157dB

Its impossable to install an oil filter too tight short of stripping
the mounting threads out....
The gasket cant distort as it is captured in a groove on the
the filter and the filter body bottoms on the block when it is
properly installed.

You cant 'crimp the gasket' from overtightening...

The filter design prevents gasket distortion from overtightening.
If your filter body is not bottoming to the block, the gasket
has a chance to be blown out under high pressures.
Properly tightened and the gasket is captured between the
filter body and the block.

pascal

The main idea of not over tightening it is that you won't have to drive a screw driver through it when it's time to change said filter.
Of course, anyone applying 85lbs to it needs to be shot, lol.

Warthog5

When I worked in the garage at the Post Office we had a guy that use to work for VW.

There was a diesel VW that really needed to be tightened tight.....or so I was told.

Anyway.....David would tighten the crap out of ALL oil filters.

We knew when we had the next PM behind David. We got tired of telling him and when it didn't come off as normal, we just called him over and said "Here....You fix it!"

Double hand tight with 2 hands and no oil on your hands is all it needs. It will expand and get tighter when it heats up. That is why you don't use a filter wrench to tighten them.

You didn't say what brand filter?

baddog671

After changing thousands of oil filters, I´ve noticed that the ones that leave the gasket stuck to the block are 9 times out of 10 the ones that are overtightened.

shanec

I have never overtightened a filter. And I always coat the gasket with oil before putting a new one on (in addition to filling the filter with oil which is also a good practice for engine safety). And...I've never had a gasket come off and stay stuck to the car.

Gene K

snug and a tug...By hand with a filter and with a wrench on the plug.

Ive never used a filter wrench to tighten a filter and never had one come loose.

Warthog5

I was only associated with it one time in my life. It happened on my brothers '83 2.0L Ford Ranger.
He was changing the oil at my house. He just didn't run his hand on the block to check it.
When a gasket sticks to the block and you screw another filter on it.....then go run it without close inspection, it will oil down the whole underside of your vehicle and the oil light will kick on.

Ended up pulling over on the side of the road and calling my buddy to bring him some oil. He was close to my buddies house and I knew he had plenty of oil there.

The point is......Always check it.

157dB

Sticking is a GOOD thing.
It shows that the gasket properly conformed to the engine surface
and did not leak during its lifetime.

Nuke

Some o-rings will compress evenly. Others may stress more at one or more section of its' overall diameter than at others. Oil filter manufacturers provide tightening guidelines for a reason. I've both hand tightened and wrench tightened many, many filters and I've never had a filter that was wrench tightened leak. I HAVE had a hand tightened one leak after about 1,000 miles. Maybe my hands were oily but since that one leak I've always filter tightened by 1/8 to 1/4 turn after hand tight.

6-Speed

I do something similar. I'll tighten per the instructions on the filter typically 3/4 to 1 turn after the gasket makes contact and then I'll use the strap wrench and crank it just a tad more, perhaps 1/16 of a turn ... not too much.