!$#%$** oil filter

[nipper]

Finally got that sob off!! It took 2 guys, one on his back with head under the engine and another on top of engine reaching down to get the wrench on and hold it between turns, but it finally came off. Discovered the problem was that the danged thing had been put on at the factory with gasket sealant!! No wonder it was such a bear. Mercury shouldn't do that to a guy. The filter was an AC Delco, so it had probably been put on by Chevrolet which makes the block for Mercury. Either Mercury factory should have put a different one on, without gasket sealant, or the mechanic who installed the brand new motor for me should have taken that off and put on one with just the rubber gasket (this had both rubber gasket AND gasket sealant) before putting it in my boat. In fact, I talked with the mechanic about the problems I was having and he said something like "yeah, those factory filters can be really hard to get off with the factory paint all over them and such." So, he knew from experience that the thing was probably gasket sealed on and should have switched it out. Am I po'd? You bet. Relieved, but still po'd that I had to spend so many hours trying to wrench that thing off.

A shout out to Slightly Twisted who called to offer his help, but I had gotten it off about an hour before his call.