OK, not me, personally.
I was watching a TV program made in 1963. A guy asks one of his friends to look at his car because it’s leaking oil. His friend says, “Your oil filter has a leaky oil gasket. I can fix that.”
Were oil filters serviceable back then? Nowadays, if there were some problem with a filter, I’d expect you’d just replace it.
Likely, the repair had nothing to do with the filter. The car as an oil pan attached to the undercarriage, where the oil happily sloshes around when it’s not being circulated through the engine. This pan is held on with a perimeter of screws and between the pan and the undercarriage is a rubber gasket (normally) making a tight seal. This gasket can become deformed or misaligned or possibly one or more screws isn’t in tightly enough, allowing leaks.
Repair is pretty straightforward:[ul][li]Run the engine for five minutes to let the oil warm up and flow more easily[]Put the car on a hoist or jackstands[/li][li]Remove the retaining screw in the oil pan and let the oil flow out into a receptacle[/li][li]Remove the oil pan, reinsert the retaining screw, wipe clean[/li][li]Examine the gasket, replace if necessary (if you’ve gone to this trouble, you may as well replace it in any event, since they’re not expensive)[/li][li]Remove and replace the oil filter while you’re at it[/li][li]Replace the oil pan and carefully reinsert the screws, finger-tight[/li][li]Tighten the screws in a criss-cross pattern. Don’t force them[/li][]Lower the car and put in fresh oil, using the dipstick to check the level[/ul]
My first car was made in 1966 (or late-1965 – it was a 1966 model). Its oil filter was not like the spin-on ones we have today. Instead it had a non-disposable canister in which sat a replacable paper filter. A new gasket came with each new filter element. It was fairly easy to damage the rubber gasket with the edge of the metal canister.
Actually, on further analysis, it occurs to me that in 1963, there might have been a seperate gasket for the oil filter itself. This item shows a filter with an additional gasket. Further research uncovers a 1963 lawsuit centering on an incorrectly-installed oil filter gasket. Modern oil filters have the rubber gasket built in.
Yeah, that’s the thing.
Some spin-on filters have a center gasket, like a rubber washer, that fits around the screw on point. Often the old washer will stick to the base and, if not noticed, the new filter and washer will not allow the outside filter gasket to seat properly. It feels tight, but it’s not. Also, failure to lubricate the rubber seals can cause them to grab on the metal surface and become deformed, causing a leak. The last thing you want to do is overtighten a filter, if it leaks, take it off and determine why. A good firm ‘handtight’ is normally sufficient. If you can’t get a solid grip to handtighten, then a quarter turn w/ a filter wrench may be needed, but never overdo it and always do a visual check w/ the motor running. Probably the most common mistake during oil changes, is forgetting to tighten the drain plug on the oil pan.
While this apparently is not relevant to the OP, it is true that sometimes engine oil pan gaskets fail. However, on many vehicles there’s a LOT of work involved in getting to the point where you have access to remove the oil pan. Depending on the car, it may be necessary to drop exhaust pipes, remove crossmembers, and/or undo motor mounts and raise the engine (which sometimes means removing things on top of the engine so it can be raised). It’s not always as simple as the above list might suggest.
Further, for clarity, it’s not a retaining screw, it’s a drain plug. And there’s no sense in not replacing it before dropping the pan.
Sure there is, if you don’t want to lose the greasy little thing. 
While everyone here has made some good points, I gotta say, without knowing the make and model of the vehicle we really don’t have enough information to answer the question with any certainty.
I have several old vehicles and in most cases a simple clockwise turn of the filter (by hand) should take care of the problem. If not, pull the filter and check the gasket for problems, replace if necessary and reinstall.
BTW if the vehicle is '63 or older. The odds are that replacing the pan gasket is as simple as Bryan suggested.
Newer cars can be a real pain in the ass though, just like Gary was saying.
BTW Bryan, I was thinking “retainng screw…WTF?” myself.
Hell, I hate working on new cars. The newest vehicle that I own is a “like new” '73 Caddy Sedan Deville. Not scratch on her, original upholstery is like new and only 65K miles on the original big 472 cu" motor. SOB is fast too.
She’s a thirsty bitch though!
(I do have a little Dodge sport for running around in but I try not to think about it.)
I admittedly screwed up (and not solely on this point); I knew it was “drain plug” but drew a blank.
Sorry.
I drive a 2003 turbodiesel VW Jetta, and my oil filter is the “cartridge” type – it’s very similar in structure to an air filter. Each filter comes with a new gasket that goes in the filter housing.
A couple of other data points.
In the early 60’s GM cars still had cartridge type oil filters, that used a seperate gasket. So if the two guiys were talking about a Chevy it is in the relm of possibility that the gasket for the filter can was leaking.
Johnny you forgot your B had 2 count them 2 gaskets to contend with on the oil filter housing. One between the filter cartridge and the oil cooler take off, and the other between the oil cooler take off and the block. These could be a bloody bitch to get to seal sometimes. Ask me how I know this.
Cars now a days seem to be going back to cartridge filters. Volvo, VW, and Mercedes all have at least some cars with cartridge type oil filters. Often serviced from above.