Technical Oil filter change - please help

[PuntoEnthusiast]

Hello all,

I attempted to change the oil and filter today, but something went quite wrong.
When I unscrewed the old oil filter, the threaded stub that the filter screws on to also came out. Then I stupidly screwed the stub into the new filter and the whole assembly onto the car. After tightening the filter and starting the engine, the filter flew out, together with all the new oil :bang:

After that, I first screwed the stub into the car (tightened it by hand because I didn't see an obvious way of using a tool there) and then screwed the filter onto it. Is this approach sufficient to prevent this disaster from happening again?

 

[jackwhoo]

Hello all,

I attempted to change the oil and filter today, but something went quite wrong.
When I unscrewed the old oil filter, the threaded stub that the filter screws on to also came out. Then I stupidly screwed the stub into the new filter and the whole assembly onto the car. After tightening the filter and starting the engine, the filter flew out, together with all the new oil :bang:

After that, I first screwed the stub into the car (tightened it by hand because I didn't see an obvious way of using a tool there) and then screwed the filter onto it. Is this approach sufficient to prevent this disaster from happening again?

I think you will be fine now.
Well done thinking about what had happened as persevering with it.

 

[Ziggy122]

Engine?
Year?
Pictures?

If the filter aint leaking and the oil warning ligh goes out
Id leave it alone

Often ud find they have an internal fixture to tighten / hex/torx

Ziggy

 

[PuntoEnthusiast]

It's a 2000 1.2 8v. I haven't refilled the oil yet, so I will unscrew the filter again to see if the threaded stub takes a hex key

 

[PuntoEnthusiast]

This is the part

 

[PuntoEnthusiast]

Refilled the oil again with the filter back in place. Everything seems fine now, no leaks and the engine seems to have survived the sudden loss of oil.
Is this part unscrewing together with the filter a common thing to happen?
I hope documenting this will help someone else to avoid making the same mistake. Bit of a waste of 2.5L of oil, but at least everything was flushed well

 

[portland_bill]

They are originally fitted into the car with some thread locking agent.
The threads in the filters are stamped quickly and crudely, and are often tighter than necessary. Several of these over a few changes will keep pulling at the stub each time the filter is removed, and the stub eventually comes out. Not too common, but not uncommon, something a mechanic will see frequently.

Difficult to refit using threadlock, as the internal thread needs to be clean. Not covered in oil.

If your new filter has a loose thread, the stub is likely to wind into the filter instead of into the engine, which is probably what happened in this case, so it was hanging on by its fingernails and the oil pressure popped it off. Now it is back in the engine properly, it will be fine. You may have to get used to popping it back in each filter change. Just don't throw it away with the old filter.

 

[Brendan W]

They are originally fitted into the car with some thread locking agent.
The threads in the filters are stamped quickly and crudely, and are often tighter than necessary. Several of these over a few changes will keep pulling at the stub each time the filter is removed, and the stub eventually comes out. Not too common, but not uncommon, something a mechanic will see frequently.

Heard of this but never seen it myself. There is a Mann sponsored vid somewhere on youtube about cheap oil filters and rough threads was one of the things they pointed out after opening a cheap filter along with a dodgy spring and skimping on the pleats of media.
You get what you pay for.

 

[AyLa]

Hello all,

I attempted to change the oil and filter today, but something went quite wrong.
When I unscrewed the old oil filter, the threaded stub that the filter screws on to also came out. Then I stupidly screwed the stub into the new filter and the whole assembly onto the car. After tightening the filter and starting the engine, the filter flew out, together with all the new oil :bang:

After that, I first screwed the stub into the car (tightened it by hand because I didn't see an obvious way of using a tool there) and then screwed the filter onto it. Is this approach sufficient to prevent this disaster from happening again?

oh god, now you got me worried, I've had a niggling thought in the back of my mind when my dad was screwing my oil filter on, I have a feeling he did it really tight.

will have to wait and see till I next change my oil lol

but good to know if it does come off you can screw it back on again.

 

[Ziggy122]

oh god, now you got me worried, I've had a niggling thought in the back of my mind when my dad was screwing my oil filter on, I have a feeling he did it really tight.

will have to wait and see till I next change my oil lol

but good to know if it does come off you can screw it back on again.

Never use a tool to tighten the oil filter down

A clean oil filter and a decent hand should get it sufficently tight to stem leaks

Ive used band tools to tighten - and it creates a struggle on removal as they get heat set

Ziggy

 

[varesecrazy]

oh god, now you got me worried, I've had a niggling thought in the back of my mind when my dad was screwing my oil filter on, I have a feeling he did it really tight.

will have to wait and see till I next change my oil lol

but good to know if it does come off you can screw it back on again.

The stud in essence just centres the filter..
It is the flat faces of the rubber sealing washer that pretty much offer all the resistance from undoing.
DO OIL IT before assembly..otherwise it may grab and become distorted.. potentially leaking.

 

[PuntoEnthusiast]

The stud in essence just centres the filter..
It is the flat faces of the rubber sealing washer that pretty much offer all the resistance from undoing.
DO OIL IT before assembly..otherwise it may grab and become distorted.. potentially leaking.

I can assure you, the filter had plenty of oil everywhere after that mishap

 

[portland_bill]

oh god, now you got me worried, I've had a niggling thought in the back of my mind when my dad was screwing my oil filter on, I have a feeling he did it really tight.

will have to wait and see till I next change my oil lol

but good to know if it does come off you can screw it back on again.

It is not how tight it is done up that pulls the thread out. It is the tightness of the filter thread on the thread of the tube that grips it.