Under a shade tree in Rural Mexico

[Don Lott]

I have changed oil filters on many different cars over the
past 40 years but getting to the filter on this 2005 Jeep
Liberty is by far the most difficult.

It must have never occured to the engineers that some
guy would need to do his own oil change and filter some
day.

Short of pulling the ridiator, or the left front fender, or having a second wrist joint installed mid-way between
current wrist and elbow in my right arm---does anyone out there have any suggestions?

All the Best,
Don Lott

 

[98Chero]

Don,
I feel your pain..of course there must be some logical way of getting to your Oil Filter. On my jeep they put the #1 sparkplug right behind the a/c compressor ! If I didnt have curve nosed pliers, swivel sockets, extensions and 5/8 sparkplug socket with the rubber sparkplug holder still in it and the most important tool..Patience...I would have rolled my jeep off a clif into the river.

Mike

 

[Don Lott]

Hello Mike,
Somewhere I read that GM made a car (in the 1950's ?), that you could not change the rear tire w/o first removing the fender. I think they caught that one before it went into final production. Leave it to engineers, "O" rings, and design by committees---which apparantly don't have very many meetings. Let the buying public to find the problems.

I have been considering a Mexican burro, but then they can give you a completely different set of problems.

All the Best,
Don

 

[TorqueWinsRaces]

I don't know what the setup looks like, so I may be way off-base, but...I have what is called a "strap wrench". You can buy them at any auto parts store. Mine was designed for oil filter removal. Basically, it is a piece of square steel stock with a nylon strap attached, very simple, incredibly effective. You can put a 1/2" drive ratchet with an extension on it, and because it's a nylon strap, you can twist and turn it to the angle you need. Then, simply tighten the strap until it twists the filter off. I've had mine for probably 25 years now and it has never failed to remove a filter.

Good luck.