Just a little bit I thought I might throw in - I work for Chevron Oilstop, an oil change facility. We get jiffy lubed cars every once in a while that have been to our store before. Jiffy lube uses filter numbers beginning with PO-##, we use Warner filters. No jiffy lube in our area uses Warner filters. Alot of times these cars come in with our filter still on the car, overtorqued plugs, and sometimes stripped drain plugs and pan threads. If you insist on going to Jiffy Lube, initial/date the filter going on the car, and ask to see the new filter on the car after the service is complete.

After what I have seen from Jiffy Lubed cars, I would never recommend going to Jiffy Lube (this has nothing to do with working for a competitor).

I'm not sure if we have any stores in Southern California, but if you get your oil changed in a quick lube shop, don't go to Jiffy Lube.

 

I used to have an old oil wrench and it was a huge pain to use.....I am sure they are better now. I just use a strap wrench and have had good success with it. You can pick one up at Sears or wherever. They are also good for a lot of other things put on too tight. Its $20 for a set of two, money well spent.



http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...&cm_ite=Google

 

We get Audis with dealer filters on them every once in a while at my shop. The other day I was doing a 2.8 - the peice that the filter mounts onto was turned about 30 degrees in the direction of tightening. We held the peice with channel locks and I managed to get the filter off. Just as I would have guessed, the filter gasket stuck to the block.

Something I noticed helps removing tough filters is to use the strap on the base of the filter (where the mounting stud is) instead of at the end because you just end up crushing it.