The overtight oil filter catridge cap......It's not the dealer's fault.

Get the OEM Toyota or Honda SST cap wrench. They don’t break. If I recall I needed to use my floor jack to leverage the wrench and break it loose my first time after the 2nd free dealer change…

 

Thanks, that particular one hadn't yet shown up when I looked on Amazon. I'm trying to choose between 3 or 4 other similar heavy-duty steel ones that did show up.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I really doubt it would be possible to impart sufficient torque with any 3/8"-drive cap wrench, or any stamped-steel one, much less with your relatively short-handled Vice-Grip type plier.

How much torque does it take to break the cap or the metal filter housing? Either would be a disaster!

 

The first time I changed the oil on my old Mazda with the spin-on filter, I had to pound a long screwdriver through the filter and crank on it that way.

I distinctly remember the thought "if I don't get it loose this way, I'm pretty screwed."

But it worked....

 

@CR94 To be clear there’s a square hole for a 3/8” drive but that hole is in the center of a 6 point nut. I just measured the Toyota SST that I have and it’s a 19 mm nut. I do believe a 19 mm socket with 1/2 drive should fit, but I’ll verify tomorrow if I can get myself to do an oil change…

 

Yes, I used a universal joint 1/2 inch drive impact socket on the 6 point outer "nut" section of the oil filter cap wrench with a 1/2 inch electric impact driver/gun.

I had to wail on it very hard with the impact gun. So hard, I was worried that something was going to break (cap wrench, impact socket, or metal plate/bolts that the oil filter housing was on.

Have you tried using a cheater bar or pipe over a breaker bar? Slow and steady torque might be better than sharp impacts with a gun.


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That was my approach for my first oil change after buying this Gen 3. I used about a 2 meter pipe.

Since then, I'm always the last person who torqued the cap on, and it comes right off.

It always takes more torque than it took to put on, because of the O ring swelling, but it never gives me that kind of a fight.

 

Checked my Honda oil filter socket; it's similar:

has a central square hole for 3/8" drive, and can also be used with a 17mm socket.

 

In the middle of oil change on a cool day. Did take it for a freeway run to heat it up. First time I used a 19mm box wrench? (not sure the name) and it broke free the filter with ease! Then I switched to 3/8” ratchet and felt significant resistance!

Anyways took a pic of the wrenches:
View attachment 242228

 

That's what I'm worried about, breaking the pipe-&-bracket hardware that connects the filter housing to the block and timing cover. Since I have a spare cap, breaking the cap wouldn't be as bad, IF I could get the remnants of it out within a short time. I'm working in a parking lot where vehicle maintenance is banned, although that rule is rarely enforced, so far. I already broke my stamped-steel cap wrench in two different senses (rounded the 3/8" square drive hole, enlarged it to into a ½" square hole, then broke the spot welds).

There's no space to swing a breaker bar (+any pipe extension) longer than my ~14" one, unless I somehow lift the car higher than I ever have. I estimate I was applying roughly 100 pounds force to the end of that wrench when the spot welds broke.

I'll order a heavier-duty forged steel cap wrench tool and try again when it arrives. Those generally have ½" square drive holes, surrounded by a 24-mm or 21-mm hexagon. The 21-mm kind doesn't leave much margin between the hex and the corners of the square. One Amazon user review reported breaking one at that weak point.

I don't see how swelling of the O-ring can be more than a minor factor. It's effect on loosening torque should be the same, whether the cap was severely overtightened or barely screwed all the way on, i.e., "hand tight."

 

Use a floor jack, lift up the end of your wrench against the weight of the car. It will budge, so long as you have a sturdy cap wrench.

Or if you really want to break the cap, start drilling into it or cut it….

 

Crappy dealer service department or or quick oil change shop just one side of the problem but when I see people start using Mickey Mouse tool like one from OP pic below, LoL.., no wonder you can't take if off. Yeah, lets destroy that by hammering poor catridge cap to death.
$40 later and new catridge cap is installed....

 

This is the steel cap wrench I used.


EWK 64mm 14 Flutes Forged Carbon Steel Oil Filter Wrench for Toyota Camry, Tundra, Tacoma, Corolla/Honda/Lexus https://a.co/d/gCpI2LT


Use a 21mm 6-point impact rated socket (stronger) for maximum torque on the cap wrench.

Using the 1/2 inch drive hole in the cap wrench is a good way to either round out the hole, or crack the cap wrench. The 6-point socket distributes the torque over a larger area of the cap wrench, lessening the chance of breakage.

Using a jack to bear on the breaker bar is a good idea, if you can get the socket and breaker bar to stay in place while jacking.

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I guess I should try to repost the image of the wrenches. It was significantly easy to start the cap off with the wrench vs continuing with the ratchet!

 

When I'm removing the cap after I torqued it on last, I'm chalking the extra effort up to the O ring swelling.

When I removed it the first time, after somebody else torqued it on last, I don't think the extra effort I needed was only to do with the O ring.

 

I wonder if this thermal expansion is what is causing my gas/oil filler cap on my chainsaw to crack. I have been through 3 of them over the past 6 years..

 

Another member said the plastic material that the oil filter housing is made of actually swells over time, exposed to the heat and oil. I tend to think that it's possible, because I don't seem to have this problem after switching to an aluminum alloy housing.

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Spin-on conversion, if it gets too much.

 

Only one time did I have a problem removing the oil filter cap.
The very first time. It was TIGHT! After that, no problems.
I use a 3/8 ratchet to break it free and a 6 inch rachet after that.
And I only "snug" it after it stops turning. Just enough for that little clip to fall in
front of the tab so the filter can't work it's way out.
Which I doubt it ever would though.

When I install it I can go about half way before I have to use the 6 inch rachet.
So it's probably not warped.

 

That's correct.
More plausible explanation: When the cap is overtightened, compressive stress is high on cap surfaces in too-intimate contact with the metal surfaces. In combination with the intermittently elevated temperature and several months of time, that high compressive stress leads to the plastic surface slowly yielding ("creeping") slightly to conform with asperities in the metal surface. That interlocking effect, in turn, increases the effective coefficient of friction between plastic cap and metal. At typical oil temperatures, surfaces of a similarly overtightened aluminum cap won't conform to the opposing surface to the same extent, so the coefficient of friction stays nearer constant.

 

Yes, the EWK design is one of the models vulnerable to cracking around the ½" square drive opening, for the reason I mentioned in post #89. Therefore, I'm ordering one with a larger (24 mm, not 21) drive hexagon surrounding the square opening.
I'd rather use the square drive than a socket on the hex, because the later stack-up positions the sideways force of the wrench even farther out from from the cap, increasing binding effect on the threads, and increasing bending stress on the supporting structure.