WTH Do Oil Filters Come Loose..?

Today, i came out of a store and noticed a puddle of anti-freeze....i was like....WTF.....

Anyway, 2 min's later i get home, and get under the car...to see where the anti freeze was dripping from. Thank goodness...NO LEAK at all-must have been there before i parked my car... THIS was a good thing, cause when i was underneath..i noticed my oil filter was LOOSE..2 full turns loose, and i was a quart low. I just got my oil changed a month ago-and i always tell them to make sure the filter is tight.

Why do these filters come loose..? Does it have something to do with pressure..? Maybe they left it loose......

The question is: was it ever tight? Anything that heats and cools has the potential to loosen, but I've never seen a properly installed filter come loose. But, anything is possible.

well proper installation is to get it hand tight and then turn it 1/4-1/2 of a turn with a wrench. they can usually be tightened further but it may damage the rubber gasket. but if it was leaking oil and the gasket wasnt damaged then you need to swich where you get your oil changed. in one month i doubt even and improperly installed oil filter could work its way that loose. it isnt like they are put under a major ammount of stress.

How the hell do you tighten an oil filter with a wrench?!!!


For a spark plug thats normaly right, till it stops, then 1/3-1/2 trun with a socket.

But most oil filters are made from very soft material, and useing a wrecnh, even one designed for grabbing oil filters will easily twist or distort it, and cause it to leak.
If its an older canister type filter, where the filter drops into a steel canister that if attached to the engine then you can tighten it with a wrench, but they don't need much.


I tighten all my oil filters by hand. Make sure both the new filter and your hands are clean, and free of oil.
Smear a little oil on the rubber seal, and small amount on the filter threads (go up and down, not round and round, or you will leave your finger in the filter).
Then I just wind it on till it stops, then go prehaps 1/4 turn by hand.


Most filters will actualy tighten with use and time, if one has come loose its probobly because it was never tightened in the first place.

Get a craftsmen Strap-wrench. The thing works like a champ on everything :)

How the hell do you tighten an oil filter with a wrench?!!!
Yah!!! No way and dont do that /!!! ONLY HAND tighten is needed!!! (No oil in yours hand ,please ) clean and dry...OK ! :screwy:

Just to be on the safe side, when i'm at work I crank them on as hard as I can by hand. And in my experience, oil filters usually get freaking TIGHT over time, hence the need for filter wrenches to REMOVE the filter, not put them on.

I suspect that the guy changing your oil started spinning the filter on, went to take a dump, and forgot to tighten it. Or it may have been double gasketed and tightened by a pussy.

I wouldn't oil the gasket, from my experience that is the exact opposite of you want for a seal. I go out of my way to make every gasket surface as clean and dry as possible. Never had any gasket leak, so it must be working.

usually there is enough oil on the block that the gasket gets oiled that way, but you absolutely need to oil the gasket. Otherwise you can dislodge the gasket if it grips to the block when you turn it. They can also glaze to the block after 3000 miles and you'll be scraping rubber stuff off the block's mating surface.

The gasket seals because the pressure it exerts on the block, and in order to get that pressure, it needs to glide freely as it spins.

By the way, most oil filter manufacturers recommend FINGER tight, then 1/2 turn. Basically spin them on until the gasket contacts the block, then another 1/2. Not hand tight. Most of us just grab them with our hands and put them on hand tight which works fine.

Thanks alot guys..

Yeah, they probably left it loose...... Well, next month is gonna be like 45degrees and over...back to doing this myself.

Even in the winter, i'm gonna do this myself...if i can borrow a friends garage..lol..

Heh, I'd suspect that whoever did it was a retard...
And what I do, is definitely oil the seal...and spin it on (because it does, or is supposed to, spin freely) till it stops (spinning freely, as in I actually have to keep turning it by hand), then usually a half-turn extra. If I EVER hear of somebody using a wrench to tighten an oil filter, I will slap them, then make them do the next oil change.

I had to make a trip one time and i didn't have time to change my own oil so i went to a valvoline. The next time i changed my oil, the damn filter was stuk tight on there. I tried the crafstman strap wrenches, those are crap, i tried a regular filter wrench, nope. to make a long story short, i ended up stabbing it with a screw driver. That took forever and in the process one of my friends got under it when i wasn't looking and ended up breaking of the oil pressure sensor. Ever since then i have changed my own and i can always get it off by hand.

The next time i changed my oil, the damn filter was stuk tight on there. I tried the crafstman strap wrenches, those are crap, i tried a regular filter wrench, nope. to make a long story short, i ended up stabbing it with a screw driver. That took forever and in the process one of my friends got under it when i wasn't looking and ended up breaking of the oil pressure sensor. Ever since then i have changed my own and i can always get it off by hand.
When I worked at an oil change place we had one customer come in saying that he couldnt get the filter off and I ended up wripping the filter apart and using a chisle to cut part of the filter away from the block.

All Ways Oil Your Gaskets Tighter Fit Ask Your Mom Lol