if you have a high mileage engine dont open the drain and sat for a long time, the oil will compleatly drain from the oil pump, and be hard to pressure up. it happened to my dad.
How to remove oil filter without oil spilling?
- Thread starter LucasDK
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So if the filter's screw base is pointing down when mounted on the engine, then there are only two ways to avoid a mess:
1) remote filter mount so filter screw base is up or
2) drain the oil, then turn the car upside down to remove the filter.
1) remote filter mount so filter screw base is up or
2) drain the oil, then turn the car upside down to remove the filter.
Originally Posted By: larryinnewyork
My 2002 Ford Ranger has an oil filter mounted at 45 degrees.
When I begin to loosen it, oil pours out.
What Ford did was attach a FUNNEL just below the filter.
The oil will go thru the funnel and into a container I have on the floor.
Works real good and I always liked that idea.
The funnel is mostly important because it keeps the oil from pouring all over the starter. Leave it to Ford to design an engine where the oil dumps all over the starter unless a small plastic funnel is there.
It does work though.
My 2002 Ford Ranger has an oil filter mounted at 45 degrees.
When I begin to loosen it, oil pours out.
What Ford did was attach a FUNNEL just below the filter.
The oil will go thru the funnel and into a container I have on the floor.
Works real good and I always liked that idea.
The funnel is mostly important because it keeps the oil from pouring all over the starter. Leave it to Ford to design an engine where the oil dumps all over the starter unless a small plastic funnel is there.
Some of you people are over thinking an oil change process way too much!
Originally Posted By: mr_diy
If I stuff rags around the filter it can soak up much of the oil, but still is a mess. The only way to get the offending oil would require a siphon down the center tube, too much of a hassle. Maybe turning over the engine might cause the oil pump to pull out this excess oil?
The oil filter is after the oil pump, so turning the engine over with no oil in the pan (not recommended) would push whatever oil is in the pump and galleries into the oil filter. When the pump starts sucking air, then the oil in all the passages in the engine won't move because there's no driving force from the pump anymore.
If I stuff rags around the filter it can soak up much of the oil, but still is a mess. The only way to get the offending oil would require a siphon down the center tube, too much of a hassle. Maybe turning over the engine might cause the oil pump to pull out this excess oil?
The oil filter is after the oil pump, so turning the engine over with no oil in the pan (not recommended) would push whatever oil is in the pump and galleries into the oil filter. When the pump starts sucking air, then the oil in all the passages in the engine won't move because there's no driving force from the pump anymore.
brakleen
Thank you all for your answers.
However, I have a problem. And I am very sorry for that. I wrote my original post too fast and messed up the words vertical and horizontal. It should have been horizontal and not vertically mounted oil filters. :-(
Basically it looks like this:
http://www.messicks.com/techimages/7800-engine-filter.jpg
In the meantime I bought a filter and cut it open with a saw to see whats going on inside.
I have made the following conclusions:
On the engine block there is a threaded pipe (OUTLET) for the oil filter and a hole adjacent to the pipe which acts as the INLET for the oil filter. The position of the INLET hole has a major impact on oil spills.
I assume the following: During an oil drain an equilibrium will slowly establish within the entire filter. If the filter is old and clogged this might take a long time (because oil pressure is needed to move oil across the filter media itself). The bypass valve (if fitted) should have no effect on this. By equilibrium I mean that the oil level within the filter is the same on both sides of the actual filter media. Because the outlet pipe is in the middle of the filter, the oil will empty itself at least to the lower edge of the threaded pipe. But basically this means that the filter is still almost halfway filled with oil!!
But now there is one "joker": Where is the inlet hole located? If the inlet hole is located at the lowermost point directly below the outlet pipe, then the oil should drain to that level and almost emptying the entire filter. But, if this inlet hole is located anywhere else than the lowermost point, let's say on the same level of the outlet pipe, then it is unavoidable to spill almost ½ an oil filter down the engine block.
As I remember, this inlet hole is often not located very smart by the engineers who designed the engine block.
Punching holes in the filter for depressurzing should have no effect based on this analysis.
Anyone comment on that analysis?
However, I have a problem. And I am very sorry for that. I wrote my original post too fast and messed up the words vertical and horizontal. It should have been horizontal and not vertically mounted oil filters. :-(
Basically it looks like this:
http://www.messicks.com/techimages/7800-engine-filter.jpg
In the meantime I bought a filter and cut it open with a saw to see whats going on inside.
I have made the following conclusions:
On the engine block there is a threaded pipe (OUTLET) for the oil filter and a hole adjacent to the pipe which acts as the INLET for the oil filter. The position of the INLET hole has a major impact on oil spills.
I assume the following: During an oil drain an equilibrium will slowly establish within the entire filter. If the filter is old and clogged this might take a long time (because oil pressure is needed to move oil across the filter media itself). The bypass valve (if fitted) should have no effect on this. By equilibrium I mean that the oil level within the filter is the same on both sides of the actual filter media. Because the outlet pipe is in the middle of the filter, the oil will empty itself at least to the lower edge of the threaded pipe. But basically this means that the filter is still almost halfway filled with oil!!
But now there is one "joker": Where is the inlet hole located? If the inlet hole is located at the lowermost point directly below the outlet pipe, then the oil should drain to that level and almost emptying the entire filter. But, if this inlet hole is located anywhere else than the lowermost point, let's say on the same level of the outlet pipe, then it is unavoidable to spill almost ½ an oil filter down the engine block.
As I remember, this inlet hole is often not located very smart by the engineers who designed the engine block.
Punching holes in the filter for depressurzing should have no effect based on this analysis.
Anyone comment on that analysis?
On a tractor? Just change it then clean it off. otherwise I have had decent luck with Pig funnels and mats to soak up any other mess.
Sometimes it is easier to clean up the mess than prevent it.
Sometimes it is easier to clean up the mess than prevent it.
Originally Posted By: LucasDK
Thank you all for your answers.
However, I have a problem. And I am very sorry for that. I wrote my original post too fast and messed up the words vertical and horizontal. It should have been horizontal and not vertically mounted oil filters. :-(
Basically it looks like this:
http://www.messicks.com/techimages/7800-engine-filter.jpg
With a horizontal filter, all you can really do to prevent a mess is to come up with a way to effectively catch the oil that pukes out when you loosen the filter from the engine. On my Altima, I use heavy aluminum foil to build a custom funnel/shield to direct the oil into an oil pan instead of puking all over the engine and frame.
Thank you all for your answers.
However, I have a problem. And I am very sorry for that. I wrote my original post too fast and messed up the words vertical and horizontal. It should have been horizontal and not vertically mounted oil filters. :-(
Basically it looks like this:
http://www.messicks.com/techimages/7800-engine-filter.jpg
With a horizontal filter, all you can really do to prevent a mess is to come up with a way to effectively catch the oil that pukes out when you loosen the filter from the engine. On my Altima, I use heavy aluminum foil to build a custom funnel/shield to direct the oil into an oil pan instead of puking all over the engine and frame.
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: mr_diy
If I stuff rags around the filter it can soak up much of the oil, but still is a mess. The only way to get the offending oil would require a siphon down the center tube, too much of a hassle. Maybe turning over the engine might cause the oil pump to pull out this excess oil?
The oil filter is after the oil pump, so turning the engine over with no oil in the pan (not recommended) would push whatever oil is in the pump and galleries into the oil filter. When the pump starts sucking air, then the oil in all the passages in the engine won't move because there's no driving force from the pump anymore.
Makes sense. What about putting a hole in the filter and put some compressed air in to force the center tube oil out? This filter is biased downward so maybe the oil would push out.
Originally Posted By: mr_diy
If I stuff rags around the filter it can soak up much of the oil, but still is a mess. The only way to get the offending oil would require a siphon down the center tube, too much of a hassle. Maybe turning over the engine might cause the oil pump to pull out this excess oil?
The oil filter is after the oil pump, so turning the engine over with no oil in the pan (not recommended) would push whatever oil is in the pump and galleries into the oil filter. When the pump starts sucking air, then the oil in all the passages in the engine won't move because there's no driving force from the pump anymore.
Makes sense. What about putting a hole in the filter and put some compressed air in to force the center tube oil out? This filter is biased downward so maybe the oil would push out.
Originally Posted By: mr_diy
Makes sense. What about putting a hole in the filter and put some compressed air in to force the center tube oil out? This filter is biased downward so maybe the oil would push out.
Not sure why anyone would contemplate how to blow the oil and possibly [censored] back into the engine in order to keep the outside of the engine cleaner. Rags or paper towels are your friend. A little oil on the block isn't a problem unless you're on your way to a car show.
Makes sense. What about putting a hole in the filter and put some compressed air in to force the center tube oil out? This filter is biased downward so maybe the oil would push out.
Not sure why anyone would contemplate how to blow the oil and possibly [censored] back into the engine in order to keep the outside of the engine cleaner. Rags or paper towels are your friend. A little oil on the block isn't a problem unless you're on your way to a car show.
What about this idea:
1. Drain oil and let filter sit for a while.
2. Punch a hole on the top side of the filter.
3. Unscrew the filter exactly 180 degrees so the hole faces down.
4. Catch the oil with some sort of container. Maybe the container can be strapped to the filter by means of tape, rubber band etc.
5. Once oil drops out of the hole at a very slow rate, let's say every 5 seconds, rapidly spin off the filter.
That way one should avoid a messy engine block or oil spills on axles, wiring etc. However, I don't know if it works.
1. Drain oil and let filter sit for a while.
2. Punch a hole on the top side of the filter.
3. Unscrew the filter exactly 180 degrees so the hole faces down.
4. Catch the oil with some sort of container. Maybe the container can be strapped to the filter by means of tape, rubber band etc.
5. Once oil drops out of the hole at a very slow rate, let's say every 5 seconds, rapidly spin off the filter.
That way one should avoid a messy engine block or oil spills on axles, wiring etc. However, I don't know if it works.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Astro14
None of those work on my MB 300E, which has the filter mounted threads down on the top of the block...There's no room to punch holes, wrap baggies or place funnels, I just suffer the leak and have a drain pan under it...
My my, the "best" automotive engineers on the planet
. Maybe the same guy who designed the sidesstand mount on my BMW bike--- the exhaust system has to come off to tighten the machine screw which holds the mount on. Of course it NEVER gets loose.
None of those work on my MB 300E, which has the filter mounted threads down on the top of the block...There's no room to punch holes, wrap baggies or place funnels, I just suffer the leak and have a drain pan under it...
My my, the "best" automotive engineers on the planet
How about doing it this way;
1) Drain oil.
2) Remove filter
______OR________
-----vise versa------
3)Install new filter
4) Add oil.
So easy a caveman could do it!
1) Drain oil.
2) Remove filter
______OR________
-----vise versa------
3)Install new filter
4) Add oil.
So easy a caveman could do it!
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