Hi guys,

my brother in law just bought a used 2007 A4 Quattro with the 3.2L FSI engine. I was changing the oil for him tonight, since it looked like tar, and I couldn't for the life of me get the oil filter housing cap off.

The cap looks like this (this is from a newer 3.2L, but same idea):



I put a big set of pliers on it, like a plumbers pair. I turned it counter clockwise as hard as I dared, but it wouldn't come lose! I didn't want to snap the plastic housing, so I drained the oil and refilled it with new, figuring it will be easy to replace the filter later on and not lose much oil.

Now, the engine was quite warm when I was doing this, perhaps the cap was stuck due to different expansion between the metal of the base and the plastic cap

Any other thoughts? I don't want to snap the housing, but I want to change the effing filter!

 

I think there is a special tool for removing the oil filters; it has an adjustable rubber band which goes around the filter. The tool is not expensive.