Today was get the truck ready for winter. So, down to Canadian Tire I go to get the oil, oil filter and other goodies. I drained out the old oil which was pretty gross, then tried to get the oil filter off. No way would my filter wrench fit over the filter. Back down to Can Tire to get a larger wrench. Well, this is about where I hit the problem. I could see the oil filter, but I couldn't get at it. I could just barely see it from top. I could barely see it from the bottom. If I looked in over the front left tire I could see it and just barely get the wrench on it. Then I found that there was no room to turn the wrench, even with the swivel handle. Grrrr! Professional Engineers!Finally, I was able to turn the wrench about 1/8 inch at a time to loosen it up. Now, I ask you, what engineer in his right mind would put an oil filter that is supposed to be changed every 5000 km, in such an awkward place. It's no wonder that there are so many Found On Road Dead vehicles. Who takes their vehicle back to the point of purchase and pays $125.00 / hour shop rate? The one stop oil change locations are also pretty pricey. If I ever get to one of those, I am going to do a visual ( with a mirror) on the replacement filter, 'cause I can't see a guy making $14.00/ hour going to all that trouble.
I thought that maybe this was the exception, so I looked at the wife's Government Motors vehicle, and it was even worse! The same idiotic design engineer must have been working for both companies!
Hint, when you get your oil changed at a service company, make sure that they actually change the filter!
My rant to start the week!
