Camaro V6 Oil Filter Housing

[starbase]

I attempted to change the oil on my 2011 V6 Camaro today. I read the instruction on the post at
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79739

I put the car on ramps and took off the oil drain plug using a 15mm socket.
I drained out the oil.

I then tried using a 24mm socket to take off the oil filter housing. I used a two foot pipe at the end of a 3/8" ratchet wrench. I gave the wrench full force which I estimate had to have been over 150 foot pounds of torque and the damn thing wouldn't budge. The ratchet bent and broke but the housing did not loosen.

The oil change was last done by the dealer. Is it possible that the dealer could have over-tightened it or did it naturally get too tight due to engine heat?

I wound up screwing the drain plug back into place and pouring the used oil back in. I had to add two quarts of new oil to get the dip stick reading back to normal. We're going to bring the car back to the dealer for the oil change, explain what happened and ask that they do not tighten the housing too tight.

Has anyone else encountered problems removing the oil filter housing?

[nyrfan]

Sounds like someone did not pre oil the gasket and over tightened.


Sent from my AGM, 2SS/RS

[starbase]

We took it to the dealer and they gave us a free oil change. They said the cap came off without a problem. Not sure how they did it unless they have more powerful tools.

We told them to only torque the cap to the 18 lbs. I tried this morning to turn the cap a fraction to loosen it to be sure it wasn't too tight again. I couldn't budge it. I wonder if it could be that the engine is cold. Could it be that since the car is driven 10 miles to the dealer, the heat loosens the cap just enough. I'm going to try loosening it after driving it later to test the theory. Never had these kinds of problems with any other cars that use a standard metal canister filter

***UPDATE***
I warmed up the engine and tried loosening the oil filter cap again. I was unable to move it with the ratchet. I then tried my tire lug wrench that happened to have the same sized socket. I was able to loosen the cap! I never thought I'd be so happy to loosen a cap. I broke two socket wrenches doing this.

To remember for my next oil change -
Warm the engine.
Use the tire lug wrench to start loosening the oil filter cap.

[Jinxsters]

Originally Posted by starbase

We took it to the dealer and they gave us a free oil change. They said the cap came off without a problem. Not sure how they did it unless they have more powerful tools.

We told them to only torque the cap to the 18 lbs. I tried this morning to turn the cap a fraction to loosen it to be sure it wasn't too tight again. I couldn't budge it. I wonder if it could be that the engine is cold. Could it be that since the car is driven 10 miles to the dealer, the heat loosens the cap just enough. I'm going to try loosening it after driving it later to test the theory. Never had these kinds of problems with any other cars that use a standard metal canister filter

***UPDATE***
I warmed up the engine and tried loosening the oil filter cap again. I was unable to move it with the ratchet. I then tried my tire lug wrench that happened to have the same sized socket. I was able to loosen the cap! I never thought I'd be so happy to loosen a cap. I broke two socket wrenches doing this.

To remember for my next oil change -
Warm the engine.
Use the tire lug wrench to start loosening the oil filter cap.

Thanks for the tip. I have a 2014 so the dealers going to change the oil for the first 24K, but after that I'm going to start changing my own oil.

[ActNup NY]

Originally Posted by nyrfan

Sounds like someone did not pre oil the gasket and over tightened.


Sent from my AGM, 2SS/RS

Dealership didn't want to lose that oil change money. Lol !! So they made sure to tighten that sh%t as tight as possible. 😏Glad they didn't try and charge you though .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[camaro.11]

Originally Posted by starbase

We took it to the dealer and they gave us a free oil change. They said the cap came off without a problem. Not sure how they did it unless they have more powerful tools.

We told them to only torque the cap to the 18 lbs. I tried this morning to turn the cap a fraction to loosen it to be sure it wasn't too tight again. I couldn't budge it. I wonder if it could be that the engine is cold. Could it be that since the car is driven 10 miles to the dealer, the heat loosens the cap just enough. I'm going to try loosening it after driving it later to test the theory. Never had these kinds of problems with any other cars that use a standard metal canister filter

***UPDATE***
I warmed up the engine and tried loosening the oil filter cap again. I was unable to move it with the ratchet. I then tried my tire lug wrench that happened to have the same sized socket. I was able to loosen the cap! I never thought I'd be so happy to loosen a cap. I broke two socket wrenches doing this.

To remember for my next oil change -
Warm the engine.
Use the tire lug wrench to start loosening the oil filter cap.

it is part of the normal oil change procedure to warm up the engine first.
warm oil flows easier / faster and more contaminants will be suspended in
the oil.

[xnuyokr]

I'm not a fan of warming up the car before an oil change. The car has been sitting awhile since you last ran it, (overnight?), and had all that time for every last drop of warm oil and contaminants to drip into the pan. I dont see the point of warming it up, reintroducing all those contaminants that were in the pan back into the engine, and only giving it a short amount of time (1/2 hour?), to collect again in the pan. To each their own but I do it cold for that reason.

[Wingerr]

Originally Posted by nyrfan

Sounds like someone did not pre oil the gasket and over tightened.

Based on the way that cap is designed, there's really no reason why the cap needs to be any more than hand tight, because the sealing is all done by an o-ring that doesn't get compressed at all by the tightening torque.