Do You Keep a Spare Oil Filter Housing on Hand for Cartridge Filters?

The Legend is the only vehicle with a cartridge filter. No, no extra cap. But when I got the Legend way back when, I was handed a bag of three extra acorn nuts (No. 20) for the cap. Honestly, I have no idea where they are now.

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Typical filter kits (No. 1) comes with Items No. 7, 24 and 25.
 
Yes. In case of difficulty getting the thing off, I bought a spare OE type plastic cap from an on-line Toyota dealer for about $22. I haven't needed it, so far, because the original cap has never been difficult to remove. That was after it had been last installed by the dealer one time, and by myself all the other times. The next time could be interesting, because the filter was last changed by the dealer over 2¼ years ago.

The fools who overtighten such caps must not understand how it seals, or that extra torque on it doesn't reduce risk of leakage or of the cap working loose.
 
Reading through the responses here, it appears that most issues with filter housings on Toyotas, particularly Tundras. Sounds like upgrading the the aluminum housing is a common practice.

Not an issue on Euro cars.
Leaky gasket, yeah, but OFH itself? No.

Good to know. The torque spec. for the housing is pretty low, and while I've never had an issue with removing the housing on my E350, it does groan a just a little when first loosening it, and the experiences of others led to my question.

After reading through the experiences shared here, I think I'm not going to give any more thought to having a spare filter housing.
 
I have several Toyotas in my care. I don’t keep a filter housing on hand. I switched over to the latest MotivX filter wrench, no cracked housings… yet.
 
1) Why would you tighten it so tight in the first place that it could ever break during a filter change? If that is the case, would you also keep a spare drain plug if you round off it's corners?

2) Most people have a second car with which to get to a parts store.

It is not a question of over tightening. The oring causes the problem. I have a 2020 Lexus ES350 with the composite housing. I change oil every 11-12 months after about 3500 miles. I clean the housing, lube the oring with fresh oil, torque housing and use Toyota OEM cartridge/orings. But, it is still a bear to remove.
 
No I won’t. On my Atlas 3.6 engine I don’t see how one could break the oil filter housing. It’s easy to get to and the plastic is very thick. When torqued to spec it’s just past hand tight and if the O ring is lubed it’s not hard at all to remove.
 
Yes. I have a spare OEM one for my Mazda, and that the first thing I replaced when I bought it, as I didn't like how the one it came with was looking.
Probably overkill as the plastic looks sturdy and there is no reason to over torque it, but this is BITOG!
 
I do not but having one has crossed my mind.

The plastic housings I've touched all seem to turn down then shoulder out.
Overtightening one has to be indicia of bad mechanical skills.
That a torque value is published actually puzzles me.
 
I put a new one (plastic) on my Mazdaspeed6 when I bought it as a low-mileage CPO in 2007, and kept the original as a spare. Thankfully the cap on the Canyon is aluminum, so haven't considered a spare for that one.
 
In another discussion here on BITOG, @JeffKeryk mentioned that he is recently fighting with a stuck filter cap on a car. This reminded me of a question that I have pondered for a while, and decided to ask here, to see what fellow BITOG members do. Who here keeps a spare oil filter housing on hand for their cars that have cartridge type filters?

I've read many threads here, where others have shared experiences of damaging an oil filter housing while trying to remove them. If this were to happen while doing an oil change on my E350, none of the local parts stores are going to have a replacement on the shelf. The nearest MB dealership is close to an hour drive, and I could have to wait until they are open. Or I would be ordering a filter housing from FCP, and paying extra shipping for overnight or two day delivery, which would probably more than double the price .

This has led me to wonder if it would be prudent to buy a spare filter housing, so if I ever do break one during a filter change, I could replace it then and there, and not have to leave my car incapacitated for a few days, while getting a replacement. So what do you do? Is it worth having a spare? Or is the occurrence of broken filter housings rare enough that it is worth taking the risk, and just deal with it if it ever happens?
Unless it's made of plastic I can't imagine how one could damage the oil filter housing while trying to remove the cap and gain access to the cartridge filter.

In addition to the housing you'd also need a spare gasket.

Seems like a waste of money.
 
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