I ran into a similar issue, but found the housing wasn't stripped - it was caked in oil and an extremely difficult area to work with. I had to order a stubby T60 torx bit, then use a 7/8 ratcheting wrench to remove it.

If is is stripped, wrap the T60 bit with a rubber band, but I'd recommend trying to de-grease it first.

 

Thanks for the reply, but it's definitely stripped. Saw the chewed up metal with a mirror. I talked to my brother and he's going to do some practicing for a bit and then maybe attempt to weld a nut onto it. He has a mig and stick welder, but hasn't welded in a while and nothing like this in a tight space and no working room LOL

 

If your going to weld to it weld a bar on as it will give more leverage and more area to weld to

Ron

 

If your bro can weld a nut onto the housing that would be awesome, but as you know that area is extremely tight. I assume you're removing the housing to replace the O rings due to an oil leak? If you're leaking oil; welding with an open flame might be a bad idea.

Eventually when you get it removed you will need a proper T60 torx, I would order this:
I strongly suggest wrapping the torx bit with some thick rubber bands. If the rubber bands can keep the torx bit in the housing you have a chance at removing it.

 

Thanks for the tips... to the guy that mentioned welding a bar onto it: that seems like a good idea, but would probably only work to break it free. Then you'd have to remove it since there is no room in that area to keep torquing on it without a ratchet or continually repositioning the wrench/ratchet/whatever. If he can weld a nut on it, I'll be able to keep turning it until it has to be removed for clearance.

BadBloodXJ: yeah, it's been leaking for years and to the point I really have to address it(otherwise I wouldn't even bother LOL). It's not "pouring" out or anything and I know once heat is applied there is no going back since the o rings inside will disintegrate. This is my DD which is why I really can't stand to have it out of commission and I"m trying to plan everything as much as possible to avoid downtime. As for the new stuff...yeah, I have a new housing and 2 bolts actually. The first one I bought realizing I'd probably ruin the original, the second I got with the housing I bought(had to buy together). F that damn torx bit...the one bolt I have has a 9/16 hex head and THAT is the one I will be putting it back together with! It's quite a bit larger and definitely deeper so should not be a fragile as the torx.

 

Hey Guys... I just posted this over at NAXJA since that was the original place I posted about this issue. TLDR version: JB Weld Steel Stik saved my *** and the job is finally done. Long story pasted below along with some pics.

Since my brother still wasn't comfortable with his welding skills I decided to give it one more shot yesterday. At one point I had read about some kind of gel or grease with metal filings in it that was supposed to give the bit some kind of grip when you were working with a stripped or rounded out bolt. This got me thinking about JB weld steel stik. I thought that if I could maybe clean out the head and then JB weld the bit in, it just MIGHT give it enough grip for 1 or 2 more pulls. I took a curved pick tool and mirror and scratched out as much rust from the bolt head as possible. I then wire brushed it. I put a little bead of the steel stik putty on the end of the bolt and then pushed it into the head. I packed as much as I could all around the edges of the bit trying to push it down into the bolt head. After that set up, I made another ring around the bit.

It's supposed to fully cure in 1 hour, but I gave it an hour and a half to be sure. I put a 12mm box end wrench on it and wedged some wood blocks between the frame and the head of the bit. Got under it and gave it hell with a cheater bar...no good... wrench bent. THIS GAVE ME HOPE though because instead of stripping/flying out of the head, it meant I had another shot. Did the same thing again with a second wrench...bent again!

At this point, the edge of the JB weld was cracked free and the bit had a TINY bit of play in it...I figured I had one chance left. I took an old Craftsman gear wrench that I bought when Sears was still around and cut the open end off as a final sacrifice. This time, I went at it from the top. I had removed the coolant overflow bottle and had the AC line zip tied out of the way on the shock bolt. I ratcheted the wrench as much as I could towards the front, put the cheater pipe on and said a final prayer. I pushed that mother f'er as hard as I could towards the back of the vehicle and heard a big "crack"!!! At last...after almost a year later and maybe 8 attempts at this, that motherF***ing c***su*ki*g POS broke free!!!

Unbelievable, but I'm attaching pictures for proof. This had to be one of the worst jobs I've ever done on any vehicle. The only 2 other things that came close were replacing the heater core on a different 99 and replacing the exhaust manifold on this one 2 years ago.

 

Nice pictures. They also show why you can't just slice of the bolt the head off.

 

Hell yeah. Nice job.

 

Thanks, man!

 

I agree it warms a mans heart to see success with these ****ty jobs

I was gonna suggest weld a T60 into the stripped out hole, but its hard to weld the hardened steel bits

The ones I got out, T60 bit, with a quality 12mm ring spanner on the shank, , an 18" thin pipe as a lever, and butane torch, they crack lose from below.

I lever the bit into the hole with a piece of Aussie hardwood, and finally apply coarse valve grinding paste to the bit, as it aids in adhesion

Because I didnt want to bend or break my quality spanners, I used el-cheapo Chinese ones..and they did not fail, although you could tell they were stressed

 

Reading this I could hear and feel that angry relief once it was finally out of there, and the defeat of installing it with complete ease wondering how it was so stuck in the first place! HAHA This is awesome! So glad you got it out of there, I would rather do ANYTHING ELSE to this vehicle than do another oil filter adapter with the torx fitting. Congrats!!

 

Thanks! Yeah, I think what made this job so horrible was...SO MUCH TIME AND NO SIGNS OF PROGRESS...so many failed attempts. Just the awkward position of the bolt, the sh**ty torx and no room to work.

 

That one was sold out on Amazon. Here's another alternative: