racingiron

I've got a brand new oil pan to replace the ratty one on the car. I see the two access holes for the bolts that go into the rear crank seal flange, but I can't get a 10mm socket in there. It fits in the hole, but there's a lip on the engine side that prevents complete entry.

Is this normal? Is there a special tool? I didn't see anything in Bentley, and I don't think anything small enough to clear that lip will be big enough to fit over the bolt. Do I just loosen the tranny bolts to get a bit of extra clearance?

ralleyquattro

To do that you need to drop the front of your subframe so a thin wall socket is the way to go.

Martin

OldSchool AG

so those pills actually worked!?!

racingiron

I'm having trouble finding one locally or on the web. My measurements indicate that the OD of the socket can't be any bigger than 12mm to fit in that hole. If my math is right, the point-to-point width of a 10mm bolt head is ~11.6mm, so that's a REALLY thin socket.

Thanks.

OldSchool AG

i need you done with this so you can help with my garage epoxy soon.

plus it'll be good practice for when it's time to drop the subframe out of the 80q and abandon it in the parking lot.

auditqc83

SNAP ON

racingiron

I looked at them, but their 10mm is 13.2mm diameter.

racingiron

I was actually able to loosen the aluminum stiffener and remove the two bolts from the rear crank seal flange with the subframe in place (hooray for slender hands!), but the next two bolts on the passenger side were just not accessible without removing the stiffener piece, which required dropping the front of the subframe. Not a big deal when you've got a lift, and alignment doesn't seem to have been affected.