I tried to change the oil for the first time (for me) on a 2002 MC I just bought, and there is no way I can get the housing to unscrew, so I'm afraid that dreaded prior owner damaged the threads and forced it on (crossthread) or something equally as sinister.
I have the correct 32mm socket designed to remove the filter housing, and with a 28" drive breaker bar, all the force I can muster with one hand and leaning into the bar, and then smacking it with a hammer all I've managed to do it start to twist the drive end of the socket. I think I'm about ready to take the whole canister assembly including the base off and replace with a new one.
Has anyone ventured down this path, and if so, how do you get to the base of the filter housing (realOEM.com shows 3 bolts attaching it to the block, but I can't see them).
I suspect given all the posts on how easy it is to cross thread the cannister upon reassembly, someone must have had to replace the entire housing and base by now (and chosen not to have a shop or dealer do it).
This will also allow me to convert to the easier 2004-2006 assembly with the small spring in the housing instead of the big spring in the cannister....should make it easier to get the threads to start, it would appear.
So what's involved in getting the entire cannister and base assembly off with the engine in the car?

 

I'm guessing you meant 36mm socket.

 

Was the the oil hot or cold? Heat expansion may affect your efforts. Usually cross threading will be apparent with oil leaking from the unsealed cannister.

 

If you are going to replace the assembly why not slip a length of pipe over that breaker bar? After my dealer had Son of Kong do my oil change that is what I had to do. Off it came with thankfully no damage. I also had to use the same caveman technique on a friends filter.

Also make sure you are using a 6 point 36mm socket & not a 12 point. The 12 point is more likely to slip & bugger the nut.

Good luck.

 

yup i hope u meany 36mm also.

 

I did mean 36. it was perfect fit 6 Pt low profile aluminum socket designed just for oil filters (same for Mercedes and power stroke Fords). Since it's alloy, it won't bugger the filter head. That's why the socket started to twist though. No damage to the filter cannister .... yet. this weekend I think I'll take the 3 bolts out that hold it on to the block (if I can get to them), make a jig to bolt to it so I can safely chuck it up in the vice, and hit it with an impact gun and a 1/2 drive steel socket. If it comes apart in the proper number of pieces then I can inspect properly and dress the threads with a fine file to make it work right... .if there any threads left. Local dealer has a complete assembly in stock if it turns out to be toast or I shatter it with the impact gun.
I'm worried about trying the pipe trick first because I was already getting enough torque to twist the drive end of the socket, and my steel socket is a deep socket that won't fit down there.

I would still like to know if anyone has removed the complete cannister/fileter head assembly and how easy it was to access the 3 bolts.

 

The cap is seized due to extended oil change intervals. We've seen this many times and the only fix is to replace the entire oil filter assembly. If you exert too much pressure on the oil filter cap you'll just break the whole thing off the engine. The filter inside has fallen apart by this time anyway. This is why Mercedes makes their housing out of plastic, no corrosion issues.

 

So whatcha think, anti-seize on the aluminum threads of the housing? Maybe just oil the threads?

 

I had to tap mine with a plastic mallet to get it to move, but once it did it seemed fine. I did coat the threads with oil before putting them back. Hopefully it is not as much of an issue next time.

 

One other 'last resort' tip: With the engine and oil filter housing hot, apply a couple ice cubes to the removable canister lid (not the engine-attached housing) to chill the lid. The aluminum should shrink quite a bit and help relax the grip somewhat.

 

This is not a bad tip. CRC I believe makes some kind of aerosol freeze deal for rusted bolts. I bet it would work well here. Here it is, Freeze Off..... http://www.crcindustries.com/auto/content/new.aspx

The fact that your dealer stocks the assembly is very telling. Dealers don't stock what they don't sell.

 

I think you'd better be ready to buy some parts. The cannister for sure, and possibly the part it screws into as well.

I expect that you'll find that it was cross-threaded.

Rawhyde

 

Pardon my obviousness, but please make sure that you are turning it in the right direction. I always get confused so I've come up with a little saying to help me remember: "Back off", rotate the assy towards the rear of the car to remove it.

Other than that, I really can't see how those GIANT threads are cross threaded without leakage, but stranger things have happened...

Good luck with the surgery, Dr.

 

that's a good idea. it's similar to doing a bearing on some machines.

 

i recently went over 10000mls. between changes and it was extremely tough to get the canister off. engine was very hot too though .

 

I tried a couple more times before I yank the entire canister and filter head assembly (gotta wait until the car is cold to do that job).
My first attempt on Sunday last week the car was stone cold, and it didn't budge at all. Now I've also tried it with the car hot, no luck, and then and I found a can of air used to clean out keyboards. When you hold it upside down, spray is amazingly cold...probably frozen, so I emptied the can upside down at the end of the removable (in theory) cannister and tried again. Still no luck. Tonight I park the car and take something else to work tomorrow so I can pull the whole unit tomorrow night. I'm kind of expecting I'll have to pick up the whole assembly Sat.

Interestingly, when I stopped by the dealer 2 days ago, I looked at the R56, and it now has a plastic cannister on an alloy base, so no more corrosion. In fact, after driving a base MC 10 miles in sport mode, I could grab ahold of the cannister by hand and could hold on (full palm) as long as you want (45 seconds in my case). Hot, but not enough to burn anyone. Should be much easier to deal with.

 

if you were to get the car really hot then flip the can to cool the canister ,it'd have more effect.

 

Solved. Removal of the entire cannister assembly wasn't too bad, all done through the right wheel well for access. The 3 bolts that hold it to the block were a little hard to get to, but once there, they came right out. The heat shield for the starter is bolted to the housing as well, and you can't get to that bolt until the housing is pulled away from the block. A bit tricky to put that back together.
Once out of the car, I bolted the unit to a 2x4, chucked the 2x4 up in the vice, and the impact gun set at 650 lb ft quickly removed the cannister end. I figured it would either come off quickly or shatter. Threads were perfect, and without the seal or filter, it threaded together easily.
There are two small holes in the housing that pass through the threads so that oil will actually get into the threads to prevent corrosion of the threads. The oil seal on the canister keeps the oil from escaping. They seemed to be working as the threads were oiled. Upon reassembly I used silver antisieze on the threads and oiled the o-ring. The o-ring ended up with antiseize on it also, and it did help it slide instead of breaking. Since it was on the bench it was easy to use a torque wrench to reassemble, and 18 lb ft of torque is just enough to get the cannister top to seat and nothing more. at 14 lbs I could unscrew it by hand, but at 18, it was just past what I could move by hand, so it really doesn't need to be on tight at all.

Putting it back in requires a second person to hold the assembly from the top while you put the bolts back in. Total time was just less than 3 hours, and that included making the 2x4 jig for the vice and 30 minutes of cleaning the housing inside and out with the filter change on the bench.

I think the problem was that the outside of the unit was corroded around the area that the two parts screw together, and that the last tech to do an oil change was a gorilla and cranked it as tight as possible (ditto on the oil drain plug, as it turned out ).

 

Clean-up, found it!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=58600

 

This seems to happen a lot, as people who do oil changes see the big threaded nut on the canister and assume big nut=lots of torque needed. This is not the case, as the o-ring provides the seal and not the canister tightness. The canister needs only a slight nudge to make it 'tight'. It's not going anywhere.

Even when torqued properly, it will almost always bee much tighter when time comes to remove it due to thermal expansion and contracting and getting 'stuck'. Oiling the threads helps a lot, or adding a bit of grease to the threads and the o-ring as I do.

 

This is the reason I do all of my own oil changes. If I take a car, any car, to a quick oil place they put everything on to tight. Fill plug and filter.
Much better to take the time and do it your self.

 

kasmass1, thanks for your write up on the assembly removal. Very helpful. I didn't think you'd find corroded threads, but did think you might break it trying to remove the top. I believe anti-seize is a good idea on those threads. I'm going to have a talk with my SA next time I'm in for their free oil change. I want no Gorilla's working on my car.

Maybe a moderator could move this to the oil change how to. I'm sure you won't be the only one faced with this problem.

 

I'm glad you went through the right fenderwell....I did this as well on my 1st oil change. I documented it on a thread somewhere in here (with pictures). It was so much easier.

 

How did you get access thru the wheel weld? are there any diy for doing this job?

 

I had two mechanics attempt to remove the filter housing on my mini cooper 2004 S. It wouldn't budge. Hot, cold, cheater bar...nothing worked. I bought a can of Dust Off in place of Freeze Off. I drove my car to get the oil hot and to operating temperature. I then held the can of Dust Off upside down to allow the propellant to flow out and sprayed the housing only to try and make it constrict.
Well it came off...still had to use some muscle to get it off but I am confident the Dust Off made the housing constrict enough to be removed.
...If you hold the can of Dust Off upright it will just blow air. If the can is held upside down the propellant is forced out as a super cold spray.
Hope this will help others with this problem.
http://www.dgibbphoto.com
Dave