Cherokee oil filter adapter bolt removal, making o-rings (XJ 4.0 ERH engine leak fix)

The Jeep started leaking engine oil quite badly, it almost looked like a rear main seal as it was dripping off the drain plug. Closer inspection showed that it's actually the oil filter adaptor where it bolts to the engine. Essentially a simple job, but clearance is very limited, so a 15 minute job took several hours because the bolt was extremely hard to move, i even bent a few spanners but no luck with that. See what we came up with at the end.
We also had to make an O-ring because the dealership is obviously closed on Saturday late afternoon.
We also had a brand new windscreen fitted, unfortunately i was not allowed to film that, apparently a company policy.
I wonder what the special trade secrets are because the process is well known and there was nothing special i haven't seen before.
(c) 2018
www.dynoguy.co.uk

[@JourneymanRandy]

My wife orders things on Ebay Saturday and it arrives on Sunday. Nice work. I had the same 4l Jeep.

[@dynoguy]

That may work well in Canada, but over here you better don't rely on that, things going to plan is rather the exception than the norm.

[@pearcemachineshop5200]

Resourceful as ever Mike. Robin came to see me today,guess what he broke one of my lights in the shed, some things never change. Alan.

[@LZDEN]

a very nice job,in fact in need to replace the O-rings on my oil filter housing,your guide im sure will help me to do this job..thank you.

[@dynoguy]

thanks and good luck, hopefully your bolt is not as stubborn as mine.

[@Robonthemoor]

Nice tidy job.

[@dynoguy]

Thanks Rob,...btw. that recent Jeep advise shouldn't put you off, you just need to know what you buy

[@HolzMichel]

good to know how those oil filter mounts are set up. mine leaks like a sieve too and i always suspected the oil pan gasket. it also goes to show how auto manufacturers no longer build their products with maintenance in mind. with your data and experience documented here in this video a guy can make a special tool for that without having to loosen the engine mounts and all that jazz.

[@dynoguy]

You might be lucky with your's, the older ones had a hex head bolt, no idea why they changed it to that silly torx. The aftermarket gasket set is around $10, pretty steep for 3 o-rings, but probably even more at your friendly Chrysler counter.. The trick with the pushed out bit and a spanner should work most times, but mine was extremely tight, pretty sure you can buy a special tool from Chrysler at perhaps $100, or just make something up. It was Saturday afternoon and I only had the 2 torx sockets , so i didn't want to mess up anything as i need to do a long journey next week.

[@HolzMichel]

to be honest, i haven't got a clue what the head of the retainer bolt looks like in mine. never got into it that far, you maybe right about that.. the O-rings would be over the counter stuff at either NAPA auto parts or Maguire bearings for probably less than 5 quid. all a guy would need is the sizes of them they would be peanuts, even at caterpillar. i picked up a set of O-rings for the fuel injectors at Maguire bearing a few years back when the ones that were in it started leaking. i bought 12 of them so i had a spare set.. they were like 3 buxx for the lot or some ridiculous low price like that. those silly O-rings are really effective in a captive application like that which is why Cat, John Deere etc use them in their hydraulics. they're cheap and easy to replace when they go bad.. happy trails on your trip next week, going back up to scotland?

[@dynoguy]

As you probably seen, i've got boxes full of old stock o-rings, so why spend money for that. Yes, i am going to Scotland, unfortunately for work, not holidays .... but will be back the week after for an interesting project which just came up ...:-)

[@secretsix6]

could you not have made a spacer for the mount??

[@dynoguy]

Technically yes, but the rubber on the old one is also wider, that means the new one would be softer, that's the least thing you want with an engine mount because it makes your engine twisting under power, especially on the compression side where the rubber is pushed downwards. This part is certainly for a smaller engine, way too weak for the 6 cylinder.