Topic: Seized oil filter bolt

[wsup55]

77 750k sat for a couple years and now that I'm getting her back on the road the oil filter bolt refuses to come out.  I'm not concerned about saving this one as I'm getting a new one with the bigger head but I just can't get this one out.

I've been hitting it with penetrating oil. The head stripped.  Got a solid lock on it with vice grips and hit them with mallet, nothing, just stripped it more.  More penetrating oil. Tried heating it up with a torch as I've seen suggested, nothing.  Took a cutting disc and cut a slot in it, used an impact gun with a Philips head to back it out, broke the Phillips bit.

Looking for some advise from you guys on how to get this damn thing out.  I saw a post where someone stick welded a giant nut around the bolt and then used that.  I suppose I can try that.  Anyone have any tricks before I go down that road?

[Don R]

If you weld, be sure the crankcase isn't full of gas. That's what I would do however. You could purge the air out with argon, CO2 or whatever. Maybe not a big deal but my welding instructor always cautioned about it.

[Muckinfuss]

Plan A; use a pipe wrench on the messed up head.  It's designed to do what you want at this point.  Plan B; use a dremel and cut/grind the head and flange off.  Remove housing and guts.  Then go back to plan A and use the pipe wrench.

I'd be a little ginchy about using massive heat in this situation.

[PeWe]

Possible to start engine and let it run warm? Then make another try.
Or if you have heat gun, warm the crank case around the bolt, not bolt itself. Then attack the bolt again when threaded hole hopefully has become bigger.
Oil filter bolt has only 12mm socket to avoid too heavy torque.

If oil filter leak, check so the big o-ring is thick enough. O-ring with HIFLO filters is thin. It is strange that I have no leak on my bike.

[MCRider]

+1 muckinfuss. The stuck part is the flange on the head of the bolt, to the filter housing, not the threads. So if you grind the flange off, pull the housing off, you'll likely be able to turn the remaining bolt by hand, or nearly.

[bjbuchanan]

From your description I think at this point you just gotta cut the head off the bolt. It has a large flange you have to do away with. As long as you aren't careless it is a really easy job with a dremel and a so-so job with a grinder. Before you remove it make sure you have the longer bolt you need IF you have that ghetto factory sandwich cooler thing. Just a thought

[MoMo]

Whack the head several times with a 2lb or so ball peen hammer, that will help loosed the fusion that has come from dissimilar metals fusing together,  then attack with either vise grips or pipe wrench- heat should not be needed.  If that fails, drill it out as suggested above...Larry



Edit:   FWIW  I have never had one I could not get off using that technique,  since 1971 btw

[70CB750]

Some people cut through the housing and bolt and filter with sawzall

[wsup55]

Thanks for the advise guys.  I tried heating around the bolt, i tried running it, i tried more penetrating oil.  I don't have a pipe wrench, i'm sure i can get my hands on one though. I'm still a little hesitant to take the welder to it.  I think I'm going to wait for the new bolt to arrive before i attack it again.  If it still doesn't budge, i'll cut the flange off the bolt and report back.

[Bankerdanny]

What worked for me was a mallet and a small cold chisel on the flange of the bolt. The chisel will bite in and eventually the bolt will spin. Just make sure you have the chisel on the flange so it doesn't damage the housing. It's not that difficult.

[Thamuz]

I had to dremel off the flange.  nothing else worked.  I even cut the notch and chiseled.  Its that flange thats holding you back.  Hack that off and it should spin out really easy, or hack the whole thing off like suggested.  Pull off the housing, and now you have much better acess ot the bolt.

[kingrabbit]

I had the same issue on a 74 cb550 and used a "bolt grip fastener remover."
It looks like a normal socket but it bites into the seized nut as you pound it into place. Once its on there you can turn it like a normal socket. It will chew up the existing nut real good but it will likely work. 
You can weld another nut over top of the damaged one.
Or file it to a smaller size by hand which is what I did.
Good luck.