Oil filter installation and removal

[foama]

There has been some discussion in the past about installing and removing the oil filter.
From the factory, the very first filter is over-tightened, making a filter cap or a different tool necessary to get it off. See below for understanding.

Once the first filter is replaced, it should be possible to simply grab it from above and turn it off by hand.
The "trick" about installing to the correct tightness it is to turn it very gently by hand till the gasket just starts to touch the block, then tighten it further by exactly by three-fourths of a turn. Finished. No tools needed for installation or removal.
For understanding the picture below was taken from a different manual where the filter is installed from below. The text applies to our cars also.

[CROSSBOLT]

The original oil filter is still on the car and will be changed before or during second oil change. I am thinking a remote oil filter arrangement may be the answer to this impossible situation. Maybe on some previouse models a skinny arm may have been able to reach this filter but not on my 2021 Mirage! I was able to get a hand on it from below but was not able to turn it. Plus, I would have oil running down my arm!

Here is what seems to me a way to get past this:

https://www.amazon.com/Filter-Reloca...motive&sr=1-12

[inuvik]

The original oil filter is still on the car and will be changed before or during second oil change. I am thinking a remote oil filter arrangement may be the answer to this impossible situation. Maybe on some previouse models a skinny arm may have been able to reach this filter but not on my 2021 Mirage! I was able to get a hand on it from below but was not able to turn it. Plus, I would have oil running down my arm!

Here is what seems to me a way to get past this:

https://www.amazon.com/Filter-Reloca...motive&sr=1-12

This discussion is in the Mod & DIY List: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...s-and-DIY-list

With This Link: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...r-mounting-kit

[CROSSBOLT]

Thanks for this link! Shoulda looked for it first but did not. The "new" position does not appear to be that much improvement as one question was raised.
Has anyone else tried this mod? Has anyone positioned the filter up and elimonated the mess of unscrewing the filter?

[Mark]

There has been some discussion in the past about installing and removing the oil filter.
From the factory, the very first filter is over-tightened, making a filter cap or a different tool necessary to get it off. See below for understanding.

Once the first filter is replaced, it should be possible to simply grab it from above and turn it off by hand.
The "trick" about installing to the correct tightness it is to turn it very gently by hand till the gasket just starts to touch the block, then tighten it further by exactly by three-fourths of a turn. Finished. No tools needed for installation or removal.
For understanding the picture below was taken from a different manual where the filter is installed from below. The text applies to our cars also.

Oil filters have said 3/4 turn to tighten on them (or their box) for as long as I can remember (40 years maybe). That's not something new!

A short handle ratchet -

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-T...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

& 65mm/14 flutes oil filter socket is perfect for the job.

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-T...69649415&psc=1

Tightening an oil filter 3/4 turns by hand works great in some applications, but I can't grab a Mirage oil filter from the top & do that. You surely aren't using the tool shown in your pic on a Mirage.

I use a stubby handle ratchet all the time, & I owned one long before owning a Mirage. The last thing I want to do is drain the oil and then find out I can't get the oil filter off. A 65mm/14 flutes socket is cheap insurance, and in the case of the Mirage it allows me to do the job from the top. I use both hands to start the new oil filter, and that helps, too. Grabbing it well enough to tighten it is not happening for this guy.

I've done 12 oil changes on my Mirage so far. It's simple with the proper tools. If you buy a new Mirage, you will need the oil filter socket to get the first filter off anyways. It's a small investment. How many oil changes done myself will cover the cost of a $6 item? Plus, the same oil filter socket works on other oil filters (my John Deere riding lawn mower & Kawasaki Mule).

When I turn off my Fumoto drain valve and pull out my oil pan, I also wipe the small oil drain tray under the oil filter from below with a small rag. I spend very little time on my back under the car when changing oil.

[foama]

QUOTE: Oil filters have said 3/4 turn to tighten on them (or their box) for as long as I can remember (40 years maybe). That's not something new!


@ Mark
Agree! However there has been loads of discussion telling me lots of folks don't seem to know that even yet...

I do have a filter cap and it is a great affordable tool, but I simply grab the filter by hand from above for removal and installation. No tools needed and no access or other problems whatsoever.

[Cobrajet]

I do have a filter cap and it is a great affordable tool, but I simply grab the filter by hand from above for removal and installation. No tools needed and no access or other problems whatsoever.

I just did an oil change on my friend's 2015 Mirage DE CVT and the filter is much trickier to get to by hand from above than it is on the manual cars. The radiator hose is routed differently, for one thing. This may be a reason for the continued confusion?

CVT owner: "How the hell am I supposed to get this oil filter off? It looks impossible!"

Manual owner: "Duuuhhh. Just reach down there with your hand and twist it off!"

[Mark]

I just did an oil change on my friend's 2015 Mirage DE CVT and the filter is much trickier to get to by hand from above than it is on the manual cars. The radiator hose is routed differently, for one thing. This may be a reason for the continued confusion?

CVT owner: "How the hell am I supposed to get this oil filter off? It looks impossible!"

Manual owner: "Duuuhhh. Just reach down there with your hand and twist it off!"

It may be a 2017+ difference (not a manual/CVT thing), because I own a manual.

If you can tighten & remove the oil filter with your hand, don't buy an oil socket wrench. Seems pretty simple to me.

I am telling you that I cannot do it without an oil socket wrench. It has nothing to do with strength. I can't grab it very well. Even when I start spinning the new oil filter on, I am doing it with the fingertips of both hands reaching around both sides of the radiator hose. I can't even get the oil filter started with one hand let alone tighten it from the top.

I actually have a plastic & metal 65 mm oil filter socket. The plastic oil filter socket could not remove the Mirage factory oil filter. The 3/8" drive would spin inside the square plastic hole without bulging the oil filter. It took the metal one to get the factory oil filter off.

There are a number of different oil filter wrenches on the market. For a job that shouldn't require a tool that seems a bit odd?

I started doing oil changes on my Dad's 1977 Chevy Impala & my 1978 Honda Civic Wagon. I've owned a number of different vehicles since, & I don't pay someone to do an oil change. The cost of a $6 oil filter socket doesn't bother me. I have an assortment of them in a shoe box. I currently have 16 engines (including my Forester & Mirage) in my garage or storage shed. Not all of them have oil filters, however, & 4 of them are 2-stroke engines.

[Cobrajet]

It may be a 2017+ difference (not a manual/CVT thing), because I own a manual.

If you can tighten & remove the oil filter with your hand, don't buy an oil socket wrench. Seems pretty simple to me.

I am telling you that I cannot do it without an oil socket wrench. It has nothing to do with strength. I can't grab it very well. Even when I start spinning the new oil filter on, I am doing it with the fingertips of both hands reaching around both sides of the radiator hose. I can't even get the oil filter started with one hand let alone tighten it from the top.

I actually have a plastic & metal 65 mm oil filter socket. The plastic oil filter socket could not remove the Mirage factory oil filter. The 3/8" drive would spin inside the square plastic hole without bulging the oil filter. It took the metal one to get the factory oil filter off.

There are a number of different oil filter wrenches on the market. For a job that shouldn't require a tool that seems a bit odd?

I started doing oil changes on my Dad's 1977 Chevy Impala & my 1978 Honda Civic Wagon. I've owned a number of different vehicles since, & I don't pay someone to do an oil change. The cost of a $6 oil filter socket doesn't bother me. I have an assortment of them in a shoe box. I currently have 16 engines (including my Forester & Mirage) in my garage or storage shed. Not all of them have oil filters, however, & 4 of them are 2-stroke engines.

Possible, but I know it is very different between a 2015 ES manual and a 2015 DE CVT. Much tougher to get to on the CVT. I don't have huge hands or arms, but I don't have tiny ones, either. I just reach in from the passenger side of the engine compartment with my left hand to get to the filter.

[Top_Fuel]

...reach in from the passenger side of the engine compartment with my left hand to get to the filter.

Yeah...looking down at the filter from the top...standing in front of the car... (pics from inuvik in another thread)...



I move towards the passenger side and stick my left arm down in here and bring my left hand up from below that radiator hose. Then I can twist the filter with my left hand...



I'll have to admit it took a few oil changes to perfect this technique.


To get the factory filter off, I found this oil filter tool to work better than the stamped steel $5 sockets.