I need some help with my oil change! There I said it. I cant get the damn filter off!! I've got a wrench, but the handle's too long to maneuver. I can put my fingers on it, but I cant get a good angle to twist from. I need some tips and hints. Do you jack it up?

Pretty much I drained the oil and went for the filter only to realize it was wedged in a horrible place. So I pushed my car back into the driveway and now it sits, empty of oil. @*&$+!

 

It's not very hard.

Jack the car up.
Take off bottom protective plate.
Use an OIL FILTER WRENCH to twist it off
Take it out
Replace
Screw back on the protective plate
Jack the car down.

Top up with oil.
Start car, let it run for 1 min.
Stop car.
Top up with oil again.

 

So I do want to jack it up? My wrench handle is too long and cumbersome to maneuver around the pleathora of hoses and supports.

 

That's what I did.
You definately want this if you're swapping on an Audi A4 and can't get enough momentum with your bare hands.

 

doublepost!

 

ya they make an oil filter wrench which is like a cap type thing you slap onto the oil filter and then you put a ratchet or breaker ; ) on it and it comes right off. if you think the 1.8t is hard try doing it on a highlander without the tools lol, you can't even get your arm up there

 

thats because doing it from below is for idiots and women. remove the 3 screws from your coolant expansion tank and move it out of the way. look down into the newly created hole and your oil filter is right there. there is just enough room to use a filter strap wrench and when you get it off, you put your finger thru the hole in the top of the filter and pull it strait up. no oil dumped all over your subframe. no laying on your back getting hot oil mixed with sand dripping in your eyeballs.

 

HAHAHAH awesome.

 

^1+ to what ghost said.

I usually just lossen the clamp that connects the intake tube to the manifold, and get access that way. The oil filter is relatively accessible on the 1.8t.

When you put the new filter on, lube the gasket with oil and tighten by hand. Then you should not need a wrench to take it off.

 

be sure to rub some oil on the new filter around the seeal before putting it back on. it makes it easier to get off on the next oil change