Fill oil filter at every oil change

Originally Posted by HowAboutThis
Originally Posted by CONMCK
What's your mailing address??

1234 Satire Ln
Sarcasm, KS 55342

I must be your neighbor!
 
I'm confident that no evidence exists that says this is a benefit. I'm not aware of any automakers or oil filter makers (for regular passenger vehicles) that require, let alone recommend, doing this. That said, I can't imagine any harm whatsoever in doing it.
 
Originally Posted by blufeb95
There's some truth to it, probably more of a problem on diesels with huge oil filters I believe CAT recommends prefilling oil filters, but we're talking about filters that probably hold a couple quarts on their own. Most passenger car filters should fill pretty quick and any left over oil in the engine should lubricate it while the filter primes, some people like to crank over the car for a few seconds in clear flood mode to prime the filter before starting the car.


Years ago, I remember getting a bulletin from CAT that says they don't recommend it because too much maintenance out in the field is done under dirty conditions.

http://beamalarm.com/Documents/prefilling_oil_filter_instructions.html
 
If its feasible I will occasionally prefill the oil filter but in some cases depending on how the filter is mounted and what it takes to get the filter up in where its suppose to be (some aren't located in an easy spot or angle), I'd end up dumping all the oil out that I just put in.

even if it do prefill it I try not to get it more then 3/4 full just on the chance that some is spilled when trying to spin it on.
 
What car?


My Mazda has a filter that is very small. It will fill up quickly.

I used to do it when filters were larger. Now I don't think it makes any difference.
 
Originally Posted by Paul_Siu
I was watching a video recently where the person suggest filling the filter with oil before putting it on because it reduce wear that can occur when you restart the car after an oil change. The idea is that you get some wear because the engine don't get oil until the filter fills with oil and transfer to the engine. Is there some truth to this. This is the first time I heard of it.

Paul

If the filter is situated where the oil won't spill out, do it. Otherwise there is enough residual oil on the interior engine surfaces to lubricate sufficiently for the few seconds till the pressure builds back up.
 
In horizontal or base-down applications you can fill the filter with oil and pop it into the freezer overnight.
Be fast when you install the filter.
 
I think minimal wear, but I would rather do it than not if I have a vertical mounted filter.

You know oil change places don't take the time to do it.

I would think it is about the same as starting a car on a really cold day or after sitting for a long time and oil has all drained/dripped off.
 
Last edited:
Well we get new drivers everyday and im happy there asking questions so they can better maintain there rides. It's good topics come back up because we may have new information.
 
Of course. Basic fluid mechanics. It takes time to fill the filter and saturate the element. Physical fact. How long and how much starvation does it cause? I doubt anybody's measure that. So why not just do it as a force of habit to minimize any starvation damage that could happen? It takes little extra effort. I do this on all types of oil filters.

It takes a while to saturate the element. When you fill it, you have to keep refilling to until the level stops going down. This is the element absorbing the oil. This wicking action takes a few refills. That gives pause to how long it takes to get full oil flow into the engine with a dry filter! Why risk it?

For filters mounted sideways or, god forbid, upside down, I also prefill them to saturate the element. Then I pour out the free oil back into the oil jug immediately before installing.
 
Originally Posted by CONMCK
Originally Posted by HowAboutThis
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
If it feels good, do it. This gets discussed a lot.
smile.gif



I disagree. It's very important to fill the oil filter first. If you forget to fill the oil filter and start your car and remember you forgot to fill the oil filter IMMEDIATELY shut your car down, drain the oil (there are extra metals and wear particles because you forgot to fill the new filter with oil), refill with fresh oil, do a UOA of the old oil, put a new filter on filled with oil (there might be metal in the old one due to the millisecond it took to fill it) package the old oil & filter up and PM me so I can dispose of it properly due to the extra metals from an unfilled oil filter (I'll pay up to $10 in shipping if it's a name I've heard of synthetic), then turn your car to the "on" position and off 3 times, then start it, flash your high beams 5 times, and drive with your flashers on for the first 25 miles. It's IMPERATIVE you follow this procedure but ONLY if it's 0w20 and a filter that fits a Subaru or Toyota because I need the used oil and filter you RUINED for my cars.

What's your mailing address??


Is there proof of this? I have never seen a test of (1) delay time in oil pumping to upper oil galley (valve train) from dry oil filter, nor (2) measured wear metal differential between dry & full oil filters.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
In horizontal or base-down applications you can fill the filter with oil and pop it into the freezer overnight.
Be fast when you install the filter.


I actually just use a pulley system on my Subaru to flip the car upside down. It's totally worth the hours of extra work for such an important step.
 
Originally Posted by LubricatusObsess
Of course. Basic fluid mechanics. It takes time to fill the filter and saturate the element. Physical fact. How long and how much starvation does it cause? I doubt anybody's measure that. So why not just do it as a force of habit to minimize any starvation damage that could happen? It takes little extra effort. I do this on all types of oil filters.

It takes a while to saturate the element. When you fill it, you have to keep refilling to until the level stops going down. This is the element absorbing the oil. This wicking action takes a few refills. That gives pause to how long it takes to get full oil flow into the engine with a dry filter! Why risk it?

For filters mounted sideways or, god forbid, upside down, I also prefill them to saturate the element. Then I pour out the free oil back into the oil jug immediately before installing.


Any point to do this on a horizontally mounted filter?
 
LubricatusObsess: "Is there proof of this? I have never seen a test of (1) delay time in oil pumping to upper oil galley (valve train) from dry oil filter, nor (2) measured wear metal differential between dry & full oil filters"

That's why you need to drive with your flashers on for 25 miles. The extra engine load from the electric draw heats the oil faster which helps it flow easier.

It was satire. Or sarcasm. Or whatever it's called. I'm fairly confident the years I lived where winter temps were near -40 at times did more to the engine than a dry filter every 5-10k miles. All those cars went 200k+ No engine issues caused by oil starvation. Still running strong when I got rid of them.

I'm sure in some diesel or industrial applications it's important to do.


then turn your car to the "on" position and off 3 times, then start it, flash your high beams 5 times, and drive with your flashers on for the first 25 miles. It's IMPERATIVE you follow this procedure but ONLY if it's 0w20 and a filter that fits a Subaru or Toyota because I need the used oil and filter you RUINED for my cars.
 
Um, yes - see last paragraph. There is no test proof of increased engine longevity, as I said. If there is an improvement, then why not?
 
Gotcha. Yeah, working on multi-thousand horsepower monster diesels for years was a big deal to pre-lube prior to start. Of course those things' design target was 60,000 hours run time before scrap.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
I'm confident that no evidence exists that says this is a benefit. I'm not aware of any automakers or oil filter makers (for regular passenger vehicles) that require, let alone recommend, doing this. That said, I can't imagine any harm whatsoever in doing it.


^^^ This! I always used to prefill my oil filters but lately I just haven't bothered. (mainly just because it saves a little bit of time and saves another opportunity for spilling oil and making a mess)
 
No evidence of benefit, but I very much enjoy seeing the oil light go out immediately after an oil change, instead of running the engine for 5 seconds with low/no oil pressure while the pump primes the filter. I'll just keep doing it because it's quick, it's easy, and all my filters mount base up
smile.gif
 
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