Confused About Oil Filter Change with LTT Screwdriver in Scrapyard Wars 2024 PT2

[Sjokk]

Hey LTT Community,

 

I was watching Scrapyard Wars 2024 PT2, and around the 1:22 mark, the seller mentions using the LTT screwdriver to change the oil filter on his car. As someone who has previously worked in an auto parts store for several years and sells oil filters daily, this caught my attention.

 

From my experience, oil filters typically require an oil filter wrench for removal and the replacements are screwed on by hand. You should never use any tool as tightening it more than hand tight will cause issues, and I have never encountered an oil filter that requires or even could involve a screwdriver for any part of the process. This makes me curious about what kind of oil filter he could have been referring to. I've never seen an oil filter or other part for an oil change that has any component that could be tightened or loosened by a screwdriver and this makes me very curious what the individual in the scrapyard wars episode could be talking about.

 

Has anyone else come across an oil filter that could involve a screwdriver for installation or removal?

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Blue4130]

12 minutes ago, Sjokk said:

Hey LTT Community,

 

I was watching Scrapyard Wars 2024 PT2, and around the 1:22 mark, the seller mentions using the LTT screwdriver to change the oil filter on his car. As someone who has previously worked in an auto parts store for several years and sells oil filters daily, this caught my attention.

 

From my experience, oil filters typically require an oil filter wrench for removal and the replacements are screwed on by hand. You should never use any tool as tightening it more than hand tight will cause issues, and I have never encountered an oil filter that requires or even could involve a screwdriver for any part of the process. This makes me curious about what kind of oil filter he could have been referring to. I've never seen an oil filter or other part for an oil change that has any component that could be tightened or loosened by a screwdriver and this makes me very curious what the individual in the scrapyard wars episode could be talking about.

 

Has anyone else come across an oil filter that could involve a screwdriver for installation or removal?

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

I have. Shitty designed cars that have random brackets near/around the oil filter that necessitate their removal before my oaf hands can get to the filter.

[RONOTHAN##]

10 minutes ago, Sjokk said:

Has anyone else come across an oil filter that could involve a screwdriver for installation or removal?

 

I know the Fiat Niki has a filter that you probably could use a screw driver in, since it uses a very weird style of oil filter that is reusable and held on with a bunch of bolts. I don't know why you would use a screw driver for it and not a ratchet set, and it's such a terrible car by modern standards that I doubt that's what happened here. Some cars with cartridge style filters might also be able to be done with a screw driver, though most of them that I'm aware of you really should be using a proper ratchet set to get undone. 

 

Odds are what it is is there's some sort of plastic/fiberglass coverings either in the engine bay or below the vehicle that are held on with small screws that make accessing the oil drain plug and filter more difficult, and removing these can be done fairly easily with a screw driver. All the cars I've done oil changes on made after ~2000 have those undercoverings for aerodynamic reasons, some of which are designed well so I can easily get the oil filter off without doing this, others are designed worse and require that cover be removed in order to get my oil filter wrench in there. 

[Needfuldoer]

A lot of newer cars have large covers on the bottom, which help a little with aerodynamics and road noise. They also get in the way for maintenance, but they're (usually) easy to remove with just a few screws. My guess is, that's what they used the Screwdriver for.

[manikyath]

i havent watched the episode yet, and i'm in no ways a car mechanic, so i'm just saying this based on whatever i've seen on car channels i happen to follow for entertainemnt value...

 

weird cars exist, and weird oil filter replacement procedures exist. a few possible options that i can think of immediately:

- a retaining bracket that's scrwed in with regular screws

- one of those weird cars where the best way to access the oil filter is behind a panel in the footwell.

- rear engine cars where the engine access panel is screwed in place

- one of those cars where the engine bay has more decorative panels than engine parts.

 

as for the "why not a socket wrench" question above in the thread: if the screw heads have something a screwdriver fits into, why a socket wrench?

 

funny sidenote: oil filters on yachts. you havent seen shitty oil filter procedures until you've worked on a yacht. i've had the pleasure of helping out with one at some point, and the procedure was as follows:

- undo the air filter

- open up the oil fill port

- put in a long tube attached to a vaccuum pump

- drain the oil from the top overnight.

- undo some random accessories to make room

- hang yoruself upside down from the side of the engine to reach for the oil filter underneath

- undo the oil filter, apply new oil filter

- re-attach stuff you took off

- fill it with oil

- put the soddy air filter back on.

 

in all of this, the only thing you need to undo and re-tighten with a tool, are hose clamps that are not on hoses.