first time changing car oil in two decades, question

Follow the directions on the filter.

Slightly beyond hand tight is the correct answer. Maybe a quarter- to a half-turn beyond with the wrench. "Snug" would be appropriate.

Using even the old oil to coat the mating surface is sufficient. Just dip your finger in the drain pan and run it around the edge of the new filter. Just don't screw it in dry...

Uh oh. Looks like I better wait until the engine cools then carefully loosen and re-tighten because I tightened it down way more than that.

No problem there, just looks like I tightened it way too much!

You received the correct answers already so I'll just point out that rec.autos.tech & alt.home.repair are fine for such questions. o

I've only changed the oil myself a couple times, but iirc, I didn't even use the wrench to tighten it. ???? Though I was pretty firm with my hand. Just a little beyond where it first stopped turning.

An oil filter wrench is used only to remove an oil filter, never to install one.

Agree.

Back it off a little then re-tighten- either to what the filter says or if no info there, a quarter-turn past hand-snug is about right.

Many years ago, I over-tightened an oil filter which slightly deformed the gasket and it developed a leak.

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:56:31 -0400, Bill Saunders posted for all of us to digest...

Do not loosen it if it is installed and *leak free*. Leave it alone. Just be aware the next time the filter is changed it may be a bear to to remove. Be mindful of any leaks. Next time read the directions (not being snarky). I just had mine done at the dealers and garages are open in PA.

Good luck getting that sucker off 6 months from now. I'd loosen it NOW and tighten to spec - usually about 1/4 turn past "seated".

Tighten it by hand firmly. Someone else said snug. That's a good description. But loosen it now. It could be a royal pain if you wait a few months or a year down the road.

I just did. Thanks to the group. Although the oil change seemed simple, I'm going to jot down some notes so I don't forget the small things. It could be quite some time before my mechanic does it again.

Good goin'...when they get "growed on" or over tight, one can have the whole can collapse or even tear when try to remove later; there's not that much to them -- a little more than a tin can, but not a lot.

I had to order everything too after my mechanic had done the task all these years, so it took a couple of weeks for the oil, filter, drain container and filter wrench to arrive (all ordered online and shipped here).

The only question was the oil. 5W20, but wasn't sure if I should use high mileage or regular oil as the car has 170K miles. So I went with Pennzoil "conventional" high mileage oil. Maybe next time maybe I'll go with synthetic high mileaage oil.

Makes more sense to replace it with another new one now to avoid that.

No need to replace it now - the rubber has not been baked hard so just loosening it and tightening to the proper torque will fix the problem.

If anything they tighten and you play hell when it comes time to remove it. I go for quarter to half turn with my hand, not a wrench, which means I can usually take it off by hand too. I've been changing spin on filters since they went to them from cartridge filters and never had one fall off.

When you're driving a screwdriver through what's left of the can you know it's a bad day. I'm a little weird; when I go shopping for a car I pop the hood and make sure I can get to the stuff that needs getting to. I think some manufacturers don't give a lot of thought to how you're going to get the filter out when they drop the engine into the chassis.

Most used to be something like two thirds of a turn beyond the point where the seal makes contact with the face.

A lot of people take that 2/3 of a turn to read 2 to 3 turns, at least it seems that way when I've tried to remove some filters.