hand tight......Right

[pair of Blazers]

how tight do these guys have to make the filter at the quick lube places.I had to resort to using a chain tool to get my oil filter off my '01 Blazer.

here is what it looked like after it was off.

I usually do my own work but I was in a bind had no oil on hand and decided to go to the local place where I get the compamy car done. had I known these guys were going to ratchet the thing on I wouldn't have bothered.
1st post here. this is a great site, full of real info.
bought a few bottles of Auto RX for my various vehicles and some Havoline to go w/it seems to be the Dino of choice here. also picked up a load of Wix filters from filter1 I found here.
hope to learn more here .
thanks,John

 

[wander2039]

You need to use AA's brand of filters a couple times. About as bad and I only hand tighten them when I put them on. So far it's the only brand of oil filter that i've had to use a wrench on. In your case may of just been the filter, but still could of been the tech.

 

[chenobylite]

Truer words were never spoken.

Think about the effective pitch of the mounting stud and the filter gasket thickness. Take a 3/4-16 mount for example. One turn on a 16 TPI stud will result in 50% compression of a .125" gasket. For me 3/4 of a turn is more than enough.

 

[Ray H]

Reason number 2 to avoid the "Gypie Lubes" if at all possible. (preceeded by, "Who really knows what's hosing out of those bulk containers?") The irony is that overtorquing a spin-on filter approaching the point of gasket deformation is more likely to cause leakage than hand tightening will.

 

[Drew99GT]

The scary thing is when they crank on the drain plug

I've found them on so tight I had to use a mallet to smack it loose. How they didn't strip is beyond me; well, the threads on my mom's Olds 88 seem to be a bit messed up from local garages doing oil changes but so far no total strippage.

 

[martyi]

All filters should be made like the excellent Nippon (for Hondas). They not only have a torque rating on the filter but if you don't have the wrench, they have 1 through 7 numbers printed and equally spaced around the filter. Once the seal hits metal, you twist the filter again until 5 numbers have gone by. You now have it at the right torque.

 

[Bowser]

I saw a Iffy Lube mechanic drop an oil filter about six feet from the ground, then proceeded to install it.

A lube store manager once told me that customers pay for the oil and filter only when purchasing the oil change service. Any services over and above the oil change are non-chargeable and free, including not being responsible for checking other fluid levels and chassis lubrication. So they can just do the oil change and skip the other services when they are "swamped" with high business levels.

There's an independent lube store near me that employs cranky middle aged veteran mechanics that do a great job. They check everything and will tell you if you got a problem.

Bowser

 

[technica]

quote:

---

All filters should be made like the excellent Nippon (for Hondas). They not only have a torque rating on the filter but if you don't have the wrench, they have 1 through 7 numbers printed and equally spaced around the filter. Once the seal hits metal, you twist the filter again until 5 numbers have gone by. You now have it at the right torque.

---

That's awesome. I've never heard of that before. I'd love to see a picture of this.

 

[T-Keith]

Very common. Valvoline is one of the worst.

 

[LarryL]

Yesterday a Jiffy Lube guy told me a complete trans flush for my 03 4Runner was 4 quarts, along with a filter and a gasket. I think he was talking about a different 4Runner. Mine takes 14+ quarts, a gasket if you need it and there is no filter, just a screen. He said I was wrong and that I should leave that kind of stuff to the professionals. I only did the leave part...