Is it necessary to pre-fill the oil filter? - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

lupindub · 12-19-2015, 09:24 PM

For the people who do there own oil changes - do you pre-fill the oil filter before putting in a new one?

Teseo · 12-19-2015, 09:30 PM

Yes, but dont over fill it or you will spill and make a mess

lupindub · 12-19-2015, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teseo

Yes, but dont over fill it or you will spill and make a mess

Okay but since our filter's are "upside down" wouldn't it start leaking regardless when you go to screw it back on?

Trust86 · 12-19-2015, 10:33 PM

It's not necessary. But what you can do with manuals, not sure about autos, is when you finish changing your oil and top it off, before you start it push the gas pedal all the way down and turn it over for 10-15 seconds. Or, if you have an oil pressure gauge, crank it until you get oil pressure. The car will not start when the gas pedal is depressed all the way. Again all this is unnecessary but yea if you want to you can do that.

Teseo · 12-19-2015, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupindub

Okay but since our filter's are "upside down" wouldn't it start leaking regardless when you go to screw it back on?

Try moving the filter in circles so the paper filter absorb the oil, and place as quick as you can

theadmiral976 · 12-19-2015, 11:45 PM

Pre-filling an "upside-down" oil filter, such as the ones on the twins, will not do much except potentially make a royal mess. Whatever oil you manage to keep in the filter while installing will drain down into the sump before you start your car, depleting your oil filter of most of the oil. The rest of the oil will be wasted making your engine bay a slippery, smelly mess.

Should you wish to soak the oil filter before you place it on the engine, I would pour out the freestanding oil before installing the filter. That said, I, and many others, have never had an issue installing a dry filter onto our respective cars.

The only thing I make sure to check following an oil change is that my oil pressure light disappears in a reasonable (<5 sec) amount of time following initial start. I'm not sure what I would do if the light remained on for longer than 5 seconds or so, but it would probably involve talking to a professional mechanic.

Mr.ac · 12-20-2015, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupindub

For the people who do there own oil changes - do you pre-fill the oil filter before putting in a new one?

You know, my friend's , cousin's, brother, dad's uncle, once read the the oil filter instructions and miss read lubing up the o ring for filling up the oil filer with oil.

The Subaru/Toyota service manual doesn't say to fill the oil filer with oil. So I think you'll be ok with out oil in the oil filter.

Capt Spaulding · 12-20-2015, 12:18 PM

I'll second, third, or whatever, the don't sweat it crowd. Most that could be said has. A couple of things I would suggest, which you almost certainly do already are 1) change the oil while the engine is warm and 2) start the engine and do leak check immediately after you refill and check all the caps, drains, filter, etc. That way you maximize the residual oil in/on the various whirly-bits and lessen any "cold start" lube starvation.

humfrz · 12-20-2015, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupindub

Okay but since our filter's are "upside down" wouldn't it start leaking regardless when you go to screw it back on?

Well, yes.

Now, how much oil do you think the filter would hold, if you pre-filled it, then turned it over to drain so as it doesn't spill all over the engine compartment ....

In addition, if you start messing with the oil/filter and get the filter/your hands all oiled up ...... how in the heck are you going to get an accurate "hand tighten" twist on it .... ??

Back in the day ...... back in the day ...... I can't remember ....... OH! ....that's because most cars didn't have oil filters ......

humfrz

mav1178 · 12-20-2015, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupindub

For the people who do there own oil changes - do you pre-fill the oil filter before putting in a new one?

Assuming you warm up the engine, no.

Your engine warmup would've coated the engine with enough oil to last through the oil change with a dry filter. Restarting the engine would have no damage.

Don't overthink this.

-alex

Black Tire · 12-20-2015, 07:29 PM

Serious answer:

No need to fill the oil filter. If you want to be careful about oil, you would be better off using jack stands to change the oil when the car is as near to level as possible, as opposed to using ramps. See my post #99 on this thread:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11734

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupindub

Okay but since our filter's are "upside down" wouldn't it start leaking regardless when you go to screw it back on?

Quote:

Originally Posted by theadmiral976

Pre-filling an "upside-down" oil filter, such as the ones on the twins, will not do much except potentially make a royal mess.

Embarrassingly bad and REALLY WRONG answer that I couldn't resist giving:

That's why I change my oil with the car upside down. That way the oil filter is in the correct orientation and all works as I want it to.

Norville Rogers · 04-12-2016, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Tire

Serious answer:

No need to fill the oil filter. If you want to be careful about oil, you would be better off using jack stands to change the oil when the car is as near to level as possible, as opposed to using ramps. See my post #99 on this thread:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11734

Embarrassingly bad and REALLY WRONG answer that I couldn't resist giving:

That's why I change my oil with the car upside down. That way the oil filter is in the correct orientation and all works as I want it to.

Presumably the Aussies are OK as is?

fumanchu1 · 04-12-2016, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

You know, my friend's , cousin's, brother, dad's uncle, once read the the oil filter instructions and miss read lubing up the o ring for filling up the oil filer with oil.

The Subaru/Toyota service manual doesn't say to fill the oil filer with oil. So I think you'll be ok with out oil in the oil filter.

That's what I do, I run a bit of oil on the o-ring (ensures proper seal of oring?) and that's it, never had any issues with a "dry" filter install

MrDinkleman · 04-12-2016, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by humfrz

Back in the day ...... back in the day ...... I can't remember ....... OH! ....that's because most cars didn't have oil filters ......

Wow! That must be way, way, way back in the day. I have never seen a car without an oil filter...

12-19-2015, 09:24 PM	#1
lupindub Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Drives: Scion FR-S Location: Michigan Posts: 285 Thanks: 228 Thanked 95 Times in 48 Posts Mentioned: 7 Post(s) Tagged: 2 Thread(s)	Is it necessary to pre-fill the oil filter? For the people who do there own oil changes - do you pre-fill the oil filter before putting in a new one?

12-19-2015, 11:45 PM	#6
theadmiral976 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Drives: WRB Subaru BRZ Limited 6MT Location: United States Posts: 141 Thanks: 17 Thanked 70 Times in 44 Posts Mentioned: 3 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	Pre-filling an "upside-down" oil filter, such as the ones on the twins, will not do much except potentially make a royal mess. Whatever oil you manage to keep in the filter while installing will drain down into the sump before you start your car, depleting your oil filter of most of the oil. The rest of the oil will be wasted making your engine bay a slippery, smelly mess. Should you wish to soak the oil filter before you place it on the engine, I would pour out the freestanding oil before installing the filter. That said, I, and many others, have never had an issue installing a dry filter onto our respective cars. The only thing I make sure to check following an oil change is that my oil pressure light disappears in a reasonable (<5 sec) amount of time following initial start. I'm not sure what I would do if the light remained on for longer than 5 seconds or so, but it would probably involve talking to a professional mechanic. Last edited by theadmiral976; 12-19-2015 at 11:47 PM. Reason: I can't spell.

12-20-2015, 12:18 PM	#8
Capt Spaulding Persona Non Grata Join Date: Nov 2015 Drives: '15 BRZ (WRB) Location: On the Border Posts: 1,882 Thanks: 2,016 Thanked 2,780 Times in 1,200 Posts Mentioned: 10 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	I'll second, third, or whatever, the don't sweat it crowd. Most that could be said has. A couple of things I would suggest, which you almost certainly do already are 1) change the oil while the engine is warm and 2) start the engine and do leak check immediately after you refill and check all the caps, drains, filter, etc. That way you maximize the residual oil in/on the various whirly-bits and lessen any "cold start" lube starvation. __________________ Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast

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12-19-2015, 09:30 PM	#2
Teseo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Drives: frs Location: Gunsai Posts: 4,877 Thanks: 7,158 Thanked 2,922 Times in 1,769 Posts Mentioned: 23 Post(s) Tagged: 2 Thread(s)	Yes, but dont over fill it or you will spill and make a mess

12-19-2015, 10:33 PM	#4
Trust86 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Drives: 2016 Halo FRS Location: US Posts: 414 Thanks: 290 Thanked 161 Times in 106 Posts Mentioned: 8 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	It's not necessary. But what you can do with manuals, not sure about autos, is when you finish changing your oil and top it off, before you start it push the gas pedal all the way down and turn it over for 10-15 seconds. Or, if you have an oil pressure gauge, crank it until you get oil pressure. The car will not start when the gas pedal is depressed all the way. Again all this is unnecessary but yea if you want to you can do that.

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