My wife purchased a new F150 4x4 in late 09. We have driven it about 5000 miles. It is garaged year around. Her brother offered to do the first oil change but can't get the filter off. He has tried every type of wrench and has the metal body of the filter nearly completely torn off up to the rim of the filter near the seat and it still won't screw off. we are thinking that is might have gotten cross threaded at the factory and over tightened. Any suggestions besides towing it to the dealership?

 

great big farm style channel locks? right at the top of the filter?

I used a 2 foot pipe wrench once .... just gettin some ideas goin ....

i feel your pain, i always seem to go thru this with a "new to me" vehicle. they dont need to be that tight! 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn .... drain plugs too. I'd rather have them leak a bit than to have such a time getting them off.

 

This is your first oil change? I'd have to look in the manual but IIRC it should be done at least once a year regardless of mileage. To your question- the factory uses gorillas to tighten the filter on. You are not the first one to have this issue. Fortunately mine came off without too much fuss but if theres tears or holes in it towing it to the dealer might be your only recourse. Unless you just keep beating on it until it breaks loose. Good luck! Keep us posted. And welcome to FTE!

 

Actually, it is a maximum of 6 months. I wouldn't take it to dealership and tell them it is first oil change. Best way to change the filter for the first time is to access it from the top, I used a strap type deal and was able to put all the torque I needed to remove. It was hard and would have been a major PIA underneath, but above, pretty straight forward. I removed the air cleaner for best access. From there, I've done everything from below.

If it was crossthreaded, you would have been leaking oil. You might still be able to get a strap on there, but sounds like either a set of channel locks or hammer/screwdriver on the side.

 

I thought it was 6 months but I didn't want to get flamed for mis-information . Thanks for that info, I usually change mine way before 6 months anyway due to mileage.

 

did the OP ever get his filter off?

 

Mine was crazy tight too. I ended up putting new oil in and driving it to a quick change shop to swap the filter. They broke a filter wrench on it.

 

Factory filters are notoriously tight. I always have t he dealer do my first change, then I take over from there.

As stated before, big channel locks should do it. Just be careful not to damage the seating surface or any real estate near the seating surface.

 

Every new Ford, car or truck, that I have ever owned and that's quite a few has been tight to the point of stupidity(mine, probably). The dealer always gets the first fun at this point in my life. The worst one was a '79 Turbo Mustang with an FL400 shorty - under the turbo and alongside of the exhaust and next to a motor mount - it came off in pieces. 32 years later, still recall that pain.