5.0 - factory oil cooler - can't get oil filter off

[steeters]

1994 Mustang Cobra**

Oil filter won’t come off. I tried all my tools for this (3-arm, filter wrench, etc)…doesn’t matter because it appears that the oil filter is stuck on so tightly it is causing the stock oil cooler housing to spin off the block.

I can see the oil cooler hoses moving anyway, so I assume the cooler screws into the block the same as an oil filter…and the cooler is the first thing to “give” in this scenario.

Anyway, I’m open to suggestions.

There’s not a lot of room to work up in there…but is there a way to hold the oil cooler in place (the filter is still attached) while I torque on the filter?

Would you suggest that I remove the hoses from the cooler and just spin the filter and the cooler off at the same time…and then remove the filter on a bench?

Any other ideas.

**Bought the car used, so this is my first oil change on the car and don’t know what gorilla put the filter on.

Thanks, Steve

[steeters]

meh, I just dug in there and figured it out. Nothing broken, nothing leaking. tightened up the oil cooler housing just to be safe.

[SS14PSI]

So how'd you end up getting it off?

[steeters]

A long screwdriver, a drill, and oil filter pliers finally got the filter off. Which is what I was committed to when I realized how stuck on the oil filter was.

Fortunately the oil cooler didn't turn much more once I got the filter loosened a little.

Then I torqued the cooler down with a 1 - 1/16 inch socket to 50ft/lbs. I found those specs on the Internet. And it needed it, the cooler had definitely been loosened up.

It was one of those deals where I didn't know what I could be snapping, breaking, F'ing up, etc. Turns out there wasn't anything hidden or tricky about it...I just didn't know that before I started.