Do not fill oil filter

[Vilan]

Originally Posted By: road_rascal
Someone on one of the motorcycle boards I'm on said not to fill/ partially fill the oil filter before installation. This was based on a study by Caterpillar stating that oil right from the can/jug is dirty.


If oil straight from the jug is dirty, why is it bad to prefill your filter with it and yet OK to run 5-10k miles with it? That oil is going through your filter thousands of times during your OCI... giving it a bit of a headstart shouldn't change anything.

Am I missing something?

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: Saturn_Fan


Especially with our Corollas Bill. The filter on that doggone car is so easy to fill 100% without making any mess.


They have to be the easiest engines to work on.

Yes indeed. I can put my hand on everything in that engine bay. I'll bet the Toyota techs do not mind working on the 1ZZ-FE. Compared to a 2006 Honda V-6 powered Saturn Vue I once owned, this one like a very simplistic design. Unusual for a 2008 car.

 

[road_rascal]

Wow- a lot more responses than I expected. Thanks guys.

 

[widman]

The problem is not usually so much in the dirty new oil. Although it is not filtered to ISO standards, the particles are normally small and few. I've got lots of analysis of new oils that show 2 to 4 ppm of dirt. But the funnels used are usually filthy.
Most recommendations I see say that if you want to pre-fill, pour into the outside (small holes) past the retention valve. that way it has to filter before getting to the engine.

 

[oilyriser]

Compared to the loose junk that's already inside the filter, a bit of dirt from an oil jug will not matter.

Try filling a new filter with solvent, and then emptying it into a clean white container.

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: ziggy
I was always told and taught to re fill, because a dry filter, puts some stress on the oil pump, and its not good for the oil pump at all. It help degrade, or break the pump.
How will dry filter put some stress on an oil pump
and how is it not good for the pump at all?

 

[Gary Allan]

The images are gone, but here's Mark's thread on the topic

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/posts/111950/

 

[LTVibe]

I'm not concerned about new oil being "dirty".

But how many of us here have noticed new oil filters that were not perfectly clean? I've seen tiny specs of cardboard from the box, or even specs of metal from the cutting of the threads. Some of these particles could have easily passed through the filter hole during shipment, ending up on the clean side of the element. And these particles are "cleaned out" during the first few minutes after starting the engine.

 

[Kestas]

My colleague got a free sample of Dex VI when it first came out. Being anal about his vehicles, he filtered the entire pail of Dex VI in the lab before putting it in his vehicle, so I got to see how clean commercially produced lube can be.

He did filter a measurable amount of particles, but nothing that would alarm me on a practical level.

Caterpillar is a respectable company, we do a lot of business with them. They wouldn't've made such a statement without some history behind it. They must've had problems in the past with clients charging dirty oil during service. Their machinery seems to always be covered in dirt. Not our vehicles.

 

[beanoil]

Originally Posted By: road_rascal
Someone on one of the motorcycle boards I'm on said not to fill/ partially fill the oil filter before installation. This was based on a study by Caterpillar stating that oil right from the can/jug is dirty.

Until someone figures out how to get every drop of oil from the can/jug through the filter before it goes into the crankcase, the point is moot. I fill them up if they are vertical, if they are horizontal, I don't. Either way, I have had zero issues in 40 years of DIY oil changes.

 

[grcmptrnrd]

The service manual for my Sprotster specificly says to fill the filter before putting it on the bike.

 

[onion]

On my own vehicles, I fill the filter if it's convenient... otherwise I don't worry about it.

At the shop, I'm a lazy ba$tard. The only times I fill oil filters is if I've just rebuilt an engine- or if it uses a Huey fuel injection system (which requires oil pressure to start).

Most of the time I just spin on the filter(s), start the engine, and top off.

 

[alreadygone]

Originally Posted By: beanoil
Originally Posted By: road_rascal
Someone on one of the motorcycle boards I'm on said not to fill/ partially fill the oil filter before installation. This was based on a study by Caterpillar stating that oil right from the can/jug is dirty.

Until someone figures out how to get every drop of oil from the can/jug through the filter before it goes into the crankcase, the point is moot. I fill them up if they are vertical, if they are horizontal, I don't. Either way, I have had zero issues in 40 years of DIY oil changes.


Have had zero issues relating to this subject in nearly 40 years of PROFESSIONAL oil changes!

Bob

 

[H2GURU]

Caterpillar made this statement in reference to the bulk dispensing stations at many trucking garages. These places are, shall we say, NOT noted for their cleanliness and resulting stuff that could wind up in an engine during a PM?

 

[oilyriser]

This is almost enough to get me to buy a fitting, hose, and a small suction pump, so I can pre-flush my oil filters by immersing them in a small pail of oil and sucking through the middle hole.

 

[mcshooter]

i fill my filter on my turbo car as iam not sure of the oil route. it appears it goes equally to the oil cooler and filter.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: oilyriser
This is almost enough to get me to buy a fitting, hose, and a small suction pump, so I can pre-flush my oil filters by immersing them in a small pail of oil and sucking through the middle hole.


We worry about NOTHING.

I've got LOW LOW single digit used oil analysis many times with engines over 5-7k with normal oils and normal filters. I've prefilled every oil filter that can be done (and wet the element on the ones that can not) for the last 6 years.

Not a single issue.

Don't worry. Just run the correct size filter that came on the engine, put in oil and change it when the MFG stated in the manual.

You'll be fine and doing more than prob 80% of the vehicles out there... (and they get down the road with no issues).

Some of us need some PROFESSIONAL HELP!

 

[Steve S]

Some times we read things we have no idea what we are reading about but it sounds correct.

 

[mechtech2]

I like to pre wet a gas filter and oil filter.
The possible sudden surge of fluid has been known to tear fuel filters [especially the old high pressure systems], and I think it is a good idea for oil filters a well.
This applies to cartridge or spin on filters.

 

[andyd]

I'm just a shade tree hack, but I have never experienced any bad things from not filling filters. Yes, the oil light is on for a second or two, but the bearings are still oiled from the previous run. My cars all have over a 100k miles on them. I just oil the gasket and spin the new filter on.