Did you install new one to 13 foot pounds (or 3/4 turn past first contact), and subsequently removed, or not yet. Just curious. @Raytheeagle had similar experience IIRC: pretty much had to destroy factory-installed oil filter to get it off.
I just guesstimated the tightness - probably a little past hand tight using a short ratchet and the 3/8 drive socket on my Motivx oil filter tool. For those who are interested, I posted a list of tools I recommend to remove the oil filter here: Oil filter | PriusChat
If you don't have a torque wrench, Toyota also recommends 3/4 turn past first contact. As matter of fact, that's ALL they say on the filter and box: Repair Manual though, says 13 foot/pounds:
I think someone mentioned 76 foot pounds (!!) in an earlier post. Since that is about the same torque you apply to the wheel lugnuts, I immediately assumed it was incorrect. 13 ft-lbs sounds much more reasonable!
I have a vague recollection of speculating the wheel install guy had switched jobs with the oil filter install guy...
We hope that's the reason and not something else. Otherwise there is a lot of difficult removals from that shop.
Don't use FRAM oil filters; they are inexpensive because they use cheap materials that reduce filtering efficiency. The most efficient oil filters use synthetic media which is more expensive than the wood derived filter media used in inexpensive oil filters. The key criteria about filtering efficiency is the "beta ratio" but it is virtually impossible to obtain that information on automobile oil filters, (although it is universally available for oil filters installed on truck and industrial engines.) Remember that when Toyota switched from SAE 5-30 oil to 0-20 and 0-16 weight oil (done reduce internal engine drag and thus improve fuel economy) that mandated much smaller bearing clearances. Low efficiency oil filters will allow more wear causing dirt to remain in the filtered oil, so high efficiency oil filters are mandatory to maximize engine life. The goal is to filter out all particles larger than 10 microns which high efficiency oil filters will achieve but FRAM and other manufacturers will not. But it is impossible remove particles smaller than 10 microns without employing a bypass oil filter in addition to the full flow oil filter that is universally installed on auto engines. Truck and industrial engines almost always have both a full flow oil filter to capture particles larger than 10 microns and a bypass filter that will capture smaller particles, some as small as 1 micron. You can't run all the engine oil through a bypass filter because the pressure drop is too great. Use Toyota OEM filters which are made by DENSO (they only cost about $5.50), Mobil-1 filters made by Champion Labs or Pure-1 oil filters. I am not aware of any study that compares the filtering efficiency of the OEM filter with after market alternatives but there is a widespread conviction among service technicians that FRAMs are junk and very inefficient filters. Dennis Waller
Honda OEM filters - Bob Is The Oil Guy Hi Dennis, you might want to re-think your take on FRAM filters. They are fine and have never been shown to cause an issue in vehicles. The main reason people complained about them for years was due to using a cardboard-looking end-cap material vs metal. It looked "cheap". In reality, the glue used to bond the filter paper to the end caps actually held very well to the fiber end cap vs metal, and caused NO performance difference. Actual filter performance is related to the media and FRAM makes some great filters, though they cost more - like their ultra or extra guard. I haven't bought one in years, though I used to grab them all the time on sale/rebate. My previous and family's previous vehicles went 300k+ miles on whatever filters were on sale. FRAM being one of them. The "widespread conviction among service technicians that FRAMs are junk and very inefficient filters." is simply wrong and something that needs to be updated. Spend some time reading at BITOG (bob is the oil guy) and you'll find out that people believe oil flow is as important as filtering and perhaps that is why Honda and Toyota actually spec IN-efficient filters - ones that flow better but don't filter very well. Just a theory some people have. Either way, using a filter that was spec'd for your car, from any brand (same with oil) will not result in any issues over many, many miles.
