Corroded OEM Filter Can..

[toocrazy2yoo]

So I'm under the car trying to figure out where a drop of oil came from on the concrete driveway (someone else's car), and I notice my OEM Hyundai filter, installed just before Xmas with QS clear-bottle Syn, had a trail of road salt down the centerline leading down from the filter-boss it screws on to. My filter hangs a little under 45 degrees from the flange.

Sure nuff, at the roll of the can and the base, it was wet right at the seam. Not dripping, but damp along the seam. It was screwed on nice and tight, but a it had a very slow seep at the seam. So, off to the oil store (AA) for a PureOne and I dipped into my PP pre-November 2005 stash. That OCI was over 1500 miles shy of change, but I figured, in for a dime (a new filter), in for a dollar (dump the fill at 6K and burn some of my stash). I hate wasting good oil, though.

They're either using some noxious road chemicals, or OEM Hyundai filters suck. 2 1/2 months and fewer than 6K on the OCI, not very good life. Folks in the snowy areas need to have a look-see at their filter. So, would I have gotten away with replacing the filter and topping off (obviously it would have been OK, I guess) but I'm wondering if sodium/calcium from the roads would have migrated into the oil and simple prudence dictates an oil change?

Or did I waste 4 quarts of syn 1500 miles early?

 

[Tones]

No way that sodium/calcium would have migrated into the oil. The oil system is under pressure. The sodium/calcium would have to "swim upstream". Any leak would have oil coming out and flushing away the chemicals.

Need more stories/info before condemning the OEM filters. Things can happen with all filters. May be an isolated incident.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

Well, I didn't CONDEMN the OEM filter, but I've never seen one rot like that. The seam where it corroded wasn't even the low part of the filter as it hangs off the car. But sure nuff, it was corroded enough to let oil weep through. Not even enough to drip, but there nonetheless. I'm actually just curious as to what they're putting into the road treatments these days that set this up. I did the PureOne because I didn't have any OEMs immediately at hand (my oil stash and filter stash are 100 miles apart, I need to correct that, hehe).

I figured no harm done, and besides, outside of the center tube nothing could get past the filter media anyway. That much of a gap would have given me oil on the ground in any case, I'd have caught it a lot sooner..

What the heck, 6K OCI. Waddya gonna do?

 

[John_K]

My Sonata has a plastic cover you have to remove to get to the oil filter. I wondered why, perhaps this is why? Maybe some sort of cover would be a good thing.

John

 

[Kestas]

Quote:

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... I'm actually just curious as to what they're putting into the road treatments these days that set this up...

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In addition to the regular salt (NaCl), road crews sometime add CaCl2 to the mix. NaCl is good down to about 20°F, then it's ineffective. CaCl2 is effective down to -60°F. The downside is that it has two chlorine ions instead of one, and this makes CaCl2 much more corrosive than the regular salt.

 

[Steve S]

Some times oil filters fail,I worked for a forklift dealership and one day the manager gave me a list and a couple boxes of filters and said go down the list and change the oil filters as the manufacturer said the filters were faulty.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

Quote:

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My Sonata has a plastic cover you have to remove to get to the oil filter. I wondered why, perhaps this is why? Maybe some sort of cover would be a good thing.

John

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Bingo, JK. The splash protections on this car are awful. Just long enough to make the filter-access difficult, but not enough to protect anything from the alternator back. The alternator is looking awful with only thirty thousand miles.

 

[The Critic]

Quote:

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My Sonata has a plastic cover you have to remove to get to the oil filter. I wondered why, perhaps this is why? Maybe some sort of cover would be a good thing.

John

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If you have a V6, it's a cartridge oil filter that is can-less.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

I agree this magnesium chloride is wreacking havoc; my black Wix filter on 2 vehicles had nearly turned white, no leaks though. But the filter surely took a beating.

 

[wgtoys]

Over the years I have seen leaks at the can seam a handful of times on various brands. My speculation is that the amount of metal caught in the roll/crimp area wasn't exatly right. Considering the wholesale price of most filters it is amazing how relatively rarely this happens. I suppose if the crital point was very thin then road salt could take a marginal situation and make it bad enough to leak.

Unfortunately I don't think that swearing off a particular brand of filter will make you immune to occassional quality issues.

I doubt any road salt migrated in, but I also would have just done my oil change early in your situation.

 

[MonumentOiler]

- a seam where two pieces of steel are bonded
- bad paint coverage (probably caused by the slightly off seal)
- a warm, even hot environment (engine oil at temp for 6k)
- add Mag Cloride in a wet spray on a regular basis and you have almost perfect conditions for corrosion.

 

[Audioquest]

Just did my first oil change on an 07 Accent this past weekend and I found the same thing: corroded oem oil filer cannister. It wasn't leaking, but the bottom plate was rusty where it was facing the road. When I put the new oem filter on, I smeared a little fresh oil on the cannister to protect it.