2004 Jetta Oil Pan Removal tools?

I can't get the rachet on the 2 freakin' screws located on the driver side. I read here to use a 1/4 inch drive wobble Ext. bar + 10mm socket. I still can not get it on the nut!

The wobble bar I bought is 1.5 inches.

Can someone tell me the exact tool I need to get those 2 freakin' screws off?

longer extension?

I read something about a mythical long 5 mm allen wrench with a swivel...

Where do I buy this mythical tool to get off the oil pan?

The tool you need

You may order tools for this job from Snap-on or Matco Tools (expensive, but you get what you pay for), cheaper version is:

Part MNQ6H5 - Wobble Oil Pan Bit

http://www.metalnerd.com/cat05.htm


http://www.metalnerd.com/downloads/MNQ6H5cat05.pdf

It cost $12 + shipping.

Oil pan experience….

I spent about half a day trying to remove the oil pan from my 04 Jetta TDI. I got started down this road when I was changing my oil and the drain plug would not tighten up and secure back into the drain hole. Being a steel drain plug bolt (with thread shavings wrapped near the permanent washer) and a aluminum oil pan casing my conclusion was that the drain plug was stripped…. I proceeded to look up all of the web related info and my Chilton book on replacing the oil pan on my 04 jetta and set out on this little journey.
I had ready tool wise:

3/8" metric set - 10mm socket, 19 mm socket, universal joint(swivel joint)
torque wrench
5mm wobble hex wrench
rubber mallet
Large screw driver to help pry pan

After getting back under my jetta and looking things over again I notice that the 3 bolts that attach to the oil pan to the bellhousing were really different from anything that I saw on the web or book. After taking a closer look and a pic with my iPhone I determined that it was a torx head, T55. Once I made the run to Sears and got the T55 socket driver I felt ready to move on. 18 of the 20 10mm (w/5mm wobble) bolts broke free and were removed without any issues…. the two 10mm(w/5mm wobble) that were that are at an odd angle near the Bell housing were a pain in the butt. My 5mm wobble could not get a good fit at any angle…. I was able to break free the two 10mm bolts with the 10mm socket and then unscrew the bolts as far as I could with out being able to fully remove them from their holes. I figured that I would then have to remove the 3 T55 horizontal bell housing bolts,free up the oil pan loose before the two 10mm bolts could be fully removed...…. yeah… that is where my journey to replace my oil pan eventually ended. I was able to remove one T55 bolt but the two others would not budge. The T55 driver that I had had a hard time getting a good fit (dirt and residue may have hindered the fit) but the angle for the T55 bolt that is closest to the front bumper of the Jetta had an impossible angle for the ratchet to attach. I am assuming that VW has a proprietary wrench to deal with these T55 bolts. After a few attempts and trying to clean out the driver fittings… I gave up. I figured that I would try to plug the drain hole and get the Jetta to the garage for a proper work over…. Since I had a new drain plug for the new oil pan I figured what the heck, lets see if this fits. The new drain plug snugged right up and tightened to the oil pan…. So much for the aluminum being stripped out. After cursing my self for not trying that first I completed my oil change and set let the Jetta Idle for 5-10 minutes….. shut her down and sit for an hour while checking for any leaks…. so far none. After all of this I was glad that for now I was able to find my fix with the new drain plug bolt. But for those that are looking to attempt this here is a list of tools that will be needed from what I gathered from my attempt….. The T55 bolts I am not sure what to do about those yet…. am going to chat with an acquaintance who was a VW mech. and ask about those bolts and how they in the VW world deal with them..

3/8" metric set - 10mm socket, 19 mm socket, universal joint(swivel joint)
T55 Torx driver
torque wrench
5mm wobble hex wrench
rubber mallet
Large screw driver to help pry pan
good light/lamp for the 10mm bolts bear the bell housing.
Plenty of beer if things start to go down hill….

4 years ago I had to change the oil pan in my schools parking lot. I was somehow able to get those 2 bolts with standard allen wrenches. This was a while back, so I dont remember how I did it. Although I do need to tighten them as I notice oil slightly sleeping out from both holes.

Would a ball end 5mm work?

fruitcakesa said:

Would a ball end 5mm work?

Click to expand...

Yup, sure will if its long enough

I read here that the flywheel needs to be turned in such a way that the three bolts are more accessible. IIRC, there is an indentation in the flywheel.

Yes, there are two indentations in the back of the flywheel that allow your tools to be a little better aligned to the bolts.

They are 180degrees apart. Put a socket & ratchet on the crank bolt. Always rotate the engine in the normal direction of rotation (clockwise when looking at the front of the engine.

Rotate the engine until the indentation comes into view. It'll line up with the front bolt first. Remove that bolt then rotate the engine a bit more so the indentation lines up the the rear bolt. Remove that bolt.

When installing, rotate the engine almost 180deg so the other indentation lines up with the front bolt. Again, not a good idea to rotate the engine backwards. Install and tighten the front bolt, then rotate the engine and do the rear bolt.

I use a 5mm ball-end Allen socket. It's 5" long, that is it sticks out 5" from the socket.

Once the flywheel/notches are lined up, you should be able to remove it easily with 1/4" socket + extension. But the ball-end allen wrenches are nice to have

BobnOH said:

But the ball-end allen wrenches are nice to have

Click to expand...

They are nice until you snap the ball off and it gets stuck in the bolt... Ask me how I know...

ball hex allen socket got mine out when I drilled the pan for my turbo drain

Kinda funny looking into my drawer of 1/4" drive sockets, with all the bit sockets, wobblies, standard metric shallow deep and semi deep, one little drawer, $2500 list price on all the junk in there

I made a super shallow 1/4" universal 10 mm socket via tig welding myself.
Still, tried the entire morning could only get one of the two bolts loose off my
2003 jetta TDI. I loosened one cuz the flywheel notch happened to be at the right place!
Tried turning over the flywheel but got really frustrated. I'm thinking cut the pan or
just patch the rock punctured 1" hole.

Whoever designed this couldn't be a German.

so you can weld, but you cant weld a nut or bolt onto the one thats stuck?

Mongler98 said:

so you can weld, but you cant weld a nut or bolt onto the one thats stuck?

Click to expand...

you ever dinked with the two pan bolts into the rear main seal on an ALH? access is ...constrained

tomyang62 said:

I made a super shallow 1/4" universal 10 mm socket via tig welding myself.
Still, tried the entire morning could only get one of the two bolts loose off my
2003 jetta TDI. I loosened one cuz the flywheel notch happened to be at the right place!
Tried turning over the flywheel but got really frustrated. I'm thinking cut the pan or
just patch the rock punctured 1" hole.

Whoever designed this couldn't be a German.

Click to expand...

Do not be Cheap and Just buy correct tool from metalherd , it is not million dollars tool.


http://www.metalnerd.com/catalog/product/69719bade94a43059c0052273a06bf67

I use a magnetic stubby 1/4 inch drive 10mm socket on a tight ball swivel and extension for the rear seal to pan bolts that are hard to access. I used to use long ball end hex 3/8 drive Snap-On to get those out, and every once in a while I still use it if I can't get a good angle on the heads with the socket. Make darn sure you don't cross thread those as its easy to do on reassembly as those two are just going into plastic.

If you buy cheap tools you risk breaking the ball off inside the fastener.

That same 10mm stubby magnetic socket with swivel attached to my 1/4 inch drive Milwaukee cordless ratchet makes quick work of the lower timing cover bolts also.

I have a method we have been showing and explaining for years.

With the automatics, it's not a problem, because the flex plate that attaches to the crank is thin and allows access.

It's the manual transmission that turns into the problem. The trick is to turn the crankshaft by using a 19mm 12pt socket from the front crank sprocket bolt and look for a radial slot in the flywheel. It's about 1 1/4" wide.

The screws that are a problem to get out are the two going into the rear main seal. Align the slot with one and now a 10mm 1/4" socket with a wobble extension about 6" long will easily access those two screws and all the other screws except the front passenger side (And as an Englishman once told me, except with a right side steering wheel...), you will have to use a wrench.

When reinstalling, there are two tricks. One is don't let any oil cross the sealing surface when reattaching the pan or you will be doing the job twice. On the transmission side of the back of the block, some oil will pool and if you wipe that out, usually you can get the job done the first time.

Put a thin layer of a high temp RTV onto the oil pan. Don't overdo the RTV, as it's a milled surface to milled surface. Almost all will be pushed out.

Then, use four screws on the sides of the pan to hold it loosely in place. Don't tighten any screw until all are installed.

Btw: it helps if you have a wire wheel to remove all the old RTV from the screws. Also I believe it's a 9/32" drill will remove the RTV from the pan's screw holes. Might be 17/64". Don't cut the holes bigger...just clean out the RTV.

Now, the other trick is the use of a 6" long 5mm ball allen. We use one with a 3/8" drive. The oil pan screws have a 10mm hex and a 5mm allen. By using the allen head, the screw will stick onto the long reach ball allen. Using the slot in the flywheel once again, turn it to each rear main seal screw hole in turn. Note the rear main seal screws are brass inserts, so they are inclined to cross thread and strip. By using the ball allen you can get the angle correct to line them up with the threads. Now you can hand-screw them in quite easily.

Once the two rear main seal screws are in, we return to the 10mm 1/4" drive to put the rest of the screws in.

DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN... 10 ft lbs is all it takes.

Be aware, there is one flywheel which we honestly disdain, made by EuroSpec. The shoulder of the flywheel is absolutely square and you cannot reach the rear main screws unless you remove the transmission or grind an access hole into the flywheel. If the slot method is used, match that cutout on the opposite side so the flywheel balance is not lost. Not that it matters much with that flywheel... that was the worst balanced flywheel we ever worked on... 12.4gr off. The clutch disc was not flat, either. Since we did every other correction on that flywheel, we also cut the proper bevel onto the crank side face, so it could be properly used.

We renamed it, "ChinaSpec".

I agree with dogdots, the ball allen can be a problem, especially when the previous installer tightened them too much. We occasionally see the broken off ball still stuck in the screw. We only use the ball allen to install the screws by hand and even then, only in the rear main seal screws.

I use a 1/4in wobble extention on a 10mm 1/4 in drive socket. Works like a champ every time.

Again why not just buy correct tool, it is $12 , it makes job so easy and never have to hesitate will I mess up rear main seal , as I have seen many did it using 10mm socket.


I have been using it for past 8 years and still did not brake . Tool is also very handy in T-Stat.