I'm trying to remove the oil filter, but having a crazy tough time. Im lost on which direction I should be twisting it to get it off.

First I, from the front of the car looking at the filters closed side, I twist left to unscrew. From under the car you would have to twist clockwise, correct? No luck. There's not much clearance room to muscle it out.

Second, I asked a friend and he said while under the car facing towards the filters open end to twist counter-clockwise, but if you do that and look at it from the front it would be going clockwise(tightening it).

Soo.. I'm in a shit hole and I can't tell if it's getting loose or tight. Can someone please tell me the correct way to turn it. If I was facing the filter closed ended and while under the car open ended so I won't have anymore confusion.

 

With your feet pointing to the back of the car, "lefty loosey, righty tighty". That stupid phrase means COUNTERCLOCKWISE.

 

Ok, this goes for every spin-on oil filter, ever.

Clockwise tightens, counterclockwise loosens. (righty tighty, lefty loosey!)

Sometimes it's been overtightened to the point it needs some good filter pliers to get it off. They look like huge channellocks with a C-shaped jaw. I've even had one or two that got completely crushed as I spun them off (Frams the both of them, thin metal).

I've also used a tool that crimps from 3 sides as it's spun on a ratchet, but it doesn't go small enough for the fit and of course Craftsman doesn't make that particular model anymore.

edit: baaaaah manxman you typed too fast

 

lefty loosy righty tighty

 

Yea I went by that. do that rule facing the closed filter or from under facing the open side?!!?

 

You can't have your feet pointing to the back of the car and still be facing the "open end" of the filter, can you?

 

are you using an oil filter wrench? if you are using your hands, you are just making things harder on yourself.

and if you dont know what im talking about

 

lol sorry i read that earlier.. but pretty much ive been tightening the filter..... oh boy... its pretty destroyed too..

i bought a 3 dollar oil wrench from wal mart.. bent it going the CORRECT twist.

 

i dont get why people get so confused about how to loosen things haha. just imagine it's the cap of a gatorade bottle, or sprite, or coke, whatever. same thing lol.

 

When you're under the car looking at the filter, turn to the left. I have one of those filter socket wrench things too. When you do finally get the filter off, be sure to only HAND TIGHTEN the filter (turn to the right) so you don't overtighten. Rub some clean oil onto the black rubber gasket also before you put it on.

 

can anyone help. the filter is locked pretty ****ing tight on the car and its destroy. its a really crumpled filter. the regular crimps and oil pliers wont hold on anymore cuz its on too tight and its shape super messed up. and ideas how to take it off?

 

drain your oil, drill a hole through it, stick a screwdriver through the hole and twist. ive had to do that before on my old car. leverage is your friend.

 

If you got one of these handy you can slide it down to where it's peined over at the base, where the filter body is crimped down. It's much stronger there.

If all else fails I usually just go he-man on the thing all at once, which works 9 out of 10 times but usually my hands get crippled.

This is the only real reason I use K&N filters. That 1" nut welded on the end is really worth it compared to my hands swelling up for a day or two otherwise.

Next time don't forget the oil on the gasket, and really do follow the tightening instruction on the filter. It should never get more than 1 turn after the gasket contacts the pan, and in most cases is just 1/2 to 3/4 turn. (ONLY outlier to this is on a diesel engine; it's better to wrench-tighten a bit because otherwise the vibration likes to knock them loose.)

 

This is my first oil change that I'm doing. I usually get them at the dealership and this filter is on tight from the dealership. I know how to change oil, done it lots of times on other cars, but I was just confused with why it was on so tight. I have that tool but the filter is pretty messed up.. it cant grip it much anymore.

Looks like he-man is the only choice only problem is i just realized when i stopped I tightened it to maximum capacity and i dont think hands will do the trick.

 

When I did my own oil change, the filter was screwed on so tight that after spending over an hour using my filter wrench and improvised means, it finally came loose after I punctured/crumpled/destroyed the filter while it was still on the car. I honestly believe the honda mechanic who put the filter on at the previous oil change screwed the filter on as tight as he could with a filter wrench; it was that tough to unscrew.

 

Damn that sucks. I remember that happened to me once. It was on soo tight that when i went in to retract it, i pulled out the stud with it.

Just keep trying. Eventually u will get it off, in one piece or in hundreds.
What you can also try is take some wd-40 and spray it in between the oil filter and the block to loosen the rubber washer that is seized to the block.
I'm sure the dealership over-tightened it and did not put clean oil on the rubber washer to keep it from sticking to the block.

Oh for next time oil change, get one of these. It's ur new best friend. Goes on the end and u loosen/tighten it with a normal 3/8" wrench.

 

^^If I'm not mistaken he's already using one of those.

When ^^ that tool didn't work for me, yeah I had to he-man the bastard too. Laying under the car with barely any room to work, I just had to make sure my hands weren't oily, and took both hands and turned as hard as I could and it budged. If you can't he-man it then you might have to find an alternative.

 

Yea, I'm trying to find alternatives.. I tried quite a lot of tools already too. And as for that tool kevin, I would use it but.. the end isn't full formed anymore lol... I honestly destroyed this filter.. combination of twisting the wrong way + it was on just tight straight out of the dealership. it messed up with the most damage when i was actually twisting it off the right way, didnt budge one bit.

Surprisingly when I twisted it the wrong way, it budged 3 times... then after reading this forum I was like.... ****. Also it's a tad bit hard to he-man that shit cuz I created tons of sharp cuts into the metal.. sigh......

 

Go to Home Depot or Ace Hardware and buy a strap wrench. Not expensive, made for this kind of job.

 

Anyone try this honda filter wrench?

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