Soaking the oil filter and installing it with zero dripping - little trick

M

m@x

New member
Hi everyone,

I have never had a car with an oil filter facing down. As soon as I started the oil change, I had to think of a way how to soak the filter and avoid any oil dripping upon the installation of the filter.

This is the first thing that came to my mind:

1) Take the filter =)
1.JPG

2) Pour the oil into the filter until it is fully covered in it.
2.JPG

3) Let the filter soak. In the meantime you can clean the filter housing =)
3.JPG

4) Once the filter is soaked, pour the excess oil back into the canister or into the engine. Give it some time and make sure the oil doesn't drip from the filter.
4.JPG

5) Attach the filter to the engine.


I know, this "trick" is too obvious and maybe not worth creating a new thread. But, as I mentioned earlier, I have never had a car with an oil filter facing down, so I just thought I'd share my own "oil filter eureka". =))

Thanks!
Max
 

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Why do you pre-soak the filter? I've never heard of this and have been doing oil changes for probably 25 years.
 
I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of pre-soaking the filter is either? By the time you crank over the engine after the oil change the filter is saturated and ready to go.
 
When possible I'll fill the filter with oil before installing. But if its a side or upside down mount and is just going to cause a mess I don't bother. I think it is good practice especially on big oil filters, but its not necessary.

Kudos to the OP for using Toyota filter and Mobil 1...thats my combination too
 
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Pre-oiling a filter MAY offer marginal better protection from initial startup after an oil change...and I mean very very very marginal. This is nothing new....and I've even read studies that after 200k miles of testing on hundreds of vehicles...the tore into the engines that had the filter pre-oiled and the engines who's filter wasn't. And the engineers could NOT tell see any difference. If it gives you better piece of mind...GREAT..but I seriously doubt it'll do anything besides waste time.
 
I've seen pressurized systems that push oil through the engine prior to start-up on "built" engines and have seen guys run oil pumps manually prior to the first start-up of an engine build, but have never heard of anyone being concerned about start-up protection after an oil change. I would assume that there is plenty of oil film left throughout the engine after a typical oil change and you still have plenty of protection for those first few seconds after start-up. Nice job on addressing the upside-down filter issues though... now if you could just come up with a drip-free method for removing the filter! The little drain hole on the V6 is great, but still requires some clean-up... not too bad though only having to do it every 5000 miles or about twice a year for me.

I agree on the OEM filter/Mobil 1 combo, too... that's what I use!
 
TRDCal said:
When possible I'll fill the filter with oil before installing. But if its a side or upside down mount and is just going to cause a mess I don't bother. I think it is good practice especially on big oil filters, but its not necessary.

Kudos to the OP for using Toyota filter and Mobil 1...thats my combination too
Click to expand...

X2. My combo too. I don't FILL the filter, but I do put in some (maybe 1/4 of the filter capacity). But as MikeinNH said, really not worth doing.

Still, thanks for sharing, never heard of soaking the filter, interesting though.............
 
m@x said:
Hi everyone,

I have never had a car with an oil filter facing down. As soon as I started the oil change, I had to think of a way how to soak the filter and avoid any oil dripping upon the installation of the filter.

This is the first thing that came to my mind:

1) Take the filter =)
View attachment 87010

2) Pour the oil into the filter until it is fully covered in it.
View attachment 87011

3) Let the filter soak. In the meantime you can clean the filter housing =)
View attachment 87012

4) Once the filter is soaked, pour the excess oil back into the canister or into the engine. Give it some time and make sure the oil doesn't drip from the filter.
View attachment 87013

5) Attach the filter to the engine.


I know, this "trick" is too obvious and maybe not worth creating a new thread. But, as I mentioned earlier, I have never had a car with an oil filter facing down, so I just thought I'd share my own "oil filter eureka". =))

Thanks!
Max
Click to expand...


Max,

you are using a good combo on oil and filter. I have been soaking my filer for 20 years, a habit my father started me on. I think it comes form race car guys and some how made it here on the forums 30 years later.

it was more important on race cars and high mileage vehicles.

what i think people are missing here is you are pre-soaking because pre-filling is not an option on the upside down filters.

I have found that if you just simply fill it to the top quickly then leave it set as you do the drain and fill, it will soak up what you have put in and will not drip.

for all the people that have never heard of it or think its a waste of time..... dumping a bit of oil in your filter before you screw it on takes just seconds, and of all the silly things we do to your vehicles...why not do this, perhaps it helps on dry starts perhaps it does not...in any event there is a reason we use Toyota filters...they have good drain back valves to prevent dry starts, this is just a simple measure to prevent against the same exact thing.

OP thanks for posting, perhaps you will give a few owners on here with OCD one more thing to obsess about.
 
Pre-filling your oil filter is about as worthwhile as shaking the nozzle after filling up to get those last couple of drops.
 
Hi guys,

Thank you all for your feedback!
I-ve pre-soaked the filters on my other cars and I guess I will just continue doing that as a habit. Unless it's detrimental.
I own a BMW e39 and it is recommended to pre-fill oil filters on them.

On one hand it is just my piece of mind, like MikeInNH said. But on the other hand, at least in my BMWs, I have noticed that the Oil Pressure light shuts off faster if the filter was prefilled (first startup).

The film left from the previous oil will protect the engine, I agree. But I am not comfortable running the engine with low oil pressure while it fills the filter.

Again, I haven't looked into reports myself or done extensive search/analysis/reading on this oil topic so correct me if I am wrong.

But, I guess, for me it is worth wasting another 5 minutes to do that extra step. Just for the piece of mind.

Doozi said:
Nice job on addressing the upside-down filter issues though... now if you could just come up with a drip-free method for removing the filter! The little drain hole on the V6 is great, but still requires some clean-up... not too bad though only having to do it every 5000 miles or about twice a year for me.
Click to expand...

Thank you Doozi,
This is what I did when removing the filter:
The hole in the aluminum cup has a nozzle underneath. I use a small coke bottle under it to catch the leaked oil. I also wrap a cord around the bottle's neck and tie the other end to some bracket, just to hold the bottle steady, with the nozzle in it, and prevent the bottle from falling down.
After installing the new filter I carefully sprayed the cup with the brake cleaner and all the dirt was flushed into the same bottle.

Max
 
MikeInNH said:
I've even read studies that after 200k miles of testing on hundreds of vehicles...the tore into the engines that had the filter pre-oiled and the engines who's filter wasn't. And the engineers could NOT tell see any difference.
Click to expand...

Yeah right. I don't believe it and challenge you to point me to a study on this.

If this is true and you prove me dead wrong, then as a human race in a world with starvation and neglect we should be ashamed to have spent significant time and $$ to go to these lengths to determine this.
 


Thanks TOY2G,

Yes, the main reason I pre-soak the filter is because it is just a habbit, and it gives me a good piece of mind for another extra 5 min, so why not? =)

IMHO, it is wrong to run a study on a specific engine and apply the conclusions to all other engines.

Max
 
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Yeah right. I don't believe it and challenge you to point me to a study on this.
Click to expand...

I read that study some 20+ years back...before the internet. If you want to look it up it was in Popular Mechanics some 20+ years ago.

But it's NOT for me to prove one way of the other...You want to find out...do your own research. You want to believe that pre-oiling a filter works...GREAT.

My own personal experience.. also tells me that pre-oiling a filter is insignificant. I've personally owned 4 vehicles well past 300k miles. One Honda Accord was still running strong approaching 500k miles...My daughter sold my 98 Pathfinder to her ex when it had over 530k miles...I've never ever pre-oiled any filter...and those engines were still running strong after 500k miles. If the pre-oiling made one bit of difference I'm sure I would have experienced it by now...and I'm sure THOUSANDS of auto owners all across the country would be too.

Since you're believe that there is a difference..please show me the study that says there is a difference...ONE study will do fine.
 
Filling the oil filter is " OLD SCHOOL" but I too still do it. It comes from the old pushrod motors in the 60s and 70s and even 80s. The thought was that once you drained the oil and pulled the filter from a motor that the filter screwed up onto the motor, all the oil in the passages drained out. If the oil filter had a good drain back valve when you shut the motor off and the oil pump stopped pumping the full filter would hold some oil in the top of the motor. Ever notice how much oil can pouring out when you removed the filter ???? So if the filter was empty after you did the oil change you had to wait for the filter to fill up before the oil pump could get oil up to the top of the motor. So pre-filling the filter would shorten the time the motor was running dry.
Its not really a issue nowadays as most motors turnover a few times before they fire. That give the oil pump time to load the engine. Not to mention oil pumps are ALOT more effective today. I remember having to pack a pump full of Vaseline before you started the motor the first time to create a suction to get the oil into the pump.
 
I guess the engineers are Purolator don't know what their talking about...

Frequently Asked Questions

I'd love to see ONE engine that couldn't make to 300k miles because the filter was never pre-filled with oil.

SunGod made a good analogy. Shaking the handle will give you those few extra drops of gas in the tank...but you'll never notice the difference. I shake the handle too.....gas in ground water isn't good either.

Is it better to pre-ill an oil filter...Sure it is...Will it make any difference in the long one?? Nope.
 
Screw gas in ground water! What I'm paying for gas I want every last cents worth!

But yeah, it seems to be one of those "back in the day" habits. Nothing wrong with that.
 
I think that we all have our own little habits that we've carried over the years of working on things and as long as, like someone said earlier, those habits aren't hurting anything then it's just good piece of mind. The placebo effect is powerful stuff!

:cheers:
 
JohnnyT said:
If this is true and you prove me dead wrong, then as a human race in a world with starvation and neglect we should be ashamed to have spent significant time and $$ to go to these lengths to determine this.
Click to expand...

Clearly you haven't watched TLC lately. There are far more things the human race should be ashamed of.

:biggrin1:
 
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