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DriVer · 07-06-2007, 12:47 PM

What requires 2 men, 3 different oil filter wrenches, 3/8" ratchet and extensions, 1/2" ratchet and extension, a heavy gauge plastic vacuum cleaner extension wand and an 18 inch 1/2" drive breaker bar?

Short answer: Getting my oil filter off my coach. Yes - It's that time of year again, July - so I change the oil and filter at least twice a year at the very least.

First off I didn't have any supplies so we had to take a run to the store and of course we, "depchief" and I, took a ride to our local NAPA store. Once there we went to the back wall where all the oil was displayed and all the way over on the right side of the display practically in the cheap seats was NAPA 10W-30 Full Synthetic motor oil.

Since there have been soooo many glowing reviews about the NAPA Gold 1060 7/8 of a quart filter and the fact that I wanted to be just like Max49 I bought a 1060.

The NAPA synthetic motor oil is made by Ashland Inc. which also makes Vaseline er .... Valvoline.

The NAPA oil was priced at $4.79 which is a dollar less than the name brand synthetic oils. Multiply that by 8 and your talking some money. The filter was $5.77.

Check this out, I was charged $0.02 x 7 = .14 cents, environmental charge.

Meanwhile back at the ranch I proceeded to drain the crankcase down into my drain pan. Man what a mess I made there was oil splatter just about everywhere. Good thing is I know that I make messes so I brought a roll of paper towels with me.

After the pan drained down somewhat I fitted my oil filter "C" cap wrench (diameter=3 3/4") on my 6' - 3/8" drive extension. I also mated that to my Snap-On 12" 3/8 drive ratchet and began to put some torque on the filter can. Checking for better clearance, I saw that a second 6" extension would make the job somewhat a easier. Pouring the coals on that Snap-On and all of a sudden I heard a snap and the extensions came apart. Huh! I said as I gave it another shot. Again "snap" and the extensions came apart gain. Well you guessed it - oil filter ain't coming off that easily.

What was happening is that the "C" wrench is actually slipping across the flats on the base of the oil filter case.

Ain't never done that B4!

Resigning to the fact that weren't no way that I was gonna budge the filter with the current technology that I had so we decided to go back to the NAPA for some what more aggressive filter wrenches.

We found what we thought would be a good wrench.

The Pn# was a 77-2187 adjustable oil filter band wrench w/handle and after about 30 to 40 minutes of NASCAR speak we finally got out of the door. $13.36

We went back to the ranch to give this thing a shot. Depchief was on the front and I was under the filter and we worked together to see if we could get the filter spinning off the base. Once the filter wrench was positioned we began torquing up that wrench. Initially we met with no results in fact we began crushing in the sides of the filter canister. "We in trouble now!"

So here we are tying what we could with the wrench and still couldn't move the filter. We needed some more leverage so I found a 18" heavy gauge vacuum cleaner extension wand. I put the wand over the handle of the band wrench and after repositioning the band and getting a good vantage point to pull I began pulling on the wand. We initially thought we were making progress however the only thing we wound up doing was crushing the can in some more. Mind you the filter is still full of oil. I lowered the wrench down and took a look at it and we were actually destroying the wrench! The band and the attachment points were totally out of line and twisted.

Let's take up Mike Waltrip on that Lifetime Guarantee!

Realizing that we were not moving the filter with the wrench we had made it incumbent on us to get some heavier artillery – you guessed it, back to NAPA. I showed the counter man the wrench and although the wrench looked like a pretzel, the parts man gave me an eyebrow exclamation and we proceeded to get a better wrench.

We were shown a NAPA Pn# 77-3149, Nylon Strap Oil Filter Wrench. Made from an incredibly thick 2" band of Nylon and attached to a ½" drive socket bar we took the tool and with confidence left the building for the challenge! The new wrench cost $7.49 and I got $5.35 back.

Well first things first - "lunch time!"

Back under the motorhome depchief had the wrench in place around the filter and I fitted a 1/2" extension bar and 18" long 1/2" drive breaker bar into the drive of the tool. It was a little awkward getting the tool ready to pour the coals to it since we had to wrap up the strap as tight as possible before getting on the pipe. Once we got the strap in place and it never did slip at all, I was able to get some muscle into the pull. Depchief saw it first – the can moved! We repositioned the strap, got another bite on it, pulled and the can continued to move. My eyes were bugging out because I was pulling so hard.

We tried at that moment to move the can with the "C" wrench but it wouldn't fit to the bottom of the can anymore. Back on the strap wrench and more easily now we got the can to move some more and finally we got it to the point where we could remove the filter by hand.

Depchief placed a plastic shopping bag over the filter and continued to remove the filter and finally it fell into the pan! Tada!

I have to tell you that the Mobil 1 can held up as well as could be expected and once we got the nylon band on the can with a little horsepower the can came off. Man what a relief!

I came out from under the rig and filled up the 1060 and it does not hold a quart of oil it held about 7/8s of a quart. Depchief was still on the ground at this point so I gave him the pre-charged filter and he put it in place – hand tight plus a 1/4 to a 1/3 turn additional with the "C" wrench.

Finishing up, we added in 6 full quarts and that was that! The dip stick read "Full". Started the rig and no leaks all is well.

Now about that NAPA 1060 .... I'm still waiting for the warm fuzzy feeling you guys keep trumpeting about but it ain't happening!

DriVer · 07-06-2007, 12:47 PM