I've just got to share this with you guys. The oil filter on the '95 SE pickup w/2400 cc engine is one aggravating you know what to change. You have to get to it from the passenger side fender well. And there is all kind of stuff in the way that makes it near impossible to get a standard oil filter wrench on it. Good luck turning the wrench if you ever do get it on there.
PROBLEM SOLVED! Purchase one of those caps that you use a 1/2 inch ratchet to turn. (You know, the kind that fits on the end of the oil filter.) But that's not the tip. I have found that if you use the Fram ExtraGuard oil filter with the sure grip feature, (PH3682), you can gently tap the cap onto the end of the oil filter and leave it there. The sure grip feature makes the cap fit so tight that it will stay put between oil changes.
The next time you change your filter, you just grab your ratchet and go to town! Tap the cap off the old filter, tap it back on the new one before you install it, and your all set for the next oil change! Just be careful not to damage the filter. I've been doing it this way for years, and the cap has never fallen off.
Good tip! Although I think you'll find that Fram filters don't have the best reputation out there. I think a Wix or a Purolator is going to give you much better performance for a similar price. I do the same thing though -- I bought a filter "socket" wrench, and just buy the same filter all the time (Purolator 24011 or something like that). I've even gone to the length of pulling all the little push-clips out that hold the fender liner in. Then, I ran a few short and fat wood screws through the sheetmetal holes where the clips were. When I go to change the oil filter, I just take the screws out and fold the liner down towards the tire. No jacking, no messing with the skid plate, no nothing. Just reach in and go. Makes it a 5-minute oil change.
If you mind how tight you install the filter, you will find that it comes off fairly easily. I have overtightened mine before, but never to the point of needing tools. I do like the grip on the Fram, though; and the fact that Walmart carries it, and that my wife can remember the right number, 3682, on every 6th shopping trip. If she would just remember that her car takes 6 quarts instead of 5...
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Aaron Ford
95 2WD Nissan PU E
2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue GX
"The hard part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch" Scott Glenn in The Hunt for Red October
Useful tip for changing oil filter
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