Shhhhhhhhh

We ignore little things until they're problems. Tis the broke bitch car guy way.

Yeah, it's pushing thirty years old. We've got some deferred maintenance items to tend to. This isn't my daily lol

And no I totally don't blame the techs and mechanics for super snugging filters. I was pissed off an hour ago, but now that I'm on the other side of this job, I get it.

I mean, I'm still pissed, but I get it lol

You see where that filter is. You damned well know it was tightened with just a hand and no tool was involved. OP just needs to pull out his man hand and power that sucker loose.

The danger in overtightening is that you ruin the seal. So maybe not quite as bad as loose, but an oil leak is still a problem. Much like anything with a crush washer, you want to get it snug, then tighten enough to squish it, but not so much that you ruin the very thing that keeps it intact.

Just as a another form of Devil's advocate, going over the manufacturer's recommended specs on it isn't a good idea either and intentionally making a car have to go back to a shop in order to be repaired on something that should be as simple repair is the easiest way to make it so the customer doesn't come back

I had that happen with my first vehicle, normally I change my own oil and filter because it's about the most stupid easy job that you can do, but it was finals week and I already had way too much stuff on plate so I caved and under my parents recommendation brought it to a local shop

Everything went fine didn't spend through the roof but the next time I went to change my oil oh my God those fuckers put that oil pan plug on there so fucking tight that there was actually signs that it was starting to strip/warp, I had to get my dad to help me with it which was super embarrassing and he laughed at me until he tried to do it himself and he fucking struggled with it.

It was clear that shop intentionally made it as tight as fucking possible because they wanted to make it so the next time it happened they wanted it to be brought in again. After we finally got it off we both agreed on one thing, neither of us are bringing our vehicles back to that shop again. That was over 10 years ago now and I'm still holding true to my word fuck them I'll drive the extra 20 minutes to another shop

Okay, you're a mechanic, great, you're awsome, thank you for your input but oil filters do have a set torque strenght to be tightened to. Overtighten any screw can and will cause damage either to the screw itself or the socket it is being driven into and I'm sure you know it.

I had a mechanic do this - the better to overtighten than not - and strip the socket of the oil level sound: the mounting block was aluminum, the screw was steel. Guess what happened when the sound had to be replaced?

The cost to have that damage alone repaired made scrap the car. It was still in good shape but not worthy of spending that much to repair.

„Manufacturer doesn’t know shit” Random car guy in a greasy shop.

This is an amazing joke. Really fucking funny once you find the filter in the original picture

It's suspended 😮

The only time I've resorted to the screwdriver technique (due to not having enough room to tighten and then turn a strap/chain wrench) the screwdriver shank just tore through the filter when I tried to turn it, a broader tool like a wide chisel might have a better chance of success.

What I ended up using that time was an air hammer with a broad headed chisel (pushing on the side where the impact would unscrew the filter). The angles wouldn't work well for this in OPs case but if you have enough side access to get the air hammer through it's a decent last resort.

I had to do this to get the factory oil filter off my motorcycle. Went through 3 different oil filter removal tools and all I achieved was rounding off all the edges of the filter.

I would hesitate to take a tirch to an oil filter.

I love the way you think. Fire always solves something lmao

It's an H22A in a Prelude Type SH. But the valve cover between the B and H do look very similar.

There is no room to get to the oil filter from the bottom. Believe me. I tried. This engine mounts it up top to make room for the ATTS unit. The base Preludes, however, do have side-mounted oil filters that are significantly easier to reach. The filter on my R-series Civic is bottom-mounted and super easy to reach. But yeah, this guy was a true PITA.

I snapped this after I found it. I'm a fairly honest dude. I wouldn't say find the thing that isn't in the picture lol It's the blue canister in the center bottom of the pic. You'll see it just left of the brake master ;)

You have fifteen minutes in the game, son. Go score a backrub or whatever they call it idk I don't coach football.

I've heard of punching screwdrivers through them. I didn't have any screwdrivers I wanted to get oily since I use those on my PC. I did grab some oil filter pliers from the parts store and those finally did the trick.

I won't use them much, but I'm sure they'll come in handy again one day

OP offered $60 if someone can do it for them, so as long as you get the job done and everything reinstalled and running, sure, go for it.