Bought a 2018 RX F Sport from a Mercedes dealer with impeccable maintenance history from the local Lexus dealership. I and am going through and changing all fluids and saved the oil for last since the Mercedes dealership changed it before selling. Figured I would get a few thousand miles on the oil first. Had no issues with the trans, or diffs.

The oil filter housing is stuck. I have the votive filter housing socket and progressed through a socket, light weight impact gun, and now a breaker bar. Unfortunately I broke the housings single tooth off one side which put a hole though it. The three teeth are still on the other side, so I can still get most of the leverage with the votive adapter. I am going lefty loosey.

Are there any tricks out there? I fear I'm going to resort to total destruction of the housing. I don't mind that, but I'd prefer to cleanly remove it so I don't end up down the destruction path of chisels and potential damage to the aluminum threads.

 

Not sure if it matters, but in theory we’re supposed to remove the metal end portion with a 3/8” breaker bar/extension, then use the little drain gizmo that comes with the oil filter to drain the oil from inside the housing. Much less mess this way.

Next question…uh, I hate to ask…are you sure you were indeed turning it counter-clockwise?

Were you using the correct housing wrench? I vaguely recall when first changing these V6 cartridge filters on a Camry, the generic store-bought wrenches didn’t fit correctly and spun. Wrong number of splines, even thought the ID was otherwise correct. The one I use now is marked AST TOY640. Works great other than occasionally it doesn’t want to disengage from the housing after I tighten it back up when I am ready to remove it.

 

Took the path of destruction. Hit a flat head screw driver around the housing edge until it broke grooves all along the edge. Then used the socket adapter and got it to turn. Hope this helps someone else in the future.

 

 

This is what the clip looks like. I did not put mine back on. I replaced the plastic housing with part number 15620-31060.