It appears that someone has seriously over tightened the cap on my 2006 1.2 12v HTP oil filter as it is flexing so much when I try to undo it and looks as if it may crack or break before it undoes.

 

Has anyone any suggestions as to how to slacken it of as unlike with tight metal bolts or nuts I don't think applying heat or a impact hammer or screwdriver will loosen it.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

Grit your teeth and do it, there's no trick that can help I'm afraid, you must simply apply a very high and constant pressure until it starts to move, when it starts to move it will be very slow, do not attempt to speed it up, simply maintain the same pressure until it gradually comes loose.

Worst case scenario is that you'll break it and have to buy a new one but you can't just leave it the way it is.

Do you know if it is a commonly stocked dealer part or not in case it does break as I can not see anyone selling replacements and I would need it in a day or two if it did break.

A dealer should be able to get it for you on a next day basis, there will be at least one in the UK somewhere.

OK thanks for you help

7 hours ago, Sandra51 said:

It appears that someone has seriously over tightened the cap on my 2006 1.2 12v HTP oil filter as it is flexing so much when I try to undo it and looks as if it may crack or break before it undoes.

 

Has anyone any suggestions as to how to slacken it of as unlike with tight metal bolts or nuts I don't think applying heat or a impact hammer or screwdriver will loosen it.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Use a six-sided 36mm socket, Use extensions and a breaker bar so that you can apply high torque with control, as sepulchrave suggests.

Part number is 03D115433B, according to this page: https://skoda.7zap.com/en/cz/fabia/fab/2006-453/1/115-115020/

Thanks for that Wino.

 

I had already ordered this low profile socket :

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-SX114-Profile-Filter-Socket/dp/B000ROB0RG

 

As I thought it may distribute the pressure more evenly and I also saw a YouTube clip of someone using a more traditional oil filter wrench, as used on the disposable can type filters, on one that someone had destroyed the corners of the plastic hexagonal head.

I should have a similar type of wrench hidden somewhere in the garage so a combination of them together may do it. 

You may find that you need to trim some material off any corners that have previously been brutalised, before the socket will fit; a small file or Stanley knife should do the trick if necessary.

 

I think it will be slightly easier to undo at ambient temperature, than warmed up, as the lid is plastic and the body metal, as far as I remember. So heating it up by running the engine may actually make the threads tighter as the plastic expands more than the metal.

 

I doubt you'll break it, but please let us know how you get on.  

03D115433B   might be the part you need if it breaks but they cost around £24 from Skoda.

Edited 12 June, 20188 yr by mrgf

Funnily enough I thought the same that I would try it cold to just see if it would move a little then start it up as I am not sure if the aluminium will expand even tighter into the plastic threads when warm or not.

 

When I bought the car in April last year it was supposed to have had a brand new engine fitted at 65,000 and it had 67,000 miles on it when I bought it and it has only just gone to 70,000 last week.

The engine does look brand new, not just reconditioned or cleaned up very well and the cap does not look as if it has ever had any force applied to it as the edges are nice and sharp and not worn at all. I would have usually changed the oil and filter within a few days of buying a used car but the oil was so clean that it would have been a waste of time and money really. I would have changed it a few months back but as I can not get it in my garage and my drive slopes I have to do it on the road outside my house and the weather has been so bad that it was only this week that I got around to doing it, even though I have had the oil and filter for a few months.

 

I should have the socket by weekend so hopefully I will be able to have another go at it then and I will of course let you know how I get on.

Thanks mrgf  that looks like it but hopefully I won't need it if the socket does the job.

I re-looked at one of my older replies to a similar issue (The poor sod cracked the housing, so had to replace that, too). I mentioned (After the fact) That he should warm up a little to help so try cold but if no luck, warm a little. Not too hot, though. Also, sometimes it helps to actually TIGHTEN some bolts/fittings, etc that are very tight as this sometimes breaks the seal that makes it hard to undo.I would not try turning too hard, though, just a small twist.

 

Some things work better with a shock... Bang the top with a rubber/wooden mallet but again, not too much and no metal hammers!

I think the info you are given earlier though, the sustained pressure, applied gently and continually, should do the trick. 

 

Seems a common issue on these canister filters. Make sure you lube the new filters o-ring and try not to over tighten. This is difficult to gauge as the thread is quite fine and easlily wedges prior to being fully tightened. I do use a tool to tighten but do it slowly and keep an eye on how far the thread is closing on to the o-ring. Once at the ring, not much more then hand tight.

Edited 12 June, 20188 yr by mrgf

Thanks again.

It does seem to be a bad design though, and a bit of a backwards step from simply unscrewing the whole  canister and screwing a new one on.

 

If they are torqued up correctly and not done up gorilla tight the design is fine, I think most car makers have gone back to this system as it is less wasteful to throw away a filter insert that it is a metal oil filter. 

Edited 12 June, 20188 yr by seriesdriver
spelling

Everything is OK when done right but if someone has been a bit heavy handed they cause problems for the next person.

2 minutes ago, Sandra51 said:

Everything is OK when done right but if someone has been a bit heavy handed they cause problems for the next person.

 

There are very many muppets who should never be allowed near anything mechanical, unfortunately most of them work in garages.

They didn't work in our garage when me and my ex ran one.

That is what makes it so annoying when what should be a simple job for me turns out to be harder than it would be if the person before me had done it right.

 

I used to think the idea which was proposed some years back about having factory sealed bonnets and having 100,000 mile service intervals was mad, I am not so sure now though 

2 minutes ago, Sandra51 said:

Everything is OK when done right but if someone has been a bit heavy handed they cause problems for the next person.

 

If it was a new engine and the housing wasn't covered in oil yet and nobody thought to put a dab of oil on the 'o' ring, that could be why its tough to remove.

Certainly in the case of "old school" disposable oil filter assemblies, getting the factory fitted one off was very difficult indeed compared with removing all later ones, strange to say that "old school"  disposable oil filter assemblies seem to be back, maybe due to less time involved when replacing filters.

11 hours ago, Sandra51 said:

They didn't work in our garage when me and my ex ran one.

That is what makes it so annoying when what should be a simple job for me turns out to be harder than it would be if the person before me had done it right.

 

I used to think the idea which was proposed some years back about having factory sealed bonnets and having 100,000 mile service intervals was mad, I am not so sure now though 

OT, but one of my neighbours has an Audi A1, which has an oil weep, and we have no idea how to find it, never mind stop it, because of this "fluid top-up only" nonsense!

I have just been out to try that new low profile 36mm socket and it didn't seem to take that much pressure to get it to move, maybe it was a combination of the engine being cold as well as having the right tool.

No doubt when I ring my friend, who was helping me last week, he will say he must have loosened it for me

 

I haven't got time to change the oil today so hopefully I will go for a run to warm it up on Monday or Tuesday, weather permitting as it has been raining on and off today, then I can change the oil and the filter as I know I can do the filter now.

 

Thanks again for your help guys 

35 minutes ago, Sandra51 said:

No doubt when I ring my friend, who was helping me last week, he will say he must have loosened it for me

 

 

 

My mother always says that after she's asked me to remove a tight jar/bottle lid