Hardest time you've ever had changing a filter.

[jorhyne]

I keep reading that new vehicles have extremely tight oil filters. Why do car manufacturers tighten the filter so tight?

 

[Trucku]

My last car...could not budge the filter after taken to jiffy lube. Took some monster channel locks and progressively squeezed it until I had a good grip. Then a few minutes of struggling it finally turned and then spun of easily

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:

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Remote hydraulic filter head that I bought off ebay. I figure that the guy must super glue the gasket on the filter and then apply some on the other side of the gasket before he put the filter on (as a joke). You can't budge it. It's a brand new Purolator filter on a never been used hydraulic mount. The in mount bypass valve is also seized ..but there's no oxidation or anything that would indicate that any corrosive element was in effect.

He sold quite a few of them.

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I finally got around to removing this filter. I put the mount in a vise and put a normal oil filter wrench on it. I needed to grip it near the dome so that it would sorta crush a bit. Down at the base it would just slip. It took more grunts that I imagined it would. There was nothing special about the threads or the gasket ..as in sealer or glue. The gasket was physically creased. The threads were very clean and shiny. One of the shortest nipples that I've ever seen for a filter mount ...about three or four threads on the mount ..and a real limite depth on the filter. The plastic sprung bypass valve became free with a tap with a BFH and brass punch. The filter is ruined ..but I've got a box of like numbers in Fleet Guard ..enough for about a decade

 

[Volvohead]

I've had only one or two where we had to drive a long (36 in) screwdriver through it to torque it free. A very rare event, however.

 

[Matt89]

Taking the factory filter off my CR-V was a nightmare. I didn't have a 'cap wrench' that fit. Got a pair of channel locks, crushed the sides of the filter and then was able to get it off. Then got the treat of having the oil splash all over the crossmember, what a treat!

Fortunately I found online a gizmo (ramp, acutally) that guides the oil away from the crossmember. I had been doing the same thing with an aluminum foil setup!

 

[Sparkman]

I've had to drive a screwdriver through quite a few filters on friends' cars. It seems they were put on with a wrench and left on for far too long.

My current technique is to put them on with one hand as tight (within reason) as my oily hand will allow, then I am always able to remove them using two hands. This seems to work for me every time. I find this much easier and more repeatable than trying to observe when the gasket touches and then turn some number of degrees beyond that.

The huge Mann on my VW 1.6TD is a real PITA, I bought a pair of oil filter pliers just for this car, and it's still tough. The filters have a socket on the bottom for a special tool, but I don't have one. The radiator support and a couple of hoses are right in the way.

 

[JavaMan]

I don't know, just a hypothesis, that the more difficult something is to do the more likely that we will have someone else to do the job. Yes, I believe there may be built in difficulties for this reason. I think it's all about money.

 

[gedcruise]

I've owned Hondas with the filter on the firewall side of the engine for the past twenty years. I usually just back the front tires onto a piece of 2X8. This gives me enough room to squeeze underneath. You can also use ramps, of course. WRT to stands, the idea is to jack the car up at some other point, and put your stands on the normal jacking points. Perfectly trustworthy. I've bench pressed trans- axles back in after clutch replacements on those I have owned with the car supported thusly.

 

[JHZR2]

Ill be changing the oil and filter on my fiancee's integra tomorrow... WORST OIL FILTER LOCATION AND ACCESS EVER!

I cant stand it... glad the car is good for extended OCIs.

JMH

 

[gedcruise]

Really not that bad, or maybe I'm just used to it.
If you get into really old Hondas, without crossflow heads, you find the filter right out front. Just grab and turn. Our '76 Civic 1500 was like that

 

[Highroller]

Factory stock filters were bad times for me. Took me 5 hours to finally get that bad boy off. I had to finally get help from my very generous neighbor, he too asked why those darn factory ones are hard to get off. The ones that i overtighten recently were also hard too. I had to use an oil filter wrench to get them off. Everytime i struggle with the oil filters, i cry and whine on the inside :lol:

 

[xlt4me]

I have an 00' CR-V. When I used Honda filters I could get them off OK with an 'H' end-cap type wrench. When I switched to WIX filers I couldn't find an end cap wrench to fit so I used one of the three finger types... a real pain on that car. Now I'm using the K&N filter just because of the 1" nut on the end... much better!

 

[4esorselrahc]

I had a pretty hard time today getting the OEM filter off of my Honda Odyssey for its first change. It took some filter pliers and alot of torque to get that blasted thing off. Why does the manufacturer have to put those things on so tight? The pressure from sqeezing caused the filter to crumple a bit.

 

[The Critic]

Early 80s Corvette...Castrol MaxPro Oil Filter. Used my normal strap wrench and it crushed the can...filter wouldn't budge. Few strap wrenches later...and a near completely crushed can...it comes off. First ever oil change I did too...

 

[stepmar]

Quote:

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Ill be changing the oil and filter on my fiancee's integra tomorrow... WORST OIL FILTER LOCATION AND ACCESS EVER!

I cant stand it... glad the car is good for extended OCIs.

JMH

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Hope it went okay. My GSR is the same problem. Unfortunately, I have to change the oil when the engine is somewhat cold in order not to burn myself. Yeh, really bad location for the oil filter and, if I may add, the pcv valve too!

 

[Kestas]

Ditto on the 95 T-Bird.

Easiest was my 85 Omni. The filter was 'right there'.

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

think that is bad? try showing your wife how its done (at that time she was learning how to drive and figured she needed to atleast change oil once) after 2 days of trying, I used a screw driver and a hammer and taped off the filter(what was left of it). I had taken the whole filter apart trying everything I could think of trying to get it off. I have no idea what they used to put that thing on with but I don't think it was ever off.

 

[Oldswagon]

When I worked at GM dealership in the garage, the new cars that came in for their first oil changes with the factory installed filters were always the tightest. I almost always had to use a tool to get these ones off. For filters installed after the factory one, I could get the majority off with my hand and a rag (for extra grip).

 

[Kestas]

I'm surprised no one mentioned tapping the filter on the circumferential lip using a cold chisel to try unscrewing the filter. I've never tried it, but it seems like a good last resort (assuming there's enough clearance).

xlt4me, I ran into the same surprise with my Wix filters. When I switched from Mobil 1, Motorcraft, or other OEM where the standard cap wrench fit, I couldn't use the cap wrench for the Wix! It's a shame that the Wix manufacturers overlooked this feature on an otherwise fine filter.

 

[Tempest]

02' liberty 3.7. Filter is on the front, right side of the block @ a 45 degree angle. You have to reach down, behind the fan, through the serpentine, and try and turn (with belt in the way) a filter that you can barely see. Cannot get to it from below...power steering in the way! They even put a formed sheet metal flew under the filter to direct spillage away from the PS (and ensure drips on the pavement). Have to stand/kneel on a stool/bumper to get enough reach.

CANNOT see the threads (and have yet to). To put the filter back on you have blindly hunt around (through the belt) and hope to find threads. Really bad design and the main reason I am looking for extended drains.