(T) Fitting a new oil filter

Yesterday my girlfriend's dad changed the engine oil and filter (he's a quasi-mechanic) and even though yesterday there weren't any noticeable problems, this morning I found a nice puddle of fresh oil underneath the car; apparently the new oil filter was leaking juice. End-result: 4 litres of new Selenia Gold (₤14.45) oil down the drain... Apart from that, since this morning I drove the car before eventually noticing the leak, I ran the risk of busting up the engine since I was running on literally a few drops of oil! (this also means that I've got a nice mess underneath the bonnet as well since the oil was spurting all over the place...). Which ultimately means that I have to purchase 4 more litres of oil and a new filter (and I'm just a poor student!)

So my question is, how easy / difficult is it to fit correctly a new oil filter and avoid a mess and unecessary expenses? Any tips for avoiding all this hassle?

This is an old common prob as fiat made 2 different threads on the oil filters as i found out when i changed mine, the shop i bought mine from gave me both and i returned the wrong one, only one will spin freely on, go back to the shop and ask! good luck Ant!

Rod where is kalkara? wheres your flag? i like to see them and know where your from, quite a lot of members dont have a flag why!

Kalkara is a small village in the island of Malta. I do have Malta written down on that small profile on the left of the post. Don't know why, but the Maltese flag doesn't show up like the rest!

Oh I see. I did tell the guy at the shop the car model as well as the model on the filter itself. Thought that would be enough!

Hm... I never had problems with oil filter thread on any of my two 45s or my brother-in-law 1.1 Fire , but I do not argue about two different threads.

I understand you disillusionment about the oil, but I think Selenia Gold is an expensive overkill for 999 Fire. The engine is built to use plain and simple mineral 15W40 API SF oil. I have been using local brand of 15W40 API SL for 7+ years in my 45s, thus in fact spoiling their engines with much better oil than required. Plus, these are much cheaper than Selenia oils .

HI Rod,
as obvious as it may seem make sure the filter is on tight. Also a good practice is to place some fresh oil along the inside of the filter. Put the filter in its place and tighten.

As with regards oil I know FIAT recommends selenia but I found it too thin for our climate. The car starts to work rougher after say 1500 miles. I used to use valvoline but now put BP, which I have found to be much better. With regards there being different threads for the oil filter I never heard of it before, but Im not excluding the fact that it may be true.

Ad

one has a course thread and the other is a finer thread, remove the filter and check if it has cross threaded and have a look at the threads, and compare it to your old one, you will be able to tell, did he have a problem in fitting it, did it spin freely? Ant!

Thanks for the info Ad. I've only had the car for a year now (also being my first car) so I've got no experience with regards oils and all that. I've been told by most people that I should use Selenia so I thought that I should listen to the majority. My fault for not consulting with you guys

I'll try using BP with my next oil change and see if there's any difference.

Will keep that in mind

Problem solved!

The problem was not a different thread but a washer-problem. I took out the filter and guess what? *drum roll* he who took care of changing the oil and filter left the bloody washer of the old filter in its place! So when he fitted the new filter there were actually 2 washers on top of each other

Now I changed the filter and took care to have one washer safely in place this time. Everything seems to be doing fine now.

which washer? the rubber seal, sounded like he hamfisted the oil fiter on to me, sometimes they are tricky to get started alighning etc, now the jobs done good luck, get yourself a repair manual for future referance. they are the haynes and porter manuals, theres another but can't remember the name.

In all my years servicing Fiats, ive only seen about three different oil filters used on all the Fiat range!! Still same today.
When fitting a new filter, smear new oil on the new fixed seal on the outside and fill filter half with new oil and hand tighten only. Fit filter, and fill engine up so it is about 1 litre short. Start engine and run for a few seconds. Turn off, This will prime the oil filter and make finding the level easier. Do not over fill !! Leave for a while and re-check the level.

Andy.

Thanks Andy!

Yep, that rubber seal.

Now I got meself the Haynes manual Will come in handy that's for sure