Hi folks- I've been chasing down an engine whine for some time, and I'm happy to share I've finally fixed it. Wanted to share my findings with ya'll and share some important advice (hint in title).

In this thread (Engine Whine), I stumble through a couple theories about the cause of the whine (alternator, weak battery, pulleys, etc), but never solve the riddle. But, if you read carefully, you'll notice one of my observations was that the sound seemed to be coming from the oil filter area.

After all the new parts, I reluctantly came to conclude either (1) my timing chain was wearing or (2) my oil pump was starting to die. Both were not repairs I wanted to pursue without being 100% sure, so I chose to live with the whine till more symptoms surfaced.

Recently, I remembered reading about a plague of fake Toyota filters from online retailers. So I decided to order a filter from my local Toyota Dealer for ~$5, or about the same price I paid on Amazon for a 5 pack.

Comparing the Amazon filters to the Dealer filters, I could immediately see the print appeared different. See for yourself:

Front Dealer


Front Amazon


Rear Dealer


Rear Amazon


The story goes on
I went ahead and swapped the filter on my car, which had begun to whine almost immediately after a fresh oil change, with the dealer filter. Immediately, the whine went away and hasn't come back for a couple hundred miles.

What's especially frustrating is that I bought filters off Amazon from a "Toyota Dealer," not some random reseller.

At this point, I'm relieved the whine is gone, but frustrated I've been running counterfeit filters. I'm guessing my engine wore a bit faster with these filters, but it seems to be running just fine.

Going forward, I'll be buying filters only from the dealer. This is a no-brainer given the amazon price is nearly identical.

I'm no mechanic, but I'd recommend ya'll do the same.

If you're worried about engine wear from the fake oil filters, you can send the next oil change to Blackstone for an oil analysis.

That is a wild find...

I have been ordering my Toyota filters through amazon for the last 85k... never had an issue.. have black stone tested my oil as well with great results..
That's not to say there isn't a plague of knock-off filters floating around... we live in some crazy times.

Very interesting. There seems to be a lot of fake stuff on Amazon these days. I ordered a "genuine Denso" o2 sensor, and the one that arrived was genuinely not Denso. Over time I've realized it's a good idea to order from a known source (rockauto, dealer, or toyota parts site)

Amazon hasn’t just run half America out of business (the half Walmart didn’t destroy), isn’t just run by a claimed man who appears to be Satan incarnate, but now is flooding markets with counterfeit garbage.

What does it take for people to do the right thing? Seriously. Stop shopping at Amazon. You’re hurting yourself, your country, your communities, etc.

Grow a pair and knock it off.

I have a pair, I shop Amazon but I but my filters from the dealership 5 miles from my house.

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We prob buy too much crap from Amazon but filters are not one. I do not go to Walmart at least! I get filters from my dealer though I'd use Mobil 1 filters or whatever from the auto parts stores if I needed to.

I also have a pair! and still shop amazon. twins!

guy probably loves capitalism too and doesn't see the irony.

About the only way to assure genuine now, buy directly from an authorized dealership.
The level of knock offs is completely unreal and off the charts, purchasing car parts at low prices virtually assures that you get what you pay for.
Some things do not change, only the permutations.

The only way to see if they truly are different is to cut the supposed fake and the one from the dealer. Glad the noise went away on your runner.

Don't waste your money. Nothing you can do about it anyway except keep running known OEM filters and quality oil.

Been one month of regular driving. Whine has not returned.

Case closed. Don't mess around with amazon filters.