Anyone Ever Have This Problem?

I have a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 which is in great shape, with 78,000 miles and runs great. Three times when I have gone to change oil, I have found the oil filter loose but no oil leakage. The first time I figured that I didn't tighten the filter properly but it happened two more times. Used a different brand this time and tightened it more tightly with the wrench. Will have to wait for results!
Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?

You should only have to put the filter on by hand, never tighter. If you can get it off by hand, its a hair loose, but you shouldn't have to really put a lot of pressure with a wrench to get it off. There is no real force on the filter under normal conditions so it unscrewing itself isn't a big concern. Vibrating off isn't really a problem either as the rubber gasket will absorb a lot of that vibration and provide some sticktion to prevent it from coming undone. You are priming the gasket with a coat of oil before putting it on right?

I've done thousands of oil changes and i've never had an issue with putting filter on by hand, i've never had an instance where damage has been done due to oil leakage from the filter.

You may now have a problem getting that filter off. My nephew used an oil filter wrench to tighten his filter and when he tried to take it off the filter just kept getting crushed more and more. It was a real pain in the ass to get the damn thing off.

I am the original owner of this truck and have done every oil change except for two. I am baffled by this problem but will have to wait until the next oil change and see if filter loosens up. If it does, I will put filter on without oil on the gasket and see how that works.
Anyway thanks for your responces.

Whenever I change my oil, I crank the filter on by hand as much as I can then give it a quarter turn with a filter wrench. Never had an issue doing this. I also always fill the filter with a quarter quart or so with oil. Probably not neccessary but it's an old trick that's never done me wrong.

Also, I'm a little superstitious. When I remove the old filter, I wipe some of the old oil from the gasket and wipe it on the new gasket. I consider it a "passing the torch" thing, LOL. This also gives me confirmation that the old gasket didn't stay behind on the block.

DO NOT PUT AN OIL FILTER ON WITHOUT PUTTING OIL ON THE GASKET. Thats how you blow all the oil out of your engine and seize it. It might not do it the first time, but it will eventually.

Filling the filter with oil isn't necessary as it only takes a second to fill it and start pumping oil to the rest of the vehicle, but there is nothing wrong with it either.

Also, make absolutely sure you remove the old gasket before installing the new filter, otherwise you WILL blow all the oil out and seize your engine.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. As long as the filter doesn't unscrew with two fingers, its fine. The problem with the word loose, your loose and mine are two different things.

Try this next time you change your oil. Tighten the filter until the gasket touches the block, then turn the filter 1/2 to 3/4ths of a revolution, no more. Those are the two most common numbers from filter manufacturers for tightening on heavy duty vehicles. (heavy duty vehicles like semis and off road equipment can have filters 10 times the size of an automotive filter, and just going until its tight isn't good enough on those. Instead filter manufactures look at the thread pitch on the filter, and measure the amount of turning past first contact required to get proper compression on the gasket. I talked to the Purolator filter rep a few years back when we switched to them from valvoline, and all of their filters are designed to be turned 1/2 to 3/4 past first contact and thats standard for the industry unless otherwise marked on the filter.)

Some say you HAVE to add oil to the gasket, others say it's superstition and that you don't have to. The reason for it is many believe that the oil lubes the gasket, keeping it from rolling. Considering i don't clean my mounting surface of the oil that drains down after the filter is removed. There's plenty there, doesn't take much. If you wipe and clean everything down, add some. Otherwise you're fine