Any hints on how to handle oil filter- do I need wrench- if so, what kind and how much?

 

thomas88?


Oil filters are supposed to only be hand tight but sometimes dealers can get a little carried away. An oil filter wrench can be a handy tool to have around.

 

 

Acura, and Honda, may be different, but on every other vehicle I have dealt with the filter seal should be coated with oil, screwed on hand tight, and then turned another 1/2 turn with a wrench.

The service manager at Acura told me that they had seen several instances of others not putting the oil filter on sufficiently tight. There is a fair amount of pressure in the oil filter, so I certainly would not trust it not to leak if only hand tight; especially considering that one's hands are usually oily and slippery when changing a filter and the filter itself has a very smooth surface.

In any case, to change an oil filter, one should have a filter wrench handy; hard to drive to Auto Zone and get one after the oil has been drained. I have had some oil filters put on by the quick lube type places that were so tight that I had to drive a screwdriver through them to get them off -- even the filter wrench would not move them.

 

just apply some oil to the filter seal and hand tighten, it's fine.

using the wrench is how it's 'supposed' to be done, i've been changing oil since my '92 teg and only hand tightening - still haven't had any issues, so use whichever makes you feel safer.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Thats awesome!!!