First oil change

So I have 4K miles & do my first oil change. Drain the oil. I cannot hand loosen the oil filter, no big deal. Pull out my handy dandy "over the top" filter cap wrench, it will not come off. The 3/8 drive hole strips.

Pulled out my handy dandy steel wrap around self tightening filter wrench, it will not come off. Strips the hole.

Tried my giant channel locks at the base of the filter, only started to crush it.

Tried my medium size strap wrench, could not break it loose,started to collapse the filter.

Took it to the dealership. They changed it for free. Said it came right off...
I said BS!!

Weird

 

Not the first complant I've heard about it being almost impossible to remove the factory installed oil filter.

I almost took mine in just to be safe, but felt bold and did it myself. It was on extremely tight but I was lucky and got it off .

 

Maybe the reason you had such a hard time was because you probably tried to remove the filter when the vehicle hadn't been run since the day before? Heat makes metal expand, which helps you break the filter loose much easier because the threads holding it on are looser than when they were cold.

I understand that changing hot oil completely sucks (especially if you get it on your body). The dealer probably didn't have a hard time at all because you had just driven it there. Make sense?

What I would do is get under your vehicle after you have driven it and break the filter loose while the truck is still warm. Then, wait 'till morning before you drain the oil and completely.

Be careful, because there is a flip side to this technique. If you screw in a new filter into a cold engine block, you might need to re-tighten it after the truck has warmed up because it will be loosened up after the heat gets to it.

We tell flying students about this problem all the time. They always tighten the crap out of the oil dipstick while its warm and then the first flight the following morning the poor bastard doing the first pre-flight check can't get the cap off the oil dipstick because the aircraft is cold.

Lesson learned: Run the vehicle to normal operating temp. Let it cool down for a while (1/2 hour or so). Oil filter should be much easier to remove.

It is also good practice to spread a thin layer of oil onto the rubber gasket before screwing it in. This will prevent the gasket from adhering to the metal base where you put it on.

Hope this helps you in the future.

 

Righty tighty lefty loosey

 

I did.
It was.
I do.

 

The dealer lies !

 

I have rad about this many times on here, but about a month ago I did the first on change on my truck and got the filter off by hand. I guess it was a Friday when my truck was built and the robot was tired and slacking off. *shrug*

 

Damn robots !

 

Honestly, I just crushed the damn thing with channel locks and finally got enough leverage to get it off.

Hey, maybe you should call Balco. I'm sure Barry Bonds has the number.

 

Same here.

 

But what kind of oil did you put back in? Synthetic or conventional? I just refilled with conventional but am thinking of synthetic next time.

 

Yeah mine was on extremely tight the first time. I bent the crap out of a Craftsman oil filter wrench trying to get that sucker off.

 

I always let the dealer change the filter the first time. I know from experience for the first time it was usually a bitch. The problem is at the factory they do not put a thin coat of oil on the gasket. When the dealer or you change the filter you put a coat of oil on the gasket and that is what makes the filter easy to change. The combination of no oil on the gasket and probably over tightening at the factory is a combination hard to beat.

 

mine was on so tight i ended up stabbing it with a very large philips head screw driver to use as leverage.

 

I had to hammer a screw driver into mine & turn it like a friggin Ship's wheel. BS is right, those fcking A$$es do that on purpose at the factory. Another thing you'll love is the first time you try to loosen any of your differential plugs, get your Xanax ready.

Go AMSOIL or MOBIL1 asap.

 

Since I have a new Taco, I thought I'd see how tight my oil filter is at 120 miles on the odo. I got out three tools (photo attached) and was going to use at least two of them simultaneously. Luckily, it loosened with just the metal band wrench. I can only guess that since the truck is still new, not enough heat/cool cycles elapsed for the gasket to make a tighter grip. I loosened it enough so that just a tiny bit of oil leaked past the gasket and then I retightened it so that a film of oil was all along the gasket. I hope this will make the oil filter easy to remove at the first oil change. The engine was cold when I did this.

 

Great tip! If only we could get this out to the masses prior to them driving their first 5k miles. I'm sure there will be some to read this prior and will help them out.

 

Phofener, That middle one works very well. I got my strap wrench at Harbor Freight like that one.

Another cheap tip: I now use and have for many years to remove oil filters and tighten them back on; an old leather belt. Gets in everywhere and you can slide the entire belt to get as much of a "hold" on it as you can. Takes up very little space in the tool box and if it get some oil on it, good! Makes it last longer and not dry out.

 

Man , you guys are making me worry when I do my first oil change. I guess if I have any trouble I can go to my friend from highschool cause he owns his own shop, so I can borrow his tools if i need them.

 

Yep, that was my experience at 5,000 miles too. Took persistence to get it off.

I bought a case of Toyota Oil Filters and notice that the gaskets have a plastic film over them and they are pre-lubricated with what looks like a silicone lubricant. So, I didn't bother putting a film of oil over the gasket. Based on this thread, that may mean I'll find it hard to get the filter off at 10,000 miles too.