Oil filter replaced without filling with oil?

[MojaveJoe]

Geez,



I just realized I forgot to fill the new filter with oil when I did my oil change the other day. Everything seems to be fine, but Did I screw up or am I gonna be ok?



I could sure use some advice on this one? :{



Thanx,

Joe

 

[jchapin]

You'll be fine, Joe. No worries.

It's obviously not an ideal way to change filter but it's a small incident and won't do any harm.



Ask anybody who always changes their own oil and you'll find many who made the same mistake... . I've done it.



Cheers,

-Jack

 

[DavidGardner]

Shoot! On both of my 99 Jeeps the filter sits side ways or horizontal. Cant pre fill them before screwing them on. Dosent seem to hurt anything as far as I can tell. I figure if the eng manufacture was worried about it they would have made them verticle mount like the Cummins.

 

[klenger]

I wouldn't even call it a mistake. I doubt that the service techs pre-fill them. It not going to hurt the engine to run w/o oil pressure for 1 or 2 seconds.

 

[GFritsch]

Never pre filled oilf filter on any vehichles over the last 22 years. (last CTD was at 200k when I sold it). You didn't hurt anything.

 

[GerryDrake]

Pre fill

Prior to getting my CTD, I had never heard of such a thing, but in reading the owner's manual cover to cover the day I got the truck, it seemed like a good idea. I had my first oil change done at a dealer, and I specifically asked the Service Manager whether they pre-fill. He said yes they always do. I watched the 'technician' and called him on it when he was lining up to put the empty filter on. He said it was a waste of time, but acceded to my request. Every oil change since, I have done myself, pre-filling the filter. Like they say, if you don't, probably no harm, but I plan on continuing to pre-fill. It certainly can't hurt. Gerry

 

[CAT 385]

All you are doing by filling the filter is sending unfiltered oil into your engine, maybe the oil is clean in the bottle but I would rather be sure by letting the filter do his job. I have had four dodge diesels and have put over 350,000 miles on them together and have never pre-filed the filter.

 

[DPKetchum]

I've never preoiled a filter on nothing except a on a fresh engine rebuild on first startup.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

I make that "mistake" every time I change my oil! I pour a tiny bit around the perimeter to smear on the seal and then screw it on...



Forrest

 

[JStieger]

All you are doing by filling the filter is sending unfiltered oil into your engine, maybe the oil is clean in the bottle QUOTE]



I remember reading on the TDR a while back about some sort of engine failure and Cummins found some bits of foil seal that plugged a piston cooling nozzle due to someone pre-filling the filter from the jug and the seal getting dumped into the filter. This was probably an isolated incident and probably Murphy's Law in full effect.



Nevertheless, I pre-filled on my first change only, but after reading about this I now don't pre-fill. FWIW, I did an oil change last week at 30k - even though I thought I got all of that little foil seal off the Rotella jug, I still found a small piece of the seal left on the fill funnel screen.

 

[jwilliams3]

Pre filling the oil filter after an oil change ensures that the turbos bearings do not run dry.

Do what you like.



--Justin

 

[Boonieman]

I never prefill either, due to the contamination potential listed in the above posts. As far as oil to the turbo, after shutting the engine down the turbo coasts down without oil pressure does it not?

 

[Bertram65]

Read the owner's manual that comes with the truck, it specifially states to fill the oil filter, if it did not do something the owner's manual would not have that step listed.

 

[DPKetchum]

Understand! But its something almost NOBODY does. I'm pretty picky but not about that. Change it,crank it,look for leaks and away we go. They also say ONLY distilled water in a battery. Yea right!

 

[rbattelle]

I always prefill. I have a funnel with a small screen at the bottom of it that I pour the oil through. I have never found any pieces of anything on that little screen.

 

[Deezal Man]

No worries MON!!

Joe,



I know this "oil" thing is treated like religion, but... Lets call a spade a spade for a moment and think this out logically. And if I may, allow me to give you my take on this whole thing.



1. Do you know a single garage, speedy lube, etc. . who pre-fills an oil filter?? If you've seen it... you got something on me.



2. Pre-filling the filter "may" indeed push oil through the lines sooner, but we are talking "seconds" here folks. . under no load I might add. AND lets keep in mind, the film of oil which remained for reasons of "liquid adhesion". That said, I hope everyone is aware of this little thing called gravity, which pulls MOST of the engine oil into the pan every single NIGHT. . Meaning, every morning you are starting your CTD with less lubrication than what exists while running. (DUH!) So what does this mean? I'm quite certain your turbo lines, etc... have as much oil in them after an oil change as they do in the morning. If this isn't true, than we all better start letting the oil drain over night or for a few days in order to remove this old oil which is somehow managing to evade gravity.



3. Adding a contaminate to the filter during a pre-fill?? . . Lets face it folks, We have geniuses, morons & everyone else. Of course this is a possibility... but for anyone smart enough to make sure the foil seal has been completely removed. . I don't think this is a show stopper for anyone with an IQ higher than your average 5 year old. (Of course they are better at removing foil seals better than us) Oh, and whats the difference if you poured it in through the fill cap? That contaminate still has to make its way through a bunch of stuff before the filter has its opportunity to remove it. .



So what exactly am I trying to say or recommend?? Absolutely NOTHING other than for you to think about what is actually taking place and what makes you feel good about what you just did.



ME personally, I pre-fill because it makes me feel good... thinking that I pre-soaked the filter fibers before the pump forces oil through it. . If anything, I think pre-fill benefits the life of the filter element more than your engine. (course in the long run, it would benefit the CTD) BUT as I said... I'm surrounded by a couple million motors which have not and will never see this kind of care. . So the bottom line is. . do what makes you feel just a little better having done so. Cause in the end. . you'll put a 4 sale sign on the truck long before the might CTD has given you every thing it was designed to give.



Sorry for the novel. .

 

[RustyJC]

It's a pretty darned large filter. I prefill it. JMHO...



Rusty

 

[rashwor]

I pre-fill any filter that mounts upside down like my CTDs. No harm done if you don't; it is a choice and I sleep better at night.

 

[DLeno]

I have experience in production clean room environments so I pay attention to how contaminants can enter the engine when the engine is vulnerable (like when you change oil or an air filter)



yes, the inside center of the filter is the clean side, and anything that goes in there is sent directly to the engine. this makes a careless pre-fill a lot riskier than no pre-fill at all. That said, I always pre-fill but I always:



1. remove the plastic wrapper from the filter with the filter opening pointed down. that way gravity won't let any plastic particles inside your filter



2. very carefully remove the oil bottle seal and clean off the bottle surface. before pouring you dont' want to pour any foil particles directly into your engine.



they recommend pre-filling because of something tribologists call boundary lubrication. you want to do everthing possible to accelerate the onset of oil pressure. I've had two hondas that developed valve train rattle during the first . 5 seconds of startup. No pre-filling possible (horizontal mount). Someone will have to chime in and tell us about the CTD itself, but on many valve trains, lubrication is under very low pressure (oil flows through push rods and onto rocker arms not pressurized in bearings) and drains off of the mating surfaces after shutdown. So every 10th of a second helps to get oil to those areas sooner.



But I agree that pre-filling is somewhat of a religous issue. The experience of those who dont pre-fill is telling enough of the durability of the engine's low-oil-pressure parts.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

those hondas probably have hydraulic valvetrain...



as for foil particles ending up in the oil pan through the fill tube, if they make it past the pickup screen, they'll get pumped into the OIL FILTER and will never make it into the galleys and then into the squirters.



the earlier you get oil pressure the better obviously, but I think we're really splitting hairs here... as someone else stated, gravity robs everything of oil when you let the truck sit overnight... but there's still a thin layer of oil on everything, and you're talking the difference of a couple seconds. I always do my oil changes w/ the oil warm and I fire it right up as soon as I'm done... I don't think I give the oil a chance to completely drain out of everything anyway...



I pour a little oil around the outside perimeter to lube the o-ring and go. I've done it both ways and watched my mechanical pressure gauge, and it's maybe a 2 second difference to full pressure. not enough to worry about sending unfiltered oil through the engine on startup...



I also use the lift pump to prime my fuel system after a filter change... why send unfiltered fuel through the pump?



your mileage my vary, but my old truck's got almost 400k on it, and I didn't fill the oil filters on it either.



Forrest