Fram oil filter spinning off

[VWFox74]

Hello everyone,

My father in law owns a Toyota Prius, recently while driving on a local expressway his Oil Filter spun off and he lost all his oil in his car. The car had 98k on it, he had driven it for over 15 minutes before the oil filter light came on which he then pulled over and had the car towed to the mechanic. His local mechainc uses Fram filters… (I know, I’ve warned him multiple times) which I suspect is the cause of the problem. Toyota refuses to honor their warranty because when they inspected the car there was no oil filter on the vehicle. The threads were not damaged where the filter screws on so it had to spin off not blow off.

Has anyone else heard of something like this?
Thanks VWFOX

 

[rangerdood]

How long had it been since the filter was installed? Was it just never tightened down?

 

[Quest]

unless there's a manufacturing defect, the likeliness of a bad filter is fairly remote (unless it's the wrong filter type/part #).

My hunch is that rangerdood's guess is quite likely the cause: the mech didn't tighten up the oil filter to spec, and it's likely to cause it to shake itself loose due to vibrations, etc.

 

[slipperysam]

My guess is it was never tightened up sufficiently by who ever changed it last. If you can find the old filter you will see if the threads failed or not but it is very rare.Another reason to DIY. You can use the best products for the money and you'll know it was done right.

SS

 

[Mr Nice]

Hopefully his engine isn't damaged.

He should just install a new filter , add oil and drive the car to see what happens.

 

[Lost1]

Sounds like the problem was a failure on the part of the mechanic, not the filter- Fram or otherwise.

A filter failure would be something like a burst canister (or a completely blown off canister that leaves the threaded base still attached to the engine) that allows all the oil to escape the engine.
However, a loose filter that spins off cleanly because it isn't tightened properly is human error.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'm surprised it can even happen. The oil would be long gone before a filter managed to spin off the spud. It should have leaked out well before it even got that loose.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I'm surprised it can even happen. The oil would be long gone before a filter managed to spin off the spud. It should have leaked out well before it even got that loose.


Agree 1000% with Gary.

You would have seen a no oil or no oil pressure for a long time before the filter "fell" off.

Bill

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: VWFox74
Hello everyone,

Toyota refuses to honor their warranty because when they inspected the car there was no oil filter on the vehicle.


Toyota isn't refusing to honor their warranty. their warranty doesn't cover that.

 

[BarkerMan]

Believe me it's human error. The Prius filter is right out front and easy to get to. There is no excuse for such an incident.

By the way the PN for a larger filter and a Mobl 1 is M1-209. It makes the stock filter look like a thimble.

 

[VWFox74]

The filter was on for several thousand miles before it came off with no signs of leakage. I let my father in law know that someone could be out to get him and loosened it while he was at work. But the oil would have leaked out as soon as he started the car, and I can't imagine he would have gotten very far. The threads weren't damaged on the engine according to the both his mechanic and the toyota mechanic.

Now my father in law's mechanic's insurance will cover up to $2k of the costs to repair the engine... but according to the quote from Toyota its going to costs around $4k to fix.

It all seems very strange.. and I am sure the Toyota Dealer thinks he's trying to pull a fast one.. He has the extended warranty up to 100k miles.. and all the sudden he rolls in at 98k miles with a blown engine.

 

[Gary Allan]

Tell him to go back to the dealer and have a "real talk" (not just a breeze through - get the customer out of my hair blow off) with the service manager. Ask them "what can you do for me?". Have him express that he's not trying to pull a fast one, the mechanic is taking responsibility for the problem ..but only covers $2k of the bill (this assumes that the mechanic's insurance doesn't try and dodge this bill too - that is, the check isn't paid yet).

or..

ask the mechanic if $2k will allow him to put a reman long block in. It won't, I suspect, cover it all ..but he may be more willing to put the labor in gratis (as he should) and probably pick up a bit of the shortage.

Odd situation with no happy outcome. The best you can do is damage control at this point.

 

[VWFox74]

My father in law has had conversations with Toyota of America. So far no progress made, but he’s trying to force Toyota to pay for the damages. Right now there are no Long blocks avail from Jasper engines for the Prius. So the alternative is to have a crate engine shipped from the manufacture. The mechanic is a personal friend of my father in law so he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get the problem resolved. But of course they both would be happier if Toyota would pay the whole bill. The car is drivable… but Toyota recommended a new long block. I’ll keep the board updated on what happens. But I am sure we’ll never know what happened with the oil filter.

 

[Quest]

VWFox74-

Given the circumstances (very likely human errors), I would pretty much doubt that Toyota would take on portion of the tab and the responsibility shall fall on that mechanic's hands instead of Toys. You can try though but ultimately, it's the person who serviced the oil change for you who shall take that tab, no matter how you dice it.

Sorry if it sounds grim to you. I used to work in the industry and I've seen quite a few of these calls (due to ousider mech's bad work/mistakes) and none of the imported car dealerships I've served would take on the tab, period.

Just my thoughts on this subject.Good luck.

Q.

 

[Vspec]

Im not trying to add gas to a fire but I see NO reason for Toyota to put a hand in this at all.

1. The car has 98k miles, If I remember correctly thats outside of the PowerTrain warranty that Toyota offers.

2. The car was being serviced by a independent shop, free of Toyota or Toyota Dealerships.

3. The engine itself, the threads to filter were not the cause of the damage.

So from what I can gather either the filter was faulty(unlikely) or the mechanic failed to tighten the filter up (most likely).

How is Toyota responsible for a replacement anything? A warranty isn't a idiot-proof freebe guide to a vehicle.

Owning a STi I see lots of people try to commit warranty fraud and it just makes me angry that when I go in for a legitmate cause they always assume im trying to pull a fast one.

I hope everything gets sorted out for you, but I still can't grasp why toyota should help you at all.

 

[Dyoel182]

Originally Posted By: Vspec

Owning a STi I see lots of people try to commit warranty fraud and it just makes me angry that when I go in for a legitmate cause they always assume im trying to pull a fast one.


Same with some Mazda folks. Even though my cars are all out of warranty I wouldnt even think to try committing fraud like that.

 

[Footpounds]

Originally Posted By: Vspec
Im not trying to add gas to a fire but I see NO reason for Toyota to put a hand in this at all.

1. The car has 98k miles, If I remember correctly thats outside of the PowerTrain warranty that Toyota offers.

2. The car was being serviced by a independent shop, free of Toyota or Toyota Dealerships.

3. The engine itself, the threads to filter were not the cause of the damage.

So from what I can gather either the filter was faulty(unlikely) or the mechanic failed to tighten the filter up (most likely).

How is Toyota responsible for a replacement anything? A warranty isn't a idiot-proof freebe guide to a vehicle.

Owning a STi I see lots of people try to commit warranty fraud and it just makes me angry that when I go in for a legitmate cause they always assume im trying to pull a fast one.

I hope everything gets sorted out for you, but I still can't grasp why toyota should help you at all.


X2
Not piling on but I'm interested in knowing your father-in-laws position as well on why Toyota is even remotely responsible.

 

[VWFox74]

My Father in law purchased the extended warranty the salesman pushes... So he feels he's entitled to something. The only thing he knows is that its not his fault the car is in need of repair.

Now I've told him several times not to use Fram filters and even change his oil every time he visits me using Napa Gold filters and Mobil one oil. He still complains about the price even though he's getting FREE labor.

I'll probably call him later today to get an update, but I think what's going to happen is that his mechanic is going to fix the car for him since he was the last one to do an oil change to it.

 

[browning300wsm]

the problem is not the FRAM filter ..i blew an oil line and within 10 seconds the idiot lite lit up on my dash ...i don't blame the dealership for not paying for the blown engine ...the big problem was between the seat and the steering wheel ..

 

[Brett Miller]

I'm with Vspec, I don't see how he can expect Toyota to repair the car. Nothing they did caused the problem.