First Vibe oil change - woah tight filter!

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salinity
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:28 am
Location: RI

First Vibe oil change - woah tight filter!

Post by salinity »

I performed my first oil change on the Vibe yesterday - man alive was that little filter on tight! I bought a filter "socket" that fit the new Purolator filter nice and snug but there was just a tiny bit of play when on the old filter which allowed the socket to round off the filter. I was really concerned about breaking off the outside filter and having the threaded portion stock on the filter housing.

Gen Vibe to the rescue. I found a post suggesting duct tape, so I put a strip of Gorilla tape around the bottom of the filter, snugged the filter socket on there and slowly and patiently worked the filter back and forth until it finally came loose. It almost looked like there was some sort of RTV-type gasket maker applied to the mating surface where the filter gasket contacts, as there was some sort of residue left on there. I carefully scraped it off as best I could before putting the new filter on. I put it on hand tight and then used the wrench to get another 1/8 turn on it. Hopefully it won't be so hard to get off next time.

I picked up a few oil plug gaskets from the auto parts store (Felpro Part # 70822), but they didn't seem to be right - they were hard plastic and didn't fit snug around the threaded portion of the oil plug, so I left the old one on (that was somewhat softer plastic and very snug around the threads). Checked a couple times (after a short idle and after a longer drive) and all seems to be well in terms of leaks (or a lack thereof).

One trick to make the oil change a little "cleaner" I learned from changing oil on the Cherokee (which has a sideways-mounted filter that sits right above the starter): you can use a bread bag or similar and put it over the filter and housing while you're unscrewing the filter to catch the oil that spills out. I eat a lot of air-popped popcorn, so I have a bunch of Jiffy-pop popcorn bags I keep around for this purpose.
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2007 Base
Caretaker

Re: First Vibe oil change - woah tight filter!

Post by Caretaker »

I always changed my oil when I owned my own home. I went to change my Vibe's oil for the first time and the factory robot had practically gorilla glued and rivoted the canister on. I had to take it to my mechanic to get the thing off.
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ColonelPanic
Posts: 8419
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 8:48 am
Location: South Central Indiana

Re: First Vibe oil change - woah tight filter!

Post by ColonelPanic »

That'll happen!

When I started changing my own oil again, the prior shop had the filter on so tight I couldn't get it to budge. Tried a socket/wrenches/pliers, nothing worked. Stopped shy of the screwdriver trick - filled it up with oil and drove it the 1/2 mile back to that shop and made them change the stupid thing. :roll: Still, even with being mindful of installation torque I swear they sometimes try to weld themselves on over time.

I always liked the sockets, but they fit better on some filter brands than others. Can be tricky if you switch brands. The one I had worked really well on the old Pure Ones with the grippy yellow paint, but those filters went away and it didn't work so well with others. I switched to one of those spring-loaded types which automatically adjust to the size of the filter and crank down on the filter harder as you turn it. Currently have the Lisle 63600, it works great. Of course with that design, you can't use it to install the filter.

Neat tip on the bag over the filter!
03 Vibe base. Born 10/14/2002 06:07 AM
Auto, Moon & Tunes, power package. 143k
Neptune/dying clearcoat/primer grey. :lol:

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'21 Elantra Limited - 2.0L/IVT
'15 Escape SE - 1.6L EcoBoost (hers)
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salinity
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:28 am
Location: RI

Re: First Vibe oil change - woah tight filter!

Post by salinity »

ColonelPanic wrote:That'll happen!

When I started changing my own oil again, the prior shop had the filter on so tight I couldn't get it to budge. Tried a socket/wrenches/pliers, nothing worked. Stopped shy of the screwdriver trick - filled it up with oil and drove it the 1/2 mile back to that shop and made them change the stupid thing. :roll: Still, even with being mindful of installation torque I swear they sometimes try to weld themselves on over time...
I was pretty close to putting the old oil back in and driving to the quick lube place to see if they could get it off too. I'm so glad it eventually came off.

Side note: I picked up a 1.5 ton aluminum floor jack on sale from Harbor Freight and that thing has been money. Used it (with a block of wood to gain proper height from the central lift points front and back) to swap on snow tires on both the Vibe and Cherokee (swapped them on and off twice on the Vibe to troubleshoot tire noise apparently coming from the used snows I picked up) and now the oil change. All with proper chocks and 2-ton jacks of course. Best $60 I've spent in a while.
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2007 Base
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