HELP - can't get oil filter off
 

ok this filter is extremely stuck - not sure if it was installed off-thread and they just torqued it regardless, or it's rusted on.

anyway i tried both the ratchet-type filter wrench and the strap-type and still can't get it to budge.

what should i do now???

I US A LARGE SCREWDRIVER AND HAMMER IT STRAIGHT THRU FROM SIDE TO SIDE, it will eventually break loose,,,good luck...

Your last option
 

pound a philips head screw driver through it like a nail and use that as a handle and unscrew it. :)

Grab it with a bigass pair of channel locks and twist it off.

Turn it the other direction.

Chances are, the previous oil-changer didn't put any oil on the gasket of the filter.

My very first oil change in my Cosmo had this little problem. So I tried all the tricks listed above, I stabbed it with a screwdriver, and twisted - which ripped the sheet metal, I gripped it with the best oil filter wrench I've ever used which works 100% of the time on normaly installed filters, I tried channel lock type pliers, I think I did actually try turning it the other direction, but I'm not dislexic when it comes to righty-tighty, left-loosy, so it didn't help.

The only thing that worked was the only obvious solution to anybody who knows anything about how rotary engines are built. I removed the filter pedastal, put the mangled filter body in a vice, griped the pedastal with my BFAW (big friendly adjustable wrench) and pulled real hard. Yes, even the smooth jaws of the cresesnt style wrench cut into the aluminum, but it squeaked the dry gasket and started turning! It was a religious experience! The gasket was perfectly dry. That's not the only thing the previous owner screwed up, but I won't go into that here.

The oil pedastal has some nice looking marks on it now, but at least I didn't use vise grips. Good luck with yours.

well i've managed to mangle the oil filter, it's practically sawed in half (from pounding screw drivers into it)

so my next question is: is the pedestal bolted on by 2 bolts, and is that all i have to remove?

thanks!

p.s. this is for my '84 SE

Thats one reason I like the new K&N Oil Filters... Not only are they larger then OEM, but have a one inch nut on top to screw off... Very handy... better be for the price though, 10 bucks a pop, but they were tested as one of the best...

The pedestal is simply an aluminum stand-off from the cast iron of the engine which adjusts the angle to 'straight up' when compared to the slight angle of the engine (rear lower than front). It is also removable if need be (watch out for the O rings).

It should be have some 10mm nuts below the base of the pedestal. Your pedestal is most likely the short style, so you may not be able to grip it very well with anything. Good luck.

Edit: I'm glad you don't have one of those oil to water coolers.

Did you ever get the filter off?

P.O.S. - no haven't gotten the oil filter off yet, so my car is just sitting there in the garage. i stuck a ton of MMO in the rotors so it won't seize when i try to start it again WHEN i get it off.

i tried removing the pedestal but for some weird reason the bolts are coated with something rubber/gasket like and i can't get the socket on them. add to the fact one of them is in a very hard to reach place, i just gave up.

wondering if a crowbar or prybar would help...

well i finally got the oil filter off. what i did was chisel 2 notches opposite each other on the top of the filter. maybe the chiseling also helped loosen it. i got a prybar and pried around the pedestal and the filter, then i got a pair of channel locks clamped onto the notches and twisted it. took about 10 tries and pulling violently like a madman until it turned. if i didn't know better i'd thought the damn thing was WELDED on.

what surprises me is although there were alot of good ideas on this, no one mentioned that there is a certain tecnique to removing an oil filter; the filter is held on mostly by the gasket, so it won't loosen then spin off like a rusted nut, you have to gradually get it moving by using all your grip and turning it and turning it, like building up some kind of momentum, before the seal breaks. Doubt that would have helped in your case though sounds like that thing was pretty tight.

I don't know why you shouldn't try "PB blaster"...ever hear of it?..I use it a lot on rusted on bolts and it loosens it up... If the seal is the problem or the threads...this will loosen it up for sure..you can get pb blaster at any autoparts store (advance auto)...good luck...................................cjf........ ............................