Removing stuborn oil filters?

[DaveW]

ive had an oil filter ratle off on me once, mind you it was a rattly old daihatsu delta! it was so overdue for an oil chnge it left one hell of a stain in the carpark

[dogeatdog01]

how tight are your oil filters!?!
its only supposed to be 'one hand tight?!'
and that begs the next question, if u have it one hand tight - how often do you not change them! (ie.. why are the seizing?).
i cut the bullshit every time with my oil filter, hammer, screwdriver..every time.
if you have trouble, go round the outside of the filter, and hit it lightly with a hammer...
this will get it off every time...
MR2 is probably a different kettle of fish tho...
its like a bi-sexual FF car.

[TooF]

hahahh naa the mr2 is super easy to work on its virtually a fwd corolla 4age setup moved 6 foor backwards and with no crossmember or radiator to get in the way the only thing that is particualy complex in an mr2 is the coolant system.

[dogeatdog01]

bisexuals are complex beings my friend...
ive never known anyone to have trouble with the screwdriver method?
get ya elbow into it son?

[TooF]

yeah the screw driver method works. my solution is dont ovetighten them when ou put them on!

[LeeRoy]

I do mine up tight with one hand, and by tight its not even that tight just tight enough so it wont leak. I'm talking that you could probably keep turning it for a while before it would stop turning also.

But then what happens when you do an oil change. You start the car so its warm and the oil is nice and thin, you drain it, then you change the filter before putting it back together. The biggest problem i find is that its pretty bloody hot with the top radiator hose and headers and its an area you need a glove to touch the filter and the glove doesnt grip too well. Its just really an awkward spot to try and twist your arm.

Have you got an ae82/92 dogeatdog?

[love ke70]

you wouldnt have much luck welding a nut on, the metal isnt thick enough to hold the force me thinks.

[Duk]

Dunno if the GE's are the same as the GZE's, but when my filter gets bastard stuck I just unbolt the 2 nuts and 2 bolts that hold the oil filter mount onto the block and take it to the vice. Saves piss farting about.

[merc-blue]

as fro tightness i spin them on till they grab than give them a 1/2 turn,
If your worried about it falling off get a hose clamp put it around the filter and than tie wire it back to somthing secure, on somthing like a AW11 the oil cooler adaprot will do

[MR22ZZ]

as fro tightness i spin them on till they grab than give them a 1/2 turn,

yep, that's exactly what I did last time... this time it was until it shows resistance + 1/4 turn instead of a half.

The filter/oil was last changed in September and the car has done under 5000 kms in that time.

[JustCallMeOrlando]

Some cars just manage to seal on stupid tight. My mates GZ20 is one such car. It's a PITFA.

[Hiro]

I've always done mine up by hand, and been able to get them off by hand, it was just the first time that I did it (had previously been done by Toyota) that it was near impossible, like they used a rattle-gun on it somehow

[texasflysuperstar]

my method sounds wierd but its worked for me with every freaken tight filter that i've had to undo.

you get one of those rolls of sand paper that you stick on the underside of an orbital sander, you know the 3m ones - sticky on one side and sand paper the other ? 180 grit works best.
well you stick it to your hand, grip the filter squeeze and turn and hey presto its off !
but then your left with a sticky sand paper hand !

dont knock it till you try it !

[KwS]

i tried the screwdriver through the filter trick on an old familia of mine once. ended up with oil everywhere, and the filter not budging. all the screwdriver did, was rip through the metal like butter. adjustable grips got that one off the car.

On my old mr2, i used a filter tool. one of the ones with 3 knurled 'fingers' that you attach to a ratchet/powerbar. The more you turn the ratchet, the tighter the 'fingers' grip, and it also turns the filter its self. life saver.

[Talasas]

I've done the screwdriver thing for years on stubborn oil filters on various cars, always does the trick where many various oil filter tools have failed. The trick to it is to tap the base of the filter, more often than not it will get it turning slowly. You can then punch a hole through the mofo (again near the base not the top where it's just the thin casing) to get it loose. This worked on my AE92 4AGE fine and I didn't need to remove anything yo get to it.

that said dont ovetighten the filter in the first place and you dont run into the problem of it not coming off

This is the best advice ever, the Z386 (and similar ones like the SR20 ones (Z442?) do not need to be bastard tight, just neat hand tight is more than enough. Once you're done you can go smack out the last idiot that put the filter on.