Can anyone point me in the direction of a cap wrench that fits the oil filter. I have a universal one that I fight with every 10k miles and I'm tired of it. According to fram.com the filter is 2.69in in diameter and according to my math that makes it 68.326mm in diameter. Thanks!
64mm, 14 Flutes. Some aftermarket filters aren't exactly 64mm - the Fram has some rubber coating on it that makes it larger. The K&N is round, but has a hex for a smaller wrench instead. Personally - I stick to Denso oil filters for my Prius C and my old 94 Camry.
My Gen 3 is the first car I've ever bought a custom, dedicated filter wrench for (because it has this plastic cap that's always reused so I don't want to take chances damaging it). For every other car I've owned in like 30 years, including my Gen 1 which is essentially the same 1NZ-FXE engine as the c, I've used the same completely nonspecific strap wrench I bought in 1988 and had no trouble. -Chap
I checked the face-to-face dim on the one I use (repurposed Honda socket): it's a bit over 64 mm, maybe 64.5? I'd suspect the 0.5 is a bit of clearance, and the oil filter housing (Toyota or Honda) is close to 64.0 spot/on. And yeah, 14 flutes. Your 68 mm is too loose, will jam, might round and/or stress the corners of the housing.
The only time I've ever needed to use an oil filter wrench is when changing it after first buying the car or if a dealer or other service place did the oil change. I'm a big believer in the filter going on only hand-tight, plus maybe a half turn. It's not going to come off on its own unless you leave it really loose.
I wouldn't proselytize that though. There is nothing wrong with torquing the oil filter to specification. It's gross over-torque that causes problems.
