https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-Automotive-3-Jaw-Oil-Filter-Wrench/1003096238

Great for removing and installing the filters; been using one for years.  A looooong extension bar that reaches up from below the gearbox makes this a doddle.

As it works in both directions, the 270° turn to tighten once it's snug is easy.

Besides the strap method, there is a socket cup that fits on the end of the filter (it has the matching indents of the filter) and from underneath you  can use your socket wrench. I find that it is much simpler to knock the filter with a blunt flatblade screwdriver at the edge of the filter canister to loosen it. Remember - righty tighty lefty loosey. It will be the opposite direction because you are looking at it. Don't put a hole in the filter!

What Dan said. Strap will usually work. (iirc the first oil change I did with a small normal oil filter wrench that also had an extra joint in it--kinda
like a swivel elbow



My new favs are just like pliers (avail from ChannelLock and others )

Hopefully the PO wasn't a gorilla.

Try a strap wrench  The rubber strap can be slipped out of the handle, threaded around the filter, tucked back in the handle. snugged up and then the cam action of the handle tightens the strap as you try to turn the filter.

If that doesn't work, you can get a chain wrench which has a handle like a pair of vice grips. Tightened sufficiently, the chain bites into the metal for a firm grip.

Hi everyone!

This is my first time posting here. My apologies if this topic has already been covered, but I couldn't find anything on it. I am in the middle doing my first oil change on my '91 mini, but for the life of me I can't get the oil filter off because the wrench that I bought at my local hardware store is too bulky to have enough space for it to tighten around the filter and get it loose. Does anyone have any suggestions for wrenches or pliers that work well with the clearances of a classic mini engine bay?

Thank you!