another victim of the "too tight oil filter cap"

If the safety clip allows the housing to rotate it has been bent out by someone with a B/A screwdriver.
It could be bent back into original working position.

 

^Never touched it, and I'm the only person doing oil changes.

 

˄I did oil up everything before reinstalling the oil filter cap. I didn't torque it because I don't need no stinkin torque wrench..... Dang me... I had 7k miles of Mobil 1 5-20.
You could remove and bend your safety clip if you cared, but the way these things stay on is really something.
You really did every oil change on your car since new?

 

Yes, not that many, maybe four now?

Torque wrenches are a good idea. I've had a 1/2" drive for donkey's years, and finally picked up a lower range 3/8" drive recently. Takes the guesswork out of things. They might be off, but as far as I can see from testing them with a digital pull scale hooked on 12" off-centre, they seem pretty accurate, and in tandem.

 

Did the car's first oil change today and the filter housing came right off with a rachet.

 

After breaking the stamped steel tool from Autozone, I bought the Assenmacher tool (TOY 640). Both tools have been discussed on this forum. My opinion: the Assenmacher tool worked well, but...

My cap was on so tight, I had to go buy a 24mm box wrench AND use a pipe to extend the wrench. And even though I did my best to keep my "push" in-line with the cap tool, the cap tool kept popping off the cap! So I used a large 6" C-clamp to keep the cap tool from popping off. Lucky there is lots of room in that area for the big clamp to fit above the filter housing. The C-clamp was not tight (a bit loose, actually) just enough to keep the cap tool from popping off. After the cap "broke free", the C-clamp came off. The rest of the oil change had far less drama, and perhaps a little alchemy...

Found the underside of the lip had what looked like Lithium Grease, perhaps an attempt by the _dealership_ (!) to keep it from getting stuck? Wonder if the combination of grease, synth oil and elapsed time (edit: and heat) turned it into glue?

Wrote this to pass on my successful method (use of C-clamp), and ask if any chemists out there think the above is a recipe for glue.

Any thoughts?

 

Grease may have caused the o-ring to swell, which would make the assembly more difficult to remove.

I may need to buy one of these caps, which allow for a better grip of the housing (vs the TOY640 cap):

http://image.snapon.com/international/pdf/ofwtoy3kt_npa.pdf

 

I bought one with the slots and it works great! Dont waste your money if it doesnt have the slots in the side. I got mine off ebay for $19 delivered.

I also bought two of the others recommended on here before I bought the one with the slots. They may work for some, but eventually the filter cap gets worn and nothing will hold except the slotted sockets. They are the best.

 

Reply to "The Critic" above: I bought one of those tools with the slots first. It is well made. But it WILL NOT go onto the filter cap of my Gen III Prius because the filter cap is VERY close to the engine block . That extra "lip" (not sure what else to call it) makes the tool to wide (large diameter) to go on.

Not sure how "gilderman" could get that tool on and I could not. I tried tilting it, swinging it, etc., then gave up and bought the Assenmacher, which does not have that "lip". I did see another tool that had a smaller "lip". I think it was on the Toyota parts web site. (Maybe that is the tool you used, "gilderman"?) It was twice the price, so I went with the Assenmacher on advice from others in this chat forum.

BTW, I _did_ use a torque wrench when installing the cap (18 ft-lbs) and drain plug (27 ft-lbs, nifty new magnetic plug by Gold Plug). Torque specs repeated here for convenience, found in several other threads.

 

I have the slotted tool and the Assenmacher and I use the slotted one more, because it holds the clip up out of the way when removing the cap.

 

Yes, you have to move the clip but it fits fine. I just lever the clip with a screw driver and the cap slips under.

GarBFamPA, I dont know what you are doing, but there is room to get it on with no problems.

Assenmacher just slips on my cap now. Cant get any grip.

I also bought a new cap before I bought the slotted tool, just in case. They are cheap.

 

You guys don't have to mess with the clips. I never had any issues with the clips.

 

Snap-on sells two different oil filter sockets for Toyota. What you may have is the socket for the V-6 and V-8 engines. It has a wider flange to fit the larger oil filter cap. The one for 4 cylinder engines doesn't have the flange. Snap-on's Web site lists: OFWTOY4 4 Cylinder, Toyota $32.15, and OFWTOY68 6/8 Cylinder, Toyota $32.15.

 

its not needed, the clip is on the oil filter housing.

 

I have the clip in place, but never found it impeded loosening of the housing in any way. Hardly notice it. I'm using a plain oil filter socket, it's Honda, but a perfect fit.

 

I just ordered the Bluepoint OFWTOY4 cap from Snap-On for $35. My 70k service is coming up very soon so I will update the thread on whether I had the same issue that you did.


iPhone ?

 

Do you think this Harbor Freight Tools oil filter wrench will work? I got it already for my another car for $5 the whole set. One of them is 65mm/14 flutes.

If it absolutely needs a 64mm filter wrench, can't we just tape a few rounds of electric tape on the oil filter case?

 

We won't know until you actually see the inside shape of the oil filter wrench, because the Prius oil filter housing is hex shape, so lets hope those oil filter wrench has hex shape inside to be able to remove without stripping the housing since its made out of aluminum.