Oil Filter on a 5.0 motor

[DanoC33]

I need to change the oil and oil filter on my 5.0 motor. The oil filter is located at the bottom of the motor and is a nightmare to access. On top of that, it was put on by He-Man and will not budge.

Before I apply a lot of pressure on it, which way should i be turning it? I want to make sure there are no reverse threads or anything else that will add to the aggravation and prevent me from taking it off.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Lazy Daze]

No reverse threads. Comes off in the same direction as you are used to doing in other vehicles.

 

[BarryCF]

righty tighty (cw), lefty loosey (ccw)

 

[Spot]

If it is on the bottom do yourself a favor and loosten it a few turns and then cover it in a produce bag and remove the rest of the way. When it comes off the filter and oil mess will drop into the bag and keep your bildge cleaner.

One of those why did I not think of that 10 years ago moments, at least it was for me 10 years ago.

 

[J Levine]

You might want to try one of those adapters for a 3/8" drive rachet that slips over the bottom of the filter, or use a large pair of slip joint pliars, or run a screw driver through the side of the filter to gets some leverage. Once you get it off the engine, get your self a filter relocation kit and move the damn thing. I did this on my previous boat after fighting this filter one too many times. You can order the Merc OEM parts for the factory remote filter set up, which can get pretty expensive, or you can look for the Merc parts on Ebay, or you can get a generic remote filter kit, but either way once you get the filter off, move it.

 

[DanoC33]

Well, after much struggling and using several tools, I managed to only crush the body of the filter which made a huge mess and left me pretty annoyed. At that point, I decided to take the boat to a certified Merc dealer to let them handle it.
After dropping the boat off, I got a call a few hours later from the dealer to let me know that the boat was ready to be picked up. He said that the filter was really stuck on there and that they had a hell of a time getting if off. When I asked what the damage was, he said I owed them $325.00 which covered the labor and them putting oil back into my motor. Seeing that I supplied the oil, I was extremely shocked at the invoice.
Since the oil filter was the stock filter, I called Merc and asked them if this was normal. They said that they have heard of the stock filter getting stuck, however they were pretty shocked at the price I was charged. I am sending them a copy of the invoice in hopes that they will be able to help me out.

 

[skolbe]

In my mind - you should have been charged for an oil change and maybe 1 hour extra labor to remove the old filter. I suspect with the right assortment of tools - you could get the filter off pretty easily, despite that it was crushed. Unless it was really bad. Did they actually change the oil in the boat?

 

[DanoC33]

I had already drained the oil, so all they did was remove the stock filter and replace it with a new filter that I supplied them with. They also refilled the motor with oil with the oil I supplied them with.

I should also mention that the storage bin walls around the motor were already removed, so access to the filter was not restricted. And no, they did not reinstall them after they put oil back in the motor.

 

[Skinner24]

Sounds to me that they stuck it to you pretty hard. With you supplying all of the material and taking the partitions down, I would say you was over charged by alot. My oil filter was hard to change as well. I to had to take the partitions down in my boat and sweat my a$$ off for three hours just to change the oil. I do all of the oil changes in my vehicles and that oil filter was the hardest one I have ever taken off. I would go back to the mechanic and ask why the bill was so much. Good Luck