it and it made a big difference. It shifts a lot smoother. It obviously needed it. Thanks for all your help and suggestions!

 

I'm having one heck of a time with my fill plug as well, and could not find a suitable extractor. I knew when I got under my XJ to remove the fill plug first (thankfully) that it was rounded, and that I was in trouble. Using a proper 6-point 24mm wrench only rounded it more, and vice grips and a pipe wrench proved worthless as well. I found all types of extractor sets but none of them went up to 24mm, so I was stuck. I also tried using a sharpened cold chisel and taping at it, but that didn't work either. I was planning on welding a nut to it this weekend, but I finally found an extractor that is the proper size! The Irwin 53917 is 15/16" or 24mm, and I'm hoping it gets the job done for me this weekend.

I'm bumping this thread for people like me that search the forums. Sears sells the tool in their marketplace here:

http://www.sears.com/irwin-53917-bol...-SPM2401929914

But a Google search will bring up plenty of re-sellers including Amazon. I'll update this thread after this weekend if I'm successful in getting this thing out.

 

Heat and PB Blast do usually work-but I have had the best luck with stubborn bolts using CRC Freeze-Off. It's some sort of refrigerant in an aerosol can that you spray like you would penetrating oil, but it "freezes" the bolt and causes it to contract, the opposite of using heat.


It's usually stocked in stores with the penetrating oils.

 

I may check that out before I attempt removing it tomorrow. Thanks for the tip! I will update this thread Saturday afternoon.

 

Mission accomplished. CRC Freeze-off is amazing, and I could have done it with just a pair of vice grips after using it. I did use my $20 extraction socket, but I wish I wouldn't have bought it now. Here's what I was working with:





You can see how rounded I managed to get the old fill plug. Most of the damage was done when I took a cold chisel to it and tried to tap it out that way. The extractor along with Freeze-off handled it very easily though.

On a side note, I am sure whoever did the last fluid change on my AX15 used a GL5 gear oil, because I've always had trouble with 2nd and 3rd when the transmission was cold. I also had a lot of copper flakes in the old oil. After reading, I decided to use Pennzoil Syncromesh, because I've had good luck with it in the past and had read from others it cured any syncing problem they had. My test drive told me the 2nd and 3rd gear grinds are gone, but at the next change I think I will go with a 10w30 Synthetic though.

Thanks for the awesome suggestion SamSTL! It worked perfectly in this situation.