The bolt that defies EVERYTHING

I see so many on flea bay but somehow I want to agree with you

 

Smart dudes are concerned about wasting a housing. But from what I can tell there are far more housings than working motors (e.g. I have 4 housings and 2 viable motors..)

 

Uh... I just broke the tab off. Still not moving.

Something tells me, this housing is just going to have to be carved up.

 

I think you already cut into the housing by using the cutoff wheel to begin with. I use my cheap harbor freight angle grinder with a regular grinding wheel and grind the head off with that. I've not ruined a housing yet...... the way I approach is to grind flat/parallel to the bolt face--- level and I "layer" at a time. When I get close to done, the last little layer of the shoulder turns color, at that point the steel shoulder is paper thin and peels right off. A couple taps usually makes cover "pop" off.

If you've already cut into the aluminum of the housing, it's trashed already. Break it up.

Are there more available?---

Yup... I got some here... one has a chipped fin but otherwise fine, I can hook you up for less than buying a new one.

Dave

 

Buy a 90 degree high speed with a 7 inch cut off wheel like 25$ bucks from harbor freight if you have an aircompessor that is . That is why I suggested the dremel cut pieces of the bolt head . I recommend against cutting into the housing you do not want to get any grit the engine.

 

That's why I said break it up

 

Ok... I'm back at this bolt and housing today and still no luck.

By "break it up" and avoiding getting shavings in the engine, can I get a bit more specific description of what you mean? I just want to be sure I understand... Like, am I supposed to use a spike and anvil to hammer holes in it?? Cause, at this point, I feel like that's the only thing that will get this off.

 

I still think you should be able to grab the whole case with you hands and turn it now you broke off that tab -- just man the shit out of it dude!

 

Nope! Did that.. I even went to the store and bought a fancy "chain vice grip." I feel like there's something about this that was done wrong, or god knows what. It will not budge in the slightest. Strangest damn thing!

I've just drilled a couple holes, so the last of the oil's draining out at the moment. I had a (probably wrong) theory that doing that might break the seal and make it more possible to turn.

EDIT: Yep... oil completely drained. Still not budging.

Short of just drilling holes all the way around the center bolt, I'm open to suggestions. Brute force turning is not working.

 

Just in case there's something I'm missing, I've attached a couple images to show where I'm at now. I've completely ground through the bolt and it's washer, I've drilled three holes - one in the center (not too deep) to try and turn it. One above and one below the washer area to see if that relieved any pressure. I'm a little cautious of using a torch on anything now with oil around. The tab is down under, I've knocked that off and tried twisting it by hand... thing is, it's on the bottom, I don't see anything that would even be in the way of the tab that was there. I even used a drift at the corners or holes to try and hammer it around. No moving whatsoever.

Unless somebody spots something I'm not seeing, I'm about to just start drilling holes all around this to break it apart.



Showing where tab is broken off, this is facing the ground:

 

Eureka! Finally off! Broke most of the “fins” going around, but it finally broke loose, thanks to the long drift i got for knocking out the wheel bearings.

Sorry y’all had to put up with my frustration!

 

Wooohooo!!! Thank the maker!!

Time for a few beers!

 

PostScript: For future lost souls struggling with this one, don't fear. I'm amused to find that, after two weekends fighting the bolt that wouldn't budge, putting on the new modern oil filter took all of 20 minutes - which includes reading the instructions.

Cheers to Mr. Chacal!

Nowwww it's time for a few beers!!

 

After 4hours of flipping grinding and one broken Craftsman Rotozip, I finally got the bolt and filter cover off. I'd like to keep the orignal filter cover rather than the spin off pictured above. I have the new bolt already from Chacal! I definitely scored the filter cover a few times with the angle grinder :-(
Is this filter cover usable? Replacement bolt does seem to sit flat on cover, and since the o-ring does the sealing, will I be okay to reuse this???

1982 XJ650 Maxim

 

I'd say you're probably ok. like you said, the new bolt from Len will do the intended job and keep the bolt seal tight. Beware of cheap-o cover o rings though. I installed a "NEW" one at the first Oil Change. I got it from the previous owner with the bike. It was not "girthy" enough (for lack of a better word) and it sat in the housing groove without making much contact with the block when put in place. After install and refill of oil, I had a leak and thought I had done something wrong... It was minimal, but definitely there. If you bought your new seal and filter from Len, you did the right thing and should be fine.

 

Thanks Nuch. I have the replacement o-ring that came with the replacement Fram filter and the o-ring on the replacement bolt from Len. I’ll compare to the old seal for the cover.

 

It should be ok-- the bolt has an oil seal/o-ring in it

 

That is all.

 

If it doesn't seal, I have a couple replacements