WONiWILSON

i am replacing the oil pump in my 2000 xj, and can't figure out how to remove the rear 2 bolts from the oil pan. My socket will not fit over the bolts cause they are too close the the lip on the pan. Any help would be appreciated.

wiggles

You can use an open ended wrench to manually take them out

cherokee90

beat a socket in there with a hammer and an extension

WONiWILSON

thanks i wasnt sure if i should bang the socket in there or not

BotakBeng

x2
This is what you are looking at

This is what it looks like

Just push the socket (real hard) in.

gvnc

I know this is an old thread, but it's posts like this that save me! I love this forum.

gvnc

Also, for future searchers, slightly bigger socket, gentle taps, and working on it when the rubber is cool

md21722

The rubber turns to stone over time making it difficult to get a socket on there. Jeep changed from 1/2" bolt heads to 3/8" bolt heads somewhere along the way to help eliminate this problem.

jpnelms

Old thread, but this was a huge help. Dropping the pan on my '01 Classic now

bluejeep2001

The pan will not come out unless you drop the axle lower by unbolting the shocks and jacking the frame thats with 3 inch lift . less clearance if stock height..are you putting in a stock or hv pump

jpnelms

Mine is stock for now. No lift yet. I managed it, but getting the pan around the axel was a pain. Had to disconnect my shock absorbers and used a jack to push my axel down a little more. After that, came out fine. Also replaced the RMS while I was at it.

I hadn't looked into HV pumps, so I went with the stock pump. Are you running a HV pump?

Also, forgot to prime it when I put it in (rookie mistake). Tried turning it over without the coil pack connected, no pressure. Mine doesn't have a distributor, so that trick wouldn't work. I wound up pumping some oil down from the oil filter and that worked great. Primed right off the bat and I've got good stable pressure now.