The oil filter on the V6 is in the worst location of any car ever built. It doesn't look that bad with the engine out of the car,


but the H25 V6 motor fills the engine bay so completely there is very little access to the oil filter.


The red area shows how little room there is to install and turn an oil filter wrench.


I've tried a lot of different wrench styles.


What works best is this plier-type oil filter wrench from Harbor Freight.


I hacksawed off enough of the handles so it fits inside the red "sweep" area. Once I get the filter
loose, I jamb a old t-shirt under it and let the filter slowly empty into it. If I don't drain the filter
before removing it, oil goes everywhere.


I stole this oil funnel idea from a tool catalog.


I bought a second oil filler cap from AutoZone.


I drilled a large cone-shaped hole in the center of the cap.


I JB Welded the cap to a plastic funnel. The funnel screws in place which leaves me with two
hands to pour in oil from a 5-quart jug.

 

Appreciate your insight. The dealership I bought my V-6 Tracker from did the oil changes free for 24 months. I knew from that point forward I would have fun. First off, dealerships put things on tight. The first change required me to get help from a mechanic at my employer. He finally got his hand up into the area from under the front side of the filter together with a filter wrench on it. He still needed me to keep a hand on the tool from above so it would not slip/fall off the filter. After this removal, I never put filters on as tight as the dealership. Just the same, I have tried various approaches to removal finally settling on hand loosening and then using a long stiff thin wire with a hooked end--narrower than a fish hook. I snare the filter in its holes on top and doing so allows me to remove my hand and lift the filter upright through the top with half the oil still inside. Otherwise, you have to drop it out of hand to the bottom, and doing so allows it to drain onto whatever, usually the cross member etc. IMO, there is no case of a clean job as my past vehicles could offer. The work is all above except for cleanup. Our 2008 Subaru is worse. The Subaru filter sits inside a well created by heat shields and there are no easy removals. The Subaru wins the worse case scenario because you have to reach up in there to loosen the filter and the oil flows fast!!