I sure hope that’s not a factory filter, we are talking about a Topaz…
Never seen a White Wix filter. Always black.
When I bought my new 1980 Datsun pickup - part of the deal came with 2 free oil changes. Before the first free oil change at 3k miles I changed the oil at 1k (common practice back then) and I used a Bright Orange Fram oil filter. So when my oil change was due I just dropped it off at the dealer and walked the 1 block to work. Went to pick it up at noon. Pickup is parked at exact same spot. Asked service manager (who was also the owners son) if they did the oil change. They assured me they did and then just moved it back to where it was. So when I got the keys - I popped the hood and there was my bright orange Fram filter still on engine. Needless to say I was furious. I confronted the service manager and he was one arrogant little punk. That was the last time I took my vehicle there. Luckily there were no warranty issues. They were such a sleaze outfit. Within 3 years they were gone.
My 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass came with the 260 cubic inch V8 engine. It used an AC PF45 oil filter. The first time I changed the oil, I couldn’t get my oil filter wrench in a position so I could manipulate the handle. I went to NAPA and bought an end wrench. It worked perfectly on the AC filter but that is the only filter it would fit. I used the AC filters until one time when I was ready to do an oil change, the AC PF45 was out of stock, so I picked up the equivalent FRAM. The next oil change I couldn’t remove the filter by hand and the end filter wrench would only fit the AC PF45. I then took off my belt which was a wide width belt. I was able to wrap it around the filter and thread the belt around so that I could pull on it. As I pulled on the belt it tightened around the filter and it loosened immediately. Of course, it made it difficult to keep my pants on when changing oil.
The oil filter color makes no difference to me . . . as long as the quality is good
To tell you the truth, some of the wix and baldwin filters seem to be higher quality . . . to me, for what it’s worth . . . than the AC Delco filters. I haven’t (yet) had a low opinion of Ford filters
Our distributor recently went out of business, probably due to covid-19’s affect on the economy. Anyways, we’re in a transition period in which we sometimes get brands we normally don’t, such as Baldwin, napa and a few others. Occasionally we’ll get AC Delco or Motorcraft filters, as well.
Baldwin and Wix seem to be on the same quality level . . . ?
I read that Baldwin and Hastings belong to the same company . . . Parker, I believe. I only know Parker for their hydraulic products. PTO and things like that.
Anybody have an opinion on Hastings filters?
I’ve been using Wix filters for years. The local parts store I buy from lets me buy them by the case. My wife’s 07 Lexus and my 14 Highlander use the same filter. About a year ago my local parts store went from Sanel Auto Parts to Sanel NAPA. They’re a franchise ownership. Same people…just now selling NAPA. And they still let me buy the NAPA Gold filters (Wix) by the case.
I would feel fine using them on my customer’s cars. For a while when I had my own place my supplier carried them so I stocked them. Seemed like good quality. I also did some overflow work for a local fleet. They ran their Ford and Chevy Van’s to 400K miles and used nothing but Hastings.
My personal cars always get AC Delco or Motorcraft, but that’s a different story…
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I used both Hastings and Wix for years. When I puller two 45 ft trailers with only a 300 horse 2 valve Mack, the pump had been opened up to supply more fuel. Sometimes the shop that serviced out tractors would put on a “white box” fuel filter. I could tell even before I got to the compound to pick up my second trailer because I would feel the engine straining for fuel. I finally convinced our company to insist on Wix fuel filters by pointing out to them that the Wix fuel filters had a drain valve on the bottom and if you got any water in the filter, I could drain it out and prevent a breakdown. With a Wix filter I could pull the maximum 143,000 lb loaf at the trucks 68 mph top speed .
The New York Thruway service stations carried filters for Cummins and Caterpillar engines, but not Macks.
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I have had the best luck with cap type filter removal tools, have all the sizes. For the first oil change for a new to me car, I sometimes have to jam a screwdriver or something like that to be able to remove the filter.
My new challenge is the Prius with the cartridge filter. The first time taking it off took a kit if wrestling but even though I am torquing it to spec, the 2nd and 3rd changes haven’t been that easy either. Looking online seems like this is a common problem.
I have never seen nor heard of a problem with any filter that carries a brand name. The only problem filters I have seen are some generic white box filters. Those usually only have an identifying number stamped on the filter or box with no name whatsoever. Thankfully, those are comparatively rare.
We used to get flyers at the dealer now and then advertising various types of white box filters (oil, fuel, and air) along with some white box ignition components. This stuff was offered dirt cheap with oil filters going for about a dollar and some air filters going for 2 or sometimes 3.
A local BMW bike shop offered me a few white box oil filters for a 1/4 of the BMW price so I jumped on them. He was using them in his bike so what could go wrong. A lot. I saw him a couple of weeks later and he said get that filter out of the crankcase cavity NOW. He said the elements were disentegrating in hot oil and could plug up an oil feed port.
Sure enough, the one in my BMW was crumbling after two weeks. To make matters worse, it was already stuck in place and took me over 1.5 hours to dig out with a screwdriver a piece at a time.
I don’t even trust “house brand” filters such as Duralast or MicroGuard, so I certainly wouldn’t buy a generic/unbranded one. The cheaply-made “white box” filters and other parts are intended for quick-lube places and car flippers. They aren’t intended for reputable shops, or for do-it-yourselfers who care about their car.
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Oil filters are hard to remove for 2 reasons, either it was installed too tightly or it’s been on there a long time. To the guy who only had it on 2 weeks, that’s on you. The quality of the filter has no bearing on how hard it is to remove.
K & N filters are popular for Harley Davidson owners. The location of the filter makes it hard to get a conventional wrench on. K & N filters have a 17 mm nut welded to the end to make it easy to remove.That’s all use on my Electra Glide.
OK, its been a few days, did you get it off?
Yes, inquiring minds want to know…
Who among the regulars here has ever had a filter they were unable to remove with some combination of common tools within a few minutes? What was the situation?
As I said before I had one 50 years ago when all I had was a worthless band strap tool. It just crushed and I ended up punching a screwdriver through it to get it off. Never had a problem since that and have upgraded to the cap wrenches in the last 20 years.
I’ve had to cut the can of the filter off so the end cap remained.
Then bend the end cap down so a pair of Vise-Grips could be clamped on.
Then take a torch and heat up the end cap so the gasket gets burned away and the threads expand.
Then clamp the Vise-Grips on, and hit the Vise-Grips with a hammer to rotate the end cap off.
Tester
I had one many year’s ago had to use screwdriver, drift pin, and cold chisel took abought 30 minutes It was the first change for me shortly after I bought the truck, since then I possibly have bought every type of filter wrench made, had some tight one’s but never had to butcher another one to get it off.
I think back to the peg board under a shelf of common filters where over the years every seemingly worthwhile filter wrench was hanging and recall that one similar to this
was usually the first one picked up and it usually got the job done. And while there have been some problems getting filters off I usually jumped straight to the hammer and punch. After driving a hole in the can near the base I was able to get the punch to connect with one of the holes in the base and get enough movement to twist it loose by hand.
But it does seem that it has gotten more and more difficult to get at filters.
Stuck filter on my Chevy Luv pickup. Had to use the screw-driver through filter method.
A stuck filter on my wife’s first accord (installed by dealer) - I used a big pipe wrench…got wrench as close to the threads as possible. That was probably the worse one.
Yeah access is the problem now. With the filters tucked in it’s hard to get anything in there. That’s why the cap socket and ratchet with an extension if necessary is my SOP (I only do my own though.)