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The Best Tools to Remove Stuck-on Oil Filters
The concrete is cold on your back. Warm oil dribbles into the drain pan just off your right shoulder. You reach up and grab the oil filter, give it a twist and…it won’t budge. Anyone who’s been in this situation knows the frustration builds rapidly as mechanics and would-be mechanics curse in unison at whoever overtightened the oil filter the last time it was changed.
Between engine compartments being tighter than ever and the slick nature of oil filters themselves, applying leverage on an overtightened oil filter can be an excruciating task. So when I saw that the Torque Test Channel on YouTube not only tested a handful of methods and tools for removing oil filters but did so in a fairly scientific manner, one could say I was more than a little interested.
It’s intriguing for a few reasons. One point that the video itself calls out is that all the tools on the market designed to help remove oil filters don’t give much specific info about how much the tool might help. When the bar is a sweaty hand on painted steel, it’s very easy to beat, but what is the hierarchy of the common tools and tricks? I haven’t encountered enough stuck oil filters in the wild to try many tools or tricks for this. It’s a blessed life I lead.
The test was conducted on two different-sized oil filters to possibly highlight if a tool worked better for one size or the other. The test included multiple types and brands of pliers, band wrenches, and three-jaw tools that are operated with a ratchet or breaker bar. Each of these has its strengths and weaknesses that make owning multiple styles reasonable if this is a problem that comes up regularly in your life.
The test showed that all of them are a huge improvement over hand and even the ol’ stab-it-with-a-screwdriver method. The three-jaw style was capable of over 100 foot-pounds of twist on an oil filter. One of the filter housings began to spin at the pressed joint between the housing and the mounting plate. Of course, most of these tools destroyed the filter, which is fine if it is successful. It also means that once these come out, there’s no going back.
Pro tip: once you put the new filter on as tight as you like, turn it back and forth 6 or 8 times about an 1/8th of a turn each direction. It will come off in your hand the next time you change your oil. A mechanic showed me that trick more than 40 years ago and it works.
thank you for the tip i will certainly try it
I bought a used car once that I could not budge the filter on, I was hesitant to use any of the procedures that would render the filter housing compromised in case I did need to drive it to a shop. I happened to catch a glimpse of my boat trailer off to the side, while laying on my back under the car, and it reminded me that I had a roll of 3 inch wide self-adhesive grippy tape in the garage that was left over from when I used it on my trailer. I cut about 6 inches of tape and wrapped it around the filter and was able to use the band clamp without slippage
See, this is a great example as to why we need a “like” button.
That sounds great, and it never occurred to me. I’m sure that lets the seal relax and “be happy” in its new home much better than just binding it in place and stopping.
A friend called me recently with a stubborn oil filter. His wrench wouldn’t provide enough traction. I suggested to him to get a piece of the coarsest sandpaper he had, fold it and put inside the band of his wrench. He thinks I’m a genius! This was one of my “Thanks Dad” moments. I’ve never had it fail!
Very rarely have I had a problem with my filters, just went by the directions, some at 3/4 to 1 full turn. Thanks
Sweet Tip
Stab it with a screwdriver has worked but thankfully I don’t need to do that when I put the filter on the next time.
Having spent 20 years servicing my own aircraft, I have adopted using DOW 4 silicone grease to lubricate the oil filter gasket. Never a sticking filter using that lube and recommended torque.
I have used the filter case crunching tool, and I have to admit that it works well when there is room to fit it. When there isn’t… I move the filter to a better location.
Dow 4 Is the answer! I use it on all liquid containing filters! Never a stuck filter after I started using it!
Yes. I have a special screwdriver for that purpose. I found it in a Detroit street (Marlowe) about seventy years ago.
Band wrenches slip and the stabbing thru of using a large screwdriver works, but requires a lot of space to do so and the space to be able to use the handle to turn the filter loose.
Best device is the “cup wrench” that fit over the entire end of the oil filter. It’s hexagonal shape matches the hexagonal shape of the oil filter end so they don’t slip off, and with the welded-on outside nut on the bottom of the cup wrench, they allow the use of a socket wrench or torque bar to easily give enough torque to get off any filter.
That only works if the filter has a hexagonal shape. A lot are just round.
I picked up one of those one time when I bought a filter that fit it. The next filter had a different shape at the base.
Great tool, but you lock yourself into a filter that might not be available down the road.
The band wrench slips and the screwdriver thru the filter requires a lot of space to stab and turn the screwdriver handle to get the filter loose.
Best ever is the “cup wrench”, which never slips off . It’s hexagonal shape matches the hexagonal shape found at the end of most oil filters. Plus, the cup has a welded-on nut at the bottom so you can use a socket wrench or torque bar and socket setup to easily turn loose any stuck-on oil filter.
I always referred to it as a “cap wrench,” but I agree… it’s always worked for me as well.
Me three!!
+1 on the “cap wrench”. Never failed me yet.
I always lightly coat seal with oil and then tighten by hand; no leaks or issues.
I once had a cap filter slip, or should I say, the end of the filter rounded off. It was a filter installed at the factory. The customer brought in their truck just to have the filter removed. Using a suitable screwdriver only destroyed the end of the filter, not to mention the mess. It took a 3-pt filter wrench and a long 1/2″ ratchet to remove it.
When an oil filter is installed per the manufacturer’s instructions, with extreme cases being the exception (and they’re rare), there should be no problem removing it at the next oil change.
Way back, I got a new Cutlass (79 I recall?) with the Chevy 305. Time for the first oil change on the new car I was able to barely get a strap wrench onto the filter the way it was located with the Olds body. But I was able to situate it to get a bit of a turn. So I figured, well, 27 1/16 turns and it will be off. But to my chagrin, once I got a good grip, the filter collapsed. The best I could locate the strap was about the filter middle which I suppose is the weakest spot. Back in those days I did not have a lot of tools, so I started thinking. There was no way to get a screw drive into the space so I figured I’d punch a hole in the bottom and grab the filter can with a vice grip which I could tap with a hammer. The idea seemed good until the best i could accomplish was to rip the can off its base. Low on ideas, I ended up pulling all the can off so just the base remained. Them I got my longest screwdriver and started tapping the holes that are in the base of the filter. After a few swings, I finally broke the filter off its mounting base on the block. I don’t know if that was a rare event but whomever put that filter on had to come close to crushing it when it was installed. After that, I bought a cup wrench and never had any issues again. But then again, I never bought many new cars.
Cup wrenches can slip too if the filter is really tight.
You are right. I’ve had them slip also. I drilled a 3/16″ hole in the side of the cup wrench and put a self tapping screw through the hole and into the filter. Has always worked for me.
I like this idea!
I haven’t any oil filters with a hexagonal shape in my life
I have had cap wrenchs slip – on small Japanese filters!
That’s been best for me. Mine came from an aircraft parts supply company and has a fitting for a ratchet handle.
I have had many instances with Toyota filters of the socket style filter wrenches (both black plastic one & a metal one) being perfectly fine to install the filter, but they slip on the flutes on the end of the filter when trying to remove it. I resort to the Harbor Freight oil filter vice grip style pliers. They have curved, pincer style jaws with some raised saw tooth areas. Crushes the filter but they eventually get it to budge.
I forgot to mention, since I bought an Alpha Moto RMI-TO-811 filter wrench ( 2 big metal jaws with saw tooth edges mounted on a spring loaded base that you drive with a ratchet) I haven’t needed to crush a filter with the Harbor Freights.
https://a.co/d/64enJu7
Have had a few-“Did Godzilla tighten this!” moments. Have found a solution in three jaw tool- work great but destroys the filter. Like the hack of tightening and loosening- will try that next time.
it may be cheating – but there is a simple cheap trick that may help. You can try it on many things that are stuck in place, and that you can’t turn in the usual fashion. It is to first find something helpful that you can torque instead, some other small item that you can get a wrench +/- a breaker bar onto, something that you may be willing to sacrifice, maybe a large old nut or bolt or handy piece of scrap metal. Next, clean any grease off both the problem item and also off your helpful large nut or whatever, using gas or some other solvent. Then use epoxy glue (or some other chosen glue, but noting that superglue is said to not be very strong), use glue to attach your wrenchable nut or whatever, onto the problem item. Next wait til the glue is hard and when everything is firmly attached to each other. Now put your wrench on that new now glued-on nut or whatever instead, and then torque it off, along with that problem item that it is glued onto. This trick otta work on oil filters, and many other stuck-on things, even things like locking lug nuts for which there is no key available. Once the problem item has been broken-free secondarily, you might even be able to break the glue off and salvage your various parts, altho maybe with a few new chisel marks.
JB Weld might work as well
Stuck on oil filters are the result of improper installation. READ/FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS!
Agreed! I use gun grease on the gasket and hand tighten only. Never had a problem getting any filter off that I installed. Remember… 99% of the time its not the threads on the housing giving you trouble, it’s the gasket stuck to the base.
I’m 60 and have been changing my own oil since my first vehicle at 15. I pre-fill my filter and lube the gasket. Clean hands and a dry filter, I hand tighten the new filter. I’ve never needed anything but a band filter wrench for removal and I’ve never had a filter leak.
We had a 71 LT1 Vette that the filter must have been welded on , broke every tool we had on it & ripped the filter right off the base . An Aircraft oil filter tool was the only thing that worked it fit into the holes in the base , apparently piston engine aircraft have this issue all the time
Must be the repeated changes in air pressure that creates the stuck filter :}
My favourite tool for a stuck filter is a pair of giant slip-joint pliers (aka waterpump pliers). By “giant”, I mean the 16 inch+ size. In fact, once you own a pair of such pliers, you will find many uses for them. For example, they make excellent well-controlled mini presses. Also handy for pushing back brake caliper pistons. Mine get a LOT of use.
I didn’t own this tool but saw one while waiting in a checkout line and thought that it might prove useful, so I bought it on a whim. Literally the next time I came home I went in the basement and the backup valve to my boiler had failed and was spraying water everywhere. It was the exact tool I needed to remove the valve.
Are ”slip joint” or waterpump pliers the same as “Channellock” pliers? I have a giant size pair. I use them for multiple jobs. Very handy for swimming pool PVC pipe, joint and valve repairs. Just use carefully. They seem to adjust to fit just right on the various oil filters I encounter around the farm.
Yes the channel lock works great. The more you crush the filter the greater the grip.
Channellock is a brand name, you are right, they are called water pump pliers. Like the “Crescent” (Adjustable) wrench or a “Kleenex” (tissue). What really frosts me is the “flat head” (Slotted) Screw driver
The last time I used mine was to hold a lawnmower pulley while tightening the nut holding the blade. It’s the only tool I own that could’ve done that job.
Yep. “Giant” Channellock pliers are my go-to solution for a stuck oil filter. The can go around the circumference, or be applied endwise on the filter’s axis. Squeeze, crush and turn. Works every time.
Have been changing my own oil for fifty years. Worst example is the 1962 Oldsmobile with the filter in an almost inaccessible location. Got stuck once and I used the screwdriver method, only to find out the auto parts store gave me the wrong replacement filter. A very long bicycle ride back the store ensued.
I used to be able to find a filter with the nut welded onto the filter from the factory, which was a big help.
I have seen those, genius! (But shouldn’t we all just go 3/4 turn past contact or such?)
The instruction on the filters I’ve used say to hand-tighten. You probably don’t want to do that if you’re built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, however.
The 3/4 turn rule applies to spark plugs.
And hydraulic lifter rocker arms.
Just a thought, sorry, off topic.
3/4 turn on a spark plug with a gasket maybe. Tapered plugs just need to be good and snug.
For those of us that have been changing oil in our cars since the 60’s, removing the filter has been figured out long ago. You only do the screwdriver once due to the mess it makes. We have figured out the tool to do the job, which varies from car to car.
The first time I changed the oil on our recently acquired 1955 Chevy 265 V8, I thought it would be a breeze since it had a spin-on adapter. Wrong. Filter had not been changed in years. Strap wrench just slipped, and the cap wrench rounded off the filter bottom. To YT for some ideas, and I purchased a 3-jaw device and a fancy strap with a bolt attached. The 3-jaw wrench and a 2-foot bar removed it instantly. The fancy strap never came out of the package.
Now that the filter was off, I was not patting myself on the back. The spin-on adapter was one made for racing and did not have a bypass valve. The factory bypass valve was gone. The old filter was a special unit with a built-in bypass valve. Of course, my new filter was standard Chevy. The project scope expanded. I got it resolved but it was a 3-week oil change.
I had a filter to remove on a car that worried me – cheap cap wrench didn’t work so i bought the expensive cap wrench – equally useless. Then bought a couple of the pliers tested here – worthy but didn’t work. Then bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B619R96F and that worked immediately. De-grease and start with biggest handle.
I have a variant of the band wrench that belonged to my grandfather. Instead of a smooth steel band, it has a 14″ or so bicycle chain, with a notched pawl on the handle. Never had a filter it wouldn’t fit, and it works in tight spaces.