Do You Keep a Spare Oil Filter Housing on Hand for Cartridge Filters?

Unless it's made of plastic I can't imagine how one could damage the oil filter housing while trying to remove the cap and gain access to the cartridge filter.

In addition to the housing you'd also need a spare gasket.

Seems like a waste of money.
I'm pretty sure you have never dealt with one of these stuck Toyota composite filter housings.
 
I currently have 4 cars with plastic housings. Seems like a waste to me. Had a 2007 A6 with 150k miles for 12 years and never had an issue with the original. Same with wifes X3 10years 100k miles no issue. I do torque the to 20 ft/lbs though
 
Unless it's made of plastic I can't imagine how one could damage the oil filter housing while trying to remove the cap and gain access to the cartridge filter.

In addition to the housing you'd also need a spare gasket.

Seems like a waste of money.
The filter housing on my E350 is composite. And there is no gasket, but rather an o-ring. A replacement o-ring is included with each new filter. The filter housing on my son's Audi A3 wagon is also a composite, as is the filter housing on my daughter-in-law's Kia Sedona.

Until recently, I though all cars with cartridge oil filters had composite housings. I have never seen one of the aluminum filter housings, but only heard about them. That is why I raised the question.
 
The filter housing on my E350 is composite. And there is no gasket, but rather an o-ring. A replacement o-ring is included with each new filter. The filter housing on my son's Audi A3 wagon is also a composite, as is the filter housing on my daughter-in-law's Kia Sedona.

Until recently, I though all cars with cartridge oil filters had composite housings. I have never seen one of the aluminum filter housings, but only heard about them. That is why I raised the question.
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Gotcha. Here's an aluminum example for older N-series BMW engine.
 
In another discussion here on BITOG, @JeffKeryk mentioned that he is recently fighting with a stuck filter cap on a car. This reminded me of a question that I have pondered for a while, and decided to ask here, to see what fellow BITOG members do. Who here keeps a spare oil filter housing on hand for their cars that have cartridge type filters?

I've read many threads here, where others have shared experiences of damaging an oil filter housing while trying to remove them. If this were to happen while doing an oil change on my E350, none of the local parts stores are going to have a replacement on the shelf. The nearest MB dealership is close to an hour drive, and I could have to wait until they are open. Or I would be ordering a filter housing from FCP, and paying extra shipping for overnight or two day delivery, which would probably more than double the price .

This has led me to wonder if it would be prudent to buy a spare filter housing, so if I ever do break one during a filter change, I could replace it then and there, and not have to leave my car incapacitated for a few days, while getting a replacement. So what do you do? Is it worth having a spare? Or is the occurrence of broken filter housings rare enough that it is worth taking the risk, and just deal with it if it ever happens?
Nope. Never had issues with the plastic housings on my VW's with cartridge filters. Don't cross thread them and torque to specifications with a torque wrench.
 
View attachment 144554Gotcha. Here's an aluminum example for older N-series BMW engine.
Ah. We are both talking about a different component. When I speak of the housing, I"m really referring to the cap. I used the term housing, because when I looked it up on FCP Euro, that is proper nomenclature for the cap. Or at least what they call it.

Yes, I agree that there would never be a reason to keep a spare of what you are calling the housing.
 
hmm, housing / cap? Reading through the responses I guess I'm the only one so far who has a spare oil filter cap but not because I'm worried about breaking it...

I have a Toyota with a 2GR-FE that uses an Al oil filter cap, I picked up an original spare quite a long time ago because I don't particularly like dealing with messy filter cartridges when it comes time to change the oil. I prep the spare oil cap beforehand with new o-rings and a filter. When changing the oil I remove the oily filter cap and old filter and simply swap in the clean and ready spare. I leave the used filter and its cap flipped upside down in a sealed container to drain and maybe after a few months I will come back to it and prep it for the next oil change. It's as close to having a conventional oil filter without using some silly mod kit.

I've also done this with drain plugs, drop the plug in the used oil? Who cares, just put in the clean spare that's already prepped with the new washer and deal with fishing out the used drain plug later.
 
I've owned many Dodge, Jeep 3.6 engines. I mark the cap / housing with a shot of orange paint. I've never "torqued" the cap. I've never changed a O-ring. Tighten cap until paint marks line up. STOP!!!!!!!! I've never had a cap leak either. 2019 Dodge Charger SXT 36,000 miles have done 15 oil changes. Lots of short trips. Same O-ring. Zero leaks.
 
I kept a spare composite cap for my old 2.4 GM's. Excrement happens and the cost of one filter/cap filter combo to get a spare cap is minimal. An ounce of prevention........
 
hmm, housing / cap? Reading through the responses I guess I'm the only one so far who has a spare oil filter cap but not because I'm worried about breaking it...

I have a Toyota with a 2GR-FE that uses an Al oil filter cap, I picked up an original spare quite a long time ago because I don't particularly like dealing with messy filter cartridges when it comes time to change the oil. I prep the spare oil cap beforehand with new o-rings and a filter. When changing the oil I remove the oily filter cap and old filter and simply swap in the clean and ready spare. I leave the used filter and its cap flipped upside down in a sealed container to drain and maybe after a few months I will come back to it and prep it for the next oil change. It's as close to having a conventional oil filter without using some silly mod kit.

I've also done this with drain plugs, drop the plug in the used oil? Who cares, just put in the clean spare that's already prepped with the new washer and deal with fishing out the used drain plug later.
That actually makes a lot of sense. I also hate dealing the the messy filter/cap (housing :giggle:) while in the process of trying to install a clean filter. I can see where your method, of having a clean cap and filter, all ready with new o-ring, makes a lot of sense to me. It would be worth the price of a spare filter cap.

The spare drain plug is also a good idea, but since I use an oil extractor on the E350 and a Fumoto valve on the Outback, I'm currently not having to deal with the nasty drain plug hassle. :D
 
Reading through the responses here, it appears that most issues with filter housings on Toyotas, particularly Tundras. Sounds like upgrading the the aluminum housing is a common practice.


I'd say this is 99.9% wrong. I'd say it is the owner's fault, whether they are doing the maintenance themself or paying someone to do it.

If they are paying someone to do it, they are paying the wrong person. If they are doing it themselves, they are doing it wrong.


It's not rocket science. Buy a good cartridge filter wrench/adapter and use it properly. Don't buy something cheap. Don't not make sure the 3 tabs are in the 3 slots and the 1 tab is in the single slot. Use two hands. Use even, steady pressure.

Again, I've done over 60 oil changes with these cartridge filters and haven't jacked one up yet.
 
I don't keep a spare for either of the two cartrige-filter-equipped vehicles I service (2009 Mazda5 and 2009 Kia Sedona).

No problems with either, but I always tighten the housing by hand.

The parts manager at my closest Mazda dealership is a really good fellow. He advised me to never remove the metal drain plug in the plastic housing - it would seize, and the plastic housing break when people tried to remove it.

Nevertheless, I have been using that drain plug (which prevents a lot of mess), and have had no problems over almost 10 years.
 
On my Cobalt / Ecotec 2.4 the housing is cast into the aluminum block, if I understand correctly. I think one would have to really be cranking on it to crack it (however, there was at least one kid on the Cobalt forum that managed to do so).

The cap is plastic and I have never had to replace mine, nor the O-ring. I realize some people change the O-ring with every oil change but I don't and it doesn't leak. 270K miles, so far so good. I'd imagine they generally don't leak unless someone messes them up during a filter change.
 
I'd say this is 99.9% wrong. I'd say it is the owner's fault, whether they are doing the maintenance themself or paying someone to do it.

If they are paying someone to do it, they are paying the wrong person. If they are doing it themselves, they are doing it wrong.


It's not rocket science. Buy a good cartridge filter wrench/adapter and use it properly. Don't buy something cheap. Don't not make sure the 3 tabs are in the 3 slots and the 1 tab is in the single slot. Use two hands. Use even, steady pressure.

Again, I've done over 60 oil changes with these cartridge filters and haven't jacked one up yet.
If the filter is installed correctly there is no problem removing it. That's a big if.
The composite filter housing is a bad design because it is error prone.
Many Corolla owners go to Quickie Lubes, whatever. Add in heat cycles and you have a perfect storm.
Then you have someone like me who helps friends and family with their vehicles and I become the lucky dog who gets to fix the problem.
I've run into this problem on 2 out of 3 Corollas I've serviced in the past few years.
 
I've owned many Dodge, Jeep 3.6 engines. I mark the cap / housing with a shot of orange paint. I've never "torqued" the cap. I've never changed a O-ring. Tighten cap until paint marks line up. STOP!!!!!!!! I've never had a cap leak either. 2019 Dodge Charger SXT 36,000 miles have done 15 oil changes. Lots of short trips. Same O-ring. Zero leaks.
Good suggestion about marking the cap and housing. l will probably scribe mine before the next oil change. But ****ed if I throw away a new o-ring instead of replacing the old one.
 
I would probably keep just one and if I had a vehicle with one of those weird plastic drain plugs since you can't really call them a bolt I'd probably keep a spare one too.
 
The truck is 100% aluminum cap & housing. If it breaks then I need to stop touching anything mechanical.

The Tiguan is probably plastic/composite so again unless I use a 1/2 impact I am sure it will outlive the car.
 
I had to buy a socket for it. I keep it with the 10 pack of filters I bought. I grok the reasons for the change to cartridge filters, but I'm still getting the moves down on the Camrys. I just glad Toyota didn't put in the tupperware tray that holds the front clip together like Transit Connect. :cool:
 
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