oil filter wrench

It shouldn't be screwed on so tight you need anything other than your hand pressure to remove it! Certainly don't put a new one on using anything other than your hand! You will strip the thread and mess your car up.

They're easier to remove if the rubber ring is smeared with a bit of oil before the filter's fitted. But like anything else on a car, with time it gets more difficult to unscrew/remove.

Lol, the Rolson one is the one I meant, it's £7 plus there

:-))

===================================== Which proves the benefits of shopping around for the best prices.

Cic.

I have ended up with two halves of filter from using the screwdriver method. I wasn't exactly pleased at the time either, had to take the adapter off (it was a Mini so not too tricky) and use a chisel to unscrew it. Even then it took a lot of whacks before it started to turn, so I doubt it was ever going to come off easily whatever tool I'd tried.

I use one that has a fabric strap.

Screwdrivers through the filter work until you get a reeally bad one at which point, they just rip it to bits.

I usually find a rubber glove on the hand in question helps a lot with grip and also means you can warm the engine up first and remove the filter fairly hot - It comes off more easily then and the added bonus is that the oil drains out of the engine more quickly and completely. Just try to avoid pouring it down your arm :-)

A mile or so's drive is normally sufficient warm-up for my fiesta before changing the oil.

Tony

Tony Brett wrote in news:es8v6n$7pe$ snipped-for-privacy@frank-exchange-of-views.oucs.ox.ac.uk:

I've never tightened a filter with a tool, but I generally find that it requires more effort to unscrew an old one than it did when it was fitted, hence the need for tools. I agree that a rubber glove helps a lot with grip and I can usually get them off this way. When I bought a wrench, the only one suitable for my car was the 3 legged claw type, due to the awkward positioning of the filter on the engine. It works superbly and I've yet to come across a car where it can't be used, as long as you have a couple of different extension bars to hand.

Stu

There can be two valves in a filter. One is a pressure relief valve, designed to open and allow unfiltered oil to the engine in the event that the filter is blocked, on the basis that unfiltered oil is better than no oil. The other is an anti-drain valve, designed to prevent all the oil running back to the sump when the engine is stopped. Neither of these tighten the oil filter to the engine.

Steve