Sorry for the delay in response. Situation went from bad to worst. After trying several ideas I drilled a hole and tried a screw driver. No luck, just kept breaking the plastic so I towed it to my trusted for years independent mechanic. He had never seen anything that tight. Almost like the "O" ring sized to the aluminum housing. Needless to say he broke the aluminum oil cooler housing trying to remove the filter canister, sooo he is currently tearing the top half of the engine apart to remove and replace the oil cooler-that is if we can even find one to order... Beyond frustrated with this design! To get the cooler out, the valve covers have to be removed which means the ERG piping into the top of engine has to come off. On a side note once the EGR piping was removed a peek inside revealed TONS of soot. Not happy about that either. 20700 miles with ZERO problems but now I am concerned. Simple oil change turns into this and seeing the soot and Ford dropping the 3.0 has me wondering if I keep it or move on. Its a shame, waited for an F150 diesel for decades and was beyond excited when it finally happened.