How to Change Your Car’s Engine Oil Filter
Jul 17, 2009 More Saving
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The most difficult side of driving is not everyone can be a car mechanic.
Cars like people have personalities, too: they often have problems not identical to others that negatively affect the way they run “or not run”. Since a car is a complex of mechanical actions and operations each related to some others, allow just a few failures in this complexity and the car breaks down. As such, the engine oil gets much importance because it is the lubricant that keeps the internal mechanical parts of the engine working smoothly. Take out the clean engine oil and something will soon wear down or seize up and the engine stops completely. But the engine oil will not function properly without a good filter which keeps out the impurities. This is something very vital in high-performance cars like those raced. They even use specific proprietary filters of the highest quality.
Changing the engine oil filter is projected to be easy, and that anyone can do it, even the non-mechanically oriented like the rest of us. In fact, the filter is said to be replaceable by hand, and it would not be far from the truth except when the filter is slick and slippery with oil — and most car owners do not know how.
Thus filters often cannot be loosened by hand, but there are special filter wrenches that may be used. They come in two general types: the jointed pincer style and handle-and-chain style. Either is a handy tool to unscrew an oil filter, a task extremely difficult to do even when using latex gloves. At any rate, work gloves of leather, denim or latex are recommended when using filter wrenches as they minimize the metal’s bite on the hand when applying pressure to unscrew the filter. They also protect the hand from oil spills, a good thing for those who are allergic or averse to oil on their skin.
When you access the oil filter, you may well find that it is screwed on pretty tightly. With the aforementioned oil making for a lack of purchase, you would be well advised to wipe it with a rag before you ever take a wrench to it.
After the filter is loosened, twist it off by hand as using the wrench will be more cumbersome. You should have a container to catch the oil that will spill from the filter’s opening as you remove it, while turning it upside down will also prevent further spills. Place it in the container with the opening on top to avoid spilling more oil.
Before putting in the new filter, wipe off its nozzle free of dirt or other particles with a new fresh rag. Also smear some oil on the rubber gasket to ensure air tightness, as well as make it easier to twist in. Use clean oil if possible, but oil from the old filter will do as well. A few drops will do: just wet the threaded area and the rubber surface that will touch the engine.
Turn the filter by hand when it begins to thread in but do not force it at the start: you might damage the thread and the filter will not seat perfectly, causing leaks. It is good practice to turn it counterclockwise first (as if loosening it) a few turns to find the entry thread before turning it the other way to thread it in. This way you can be assured of a good thread-in. Hand-tighten it to a good fit and youre done.
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