Oil Filter Too Tight HELP!

[Victory Red]

Long story short. Broken filter wrench. Tried second filter wrench just twisted the top. Tried strap wrench, just slid around filter. Tried $35 filter pliers, just hourglassed the oil filter. Last most hated resort, screwdriver. Now have a tear about 180 degress around bottom of filter. Still not off( I think it did move about 1/2 inch writing has moved slightly).

Spicer is coming over later this morning to help me. Any suggestions on what to do at this point??? Worst case scenario cut off filter and housing use hammer and chisel to unscrew base through pass through holes? Any suggestions????

This is a freebie dealer filter. I thought I'd avoid the gorilla filter but letting the dealer get the factory one. Seems like he got even by doing the same thing to me.

HELP!!

[jbplock]

Victory Red,
Bummer! :( I'm not sure I can accurately picture what you filter looks like right now. Is the canister removed and you just have the filter mounting base showing? If so maybe instead of a chisel you could use a punch and hammer on the inlet holes to get the base turning. Also, since everything has cooled off, it may help to heat up the gasket with a heat gun. Maybe even put a little penetrating oil the gasket too. I have some great stuff called “Kroil” that I use in these kind of desperate situations. Good luck! smile.gif

[Victory Red]

No Most of my housing is still intact. All I can say is that this is freaking ridiculous. I'm waiting to try two straps at once in the hopes that the extra energy will help. I'm going to try to keep the housing intact, but as tight as this baby is, I don't think there's an easy way out at this point. If not, I've got a 40k plus lawn ornament :eek:

On a lighter note. Where'd you get your Allison emblems? When I'm running again, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a couple of those.

[ 05-10-2003: Message edited by: Victory Red ]</p>

[TPIJeep]

When you do get it off, you need to bring it to the service manager at the dealership and raise hell. Your right the wrench monkey probably did that as a joke and who knows how many more he has done like that!

Sorta reminds me when I worked at Goodyear, when I customer was an extra special pain in the butt we would hit his lug nuts just a little "more" with the impact!!

[mackin]

I highly doubt the tech was getting even .....

These filters have a tendency to get real tight .... I myself have just tightened slightly only to find it so tight I will actually twist the gasket right off the filter ..... Rediculous is putting it mildly ....
I believe the oil film on the gasket fades away .....
I have yet to apply a film off grease as oppose to oil on the gasket prior to installing ..... Grease gun just never seems to be handy....Next time I'm at the auto parts store I'm gonna get me one of them tubs of high temp axle bearing grease,put it with my spare filters .... With a hand tight ,quarter turn next time .....

Good luck Red ,it can be a b!tch .....


MAC

[ 05-10-2003: Message edited by: mackin ]</p>

[Hound]

Victory,

Not that this will help at this point but, I have yet to break this oil filter wrench. It's the HD Oil Filter Strap Wrench (OFS278) from Matco tools, www.matcotools.com. It hasn't failed to get the filter off yet. BTW, try to stay near the base of the filter, closest to the engine, with any wrench when you're trying to get it off. Good luck.

[ 05-10-2003: Message edited by: Hound ]</p>

[Victory Red]

Well thanks to Spicer we(he) got the filter off. 3 different wrenches and finally one did the trick at 1/8" at a time. Still unbelievable how tight it was, but thankfully I'm ready to rock and roll again. Old Duraguard is mangled matted and destroyed. Hopefully the next one wont be near as bad. Something is wrong when you can watch the whole truck lift with the torque of trying to remove the filter.

Anyhow once again thanks Spicer I am in your debt!!!

[jbplock]

Victory Red,

Glad to hear you got that filter off! Regarding the Allison Emblems, I have two types. The large one you can get from an Allison dealer. (I got some from the OEM, SGI at 888-666-5799). The small ones were from a fellow member Jeff Swisher who had some extras (Jeff, you still out there?) smile.gif

[ 05-11-2003: Message edited by: jbplock ]</p>

[Victory Red]

Hopefully my next filter change wont be as bad. The upside is I made a new friend and saw the Mega filter install. Nice clean install, although I'm going to hold out to see if an air issue fix comes out soon.


I like the one you've got next to your Dmax Diesel emblems. Looks like almost a perfect size match as well. So if anyone has extras or knows where I can get them let me know. Thanks

[DDD70]

You may try this for tight filters.
Wrap filter with innertube rubber,
us a ring compresser tool,than use your
filter wrench. Has worked for me in the past.

[wushaw]

Driveing a large screwdriver through the housing sometimes.

[Da-Max]

Victory Red,

I too had the same problem and was cursing the dealer repair shop. I let them do my first oil change.
I did all those things you did but ended up heating up the filter housing with a torch ( I know, scary but had to do something)

My next oil change was not as bad but still difficult to remove. I think this has happened to many D-Max owners.

[NCalDMax]

Breaking it loose with a pipe wrench, then unscrewing with a strap wrench works best for me.

[hoot]

I have found the best wrench is the circular steel ring that's about 1" wide with a place for a socket wrench extension. Only works with one size filter. You can slide it all the way up to the base where the filter doesn't crush.

I use the same one to get my fuel filter off.

[johnpugh]

Actually, it's probably not the dealer's fault at all.....

The pressure that the Duramax develops actually stretches the filter just a tad. If it is tight on install, the first hit of oil pressure will suck it up even more.....

At least that's what I learned from a very, very knowledgable tech at my dealer...

Later...

[Victory Red]

Well some guys(Spicer is one of them) has started to use Parkers O-Ring lubricant on the seal of the oil filter. It'll be another 2 months or so before I change again so I don't know how well this trick works. Hopefully it won't be again like the last one. I just can't see myself going 6 years or so with this truck when you're pulling muscles to remove the oil filter.

[jbplock]

I also thought about using the Parker Super o-lube. It's great stuff and probably will help. However, something to consider is that since it's a silicone based lube, it may skew oil analysis results (if the lube gets into the oil). Seems like it wouldn't hurt any thing though. Something to think about

[Kennedy]

What temp was the filter when you (started) did this?

[Victory Red]

jbplock,

according to the tube of the parker lub, it says it will not clog micron filters. Which is a good thing, but then again, I'll never use so much to have it oozing all over the place. Like I said, I won't have much information until I change my oil again. Just sitting here with bad memories right now and keeping my fingers crossed.


John K.,

The truck was still hot, had just gotten home from a 30 minute drive home from work(50+) most of the way. Less than 30 minutes before I began work on it. I started all this Friday evening (I had hoped to make it Schofield that saturday to talk trucks and bikes with you) but when I ran into issues I was SOL till late morning saturday.