my oil filter seems to be slightly strange, and an odd location. it's this kind of filter:

here are a few pics of my car. The filter is near the engine on the top front side and it's pointing up. it's the hexagonal bolt with a little yellow dot on it, and it's right near the center in all of the pictures.





I went out and bought a ratchet bolt that fits the top of the lid, as well as an extension piece so I can get it down in there, but the problem is no matter how hard I try to turn it the bastard just won't come off. any suggestions?

would it be easier to take off when it was hot or cold? would spraying oil on the outside/top (WD40) do anything to help/hurt it?

[Edited on June 22, 2008 at 4:48 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2008 4:47:44 PM

make model

6/22/2008 5:00:53 PM

sorry

2002 Pontiac Grand Am, 2.2L, 4 cylinder

6/22/2008 5:01:43 PM

that model came standard with a life time filter. no need to change.

6/22/2008 5:13:27 PM

don't want to sound like a douche, but where did you get that from? I don't see anything in the owners manual about a lifetime filter, and lots of places list that specific kind of filter as the replacement for my model

I added an extra extension to the ratchet which gave me enough room to move around and the cap is loose now

6/22/2008 5:20:35 PM

for next time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheater_bar

6/22/2008 5:45:37 PM

sounds to me like who ever did the previous oil change didn't lube the gasket on the filter. it will be a bitch to get off. use a cheater bar like ^ said.

6/22/2008 6:18:01 PM

Quote :

"that model came standard with a life time filter. no need to change"

no

find the receipt from the last place that did it and say i cant get this loose. hell its made of plastic so if you cant break it or break it loose i just dont think you are strung enough to muscle it off

6/22/2008 10:15:21 PM

^Strung???

wat?

6/22/2008 11:46:15 PM

Quote :

"i just dont think you are strung enough to muscle it off"

Quote :

"I added an extra extension to the ratchet which gave me enough room to move around and the cap is loose now"

the problem was solved

6/22/2008 11:49:32 PM

^ i saw that part

Quote :

"that model came standard with a life time filter. no need to change"

WUT?

6/23/2008 11:16:57 AM

[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 11:18 AM. Reason : ]

6/23/2008 11:18:33 AM

ok, now that all these douches have had their fun, get a pair of filter pliers or a filter wrench that will grip around the entire cap and it will come off easily

if you crank on the little head hard enough, it will break off long before the cap ever loosens

6/23/2008 12:09:00 PM

wow they have 4 cylinders in those grand ams? they look like they weigh 3500 lbs

6/23/2008 12:23:24 PM

ECO-tech poWar baby

6/23/2008 12:27:56 PM

Quote :

"get a pair of filter pliers or a filter wrench that will grip around the entire cap"

if you look close at the pics you'll see that it's right next to the engine, so there's no way any tool could grip around the entire cap, not to mention that the cap is probably 4" around, so you'd need one giant ass wrench. I have 2 different oil filter wrenches and neither of them worked

the 1 1/4" ratchet bit was exactly the right tool to use. I just didn't think using a second ratchet extension would give me that much more room to move, but it did. Now that I've put a new filter in and made sure that 1) the gasket was properly lubricated and 2) didn't put the cap back on retardedly tight with an air gun I'm sure I'll be no problem at all in the future

6/23/2008 1:35:36 PM

hence oil filter wrench

6/23/2008 1:48:59 PM

god you're a fucking idiot

there's no room to fucking use either of those tools

6/23/2008 2:13:08 PM

well your wrong. id gladly show you how to use an oil filter wrench. and if you would like to argue about it all you would have t do is take the air box tube loose and slide the band wrench in between the last intake rutter and the lower coolant hose. so yes it will work. and btw make fun if you want but afer running a "lubberboy" shop for two years i see at least on of these a day so i know what tools will and will not fit that oil filter housing cap.

but if you must be politacly correct its a 1-1/4" socket and an 8-12" extension on a ratchet.


[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 2:23 PM. Reason : torque should not be more than 21ftlbs]

6/23/2008 2:19:06 PM

no shit you can move stuff around and make it work

the point is there's no room given how the car looks in the pics. it's a hell of a lot easier to just get a big enough socket and an extension

[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 2:22 PM. Reason : j]

6/23/2008 2:22:14 PM

Quote :

"god you're a fucking idiot there's no room to fucking use either of those tools "

id like to see you work on cars. i bet its comical

Quote :

"no shit you can move stuff around"

sure you only need a 12 or 13mm to put a battery in a sebring. but you take the tire off and the inner fender-well panel off befor you can get to the better.

[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 2:30 PM. Reason : sp]

6/23/2008 2:30:00 PM

by the way, check the type of oil filter I have to use

only the cap comes off, there isn't the normal cup shaped oil filter. the cap comes off, the filter part snaps out and a new one snaps in. the housing and everything is a piece of the engine, it doesn't screw off

there is no way an oil filter wrench would be any good on my car. I'll bet anyone $100 that you can't get that cap off with any oil filter wrench, and seeing as I spend a few hours messing with it yesterday, I feel pretty confident about that one

6/23/2008 3:14:38 PM

orly?

i ll take you up on it. depending on how tight you put it back on. give me 1.5min max.

6/23/2008 4:40:54 PM

i'll take that bet too. as much as i hate to agree with that ^ retard at all, he's partially (key word) right. you can use a band type filter tool to get the cap off. you don't use the style he posted with a handle though, you can get one that attaches to a regular ratchet extension and there's no need to move anything else.

like this:



you can also use a cup style like this, but it has to be a deep one:





[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 6:16 PM. Reason : .]

6/23/2008 6:02:34 PM