vistacruiser

HI, everyone !! I'm new here and love my XJ that I bought new in 98. 251K miles on it and a perfect emission score last month.... gotta' love it. I'm also an XS/XJ1100 Yamaha fan by coinkydink and an avid contributor to that forum.

I'm about halfway finished dealing with a bad oil leak issue on the 98XJ. OP gasket squished out front and rear ... common issue, I bet, but it's all apart now. With a quarter million miles on it, I decided to change out the parts other than the gaskets that I would expose during the process, ie., oil pump, timing set, chain bumper (found broken in the bottom of the T/cvr), front seal and the oil filter housing O-rings. I had a rear main seal purchased to install too but see no need for it. That leads me to my first question:

Are there any tips that anyone can think of that I might find useful or helpful for the completion of this project?? Removing that pan was a royal PITA as the axle doesn't sag very far with even the shocks and strut bar undone leaving very minimal clearance to get the pan outa' there ... don't know if the pan gasket will be able to stay on the pan when I re-install it.

Secondly, who knows what size or what tool fits in that big aluminum fitting that holds the Oil Filter housing to the block?

I'm sure I'll have some more questions as I go along. Your help is appreciated.
I have have tons of mechanic experience including MBZ, Nissan and Peugot dealer and of course XS1100s. Thanks again

BLKXJ 96

9/16 allen wrench.

vistacruiser

Thank you, Jeff. That rocks .... I'll buy a single and grind it if I have to.

BlueXJ

Actually you may get an allen in that bolt but it is really a T-60 Torx bolt. There isn't a lot of clearance between the unibody and the bolt so I put the socket in place by hand and used a pair of vice grips on it but you may have a shorter socket and ratchet than I did.
Whatever you do don't mess that bolt up to the point you can't get it out and back in.

vistacruiser

Ahh-haa !! I had a T55 wiggled in there and of course it was too sloppy .... didn't have a T60 ...but it sure felt like a Torx or a Triple Square when I stuck my finger in there though. Thx BlueXJ.

"Whatever you do don't mess that bolt up to the point you can't ... "

That is exactly why I asked first ... these forums are awesome.

BlueXJ

You are welcome. I did the oil filter conversion about a year ago and I was lucky that I had a big enough Torx socket. Most sets stop at T-55. My set is Lisle and they go to T-60.

Howler_GT

Hey Vista, my friend.

Depends on the year. Earlier XJ's have a HEX head (like a regular bolt)

Somewhere between 91 and 94 they changed.
Rule of thumb-- Oil filter pointing UP-> Hex (Think its a 9/16)
Oil filter pointing rearward--> T-60 Torx


I picked up a T-60 Torx socket from AutoZone and punched the Torx portion out and used a 10mm wrench on it from above.
I highly suggest putting a catch-pan underneath, even if you have all the oil drained. Some will come out, and makes it nicer if you have to crawl under for any reason... Ya know, like picking up the bit and wrench. I did that a half dozen times.

I have had to remove the oil filter adapter on BOTH our Cherokees.
There is a kit from HELP that has the correct O-rings for the newer (pointing rearward) adapters, the o-rings will not fit the older ones (pointing up).

HTH

BlueXJ

Some of the above data seems to be a bit cloudy Howler. Mine is a 90 and had the T-60 bolt. I converted to the housing with the horizontal filter for two reasons. first it is less messy when doing the oil changes and secondly it allows me to use a larger filter.
Got the conversion info HERE

vistacruiser

Love the way they make things consistant. I bought a regular T60 socket at Autozone today and a 12mm fits it perfectly. They also have a GreatNeck set of Torx that are about an inch shorter and might even work with a skinny rachet or breakover handle too if this socket is too long. Can't believe the amount of different size wrenches and sockets I have used on the fasteners on this job too .

Thank you kindly for all of your valuable input. I have another question about priming the oil pump as well but I'm gonna' start a new thread if a search yields nothing productive.