Pulling Oil Filter without Draining Oil

Hi All!

Not super familiar with the way these cartridge oil filters work.

Long story short, I would like to check my oil filter to see if a prior mechanic changed it. Am I able to pull the oil filter without losing all of the oil? Assuming I would lose just a cup of oil - no problem there.

Thanks for the insight.

 

You’ll be fine. Just don’t try it with the engine running!

 

Thanks a bunch!

Yeah not looking for an oil shower today.

 

You will probably want to replace the seal after removing it. Not replacing the seal may result in a pretty massive oil leak.

 

I'll probably replace the filter while I'm in there anyway as I have a couple of spares.

Kindof just trying to prove a point to myself that the mechanic I took it to sucked. I already noticed they didn't rotate my tires (still have less tread in the front) and charged me for it. I also see no "witness" marks around my skid plate to get to the filter. If it's a Toyota brand filter, it likely wasn't changed.

I didn't complain/take it back because the last thing I want is an angry or bad mechanic working on my truck. Just goes to show I can only trust myself to work on it...live and learn.

 

Just an FYI, as long as you’re doing regular oil change intervals you won’t see much visual difference between new vs used unless you just got the oil change like <25 miles ago. It literally only takes a few drives to get these paper cartridge filters looking dirty so you may not be able to tell between new and used. Now a few hundred miles vs 10k you should be able to discern but I’m betting you wouldn’t be able to tell any difference between say a couple hundred miles and 5k miles just looking at the one filter that’s in there now.

If you don’t trust the shop it’s better to just not go back…

 

Yeah understood. I'm not really looking for the oil condition as I definitely know I won't see much of a difference, but just going to look at the brand of filter. Toyota filters are branded on the pleats. As long as the brand doesn't get washed out by the oil I should be able to tell. I'll also have a side-by-side comparison since I have a few new ones on hand. If it's a Toyota filter, it's still running on the prior change's filter.

Definitely not going back. Pretty annoyed about the tire rotation not being done as that is the soul reason I went to a mechanic in the first place. I just don't have room in my apartment for a real jack and jack stands, and rotating tires with the spare and just the scissor jack is a nightmare.

 

Good for you for taking initiative to learn and be more picky with who you trust to work on your truck. Lots of shops out there cut corners daily, whether intentional or not. You can always trust yourself at the end of the day, and if it fails, only yourself is to blame.

That being said, to play the other side of the story, how can you be sure the shop you used wouldn't use Toyota filters? In my experience, its much cheaper to buy bulk OEM filters for these trucks for less than most of the aftermarket filters at a parts store.

 

Advanced auto parts around here stocks Toyota filters [out on the shelf even] and they’re no more $$ than wix / fram / whatever cheap shit they sell.

I’m not sure you’re going to learn much from this endeavor, the biggest tell might be just looking at the bottom of the spin-off cup and inspecting for tool marks / missing dirt.

 

Very true and I didn't neglect to think about that. I'm still unsatisfied based on the tire measurements.

I guess this will just be more "evidence." Tie it together without seeing any sort of evidence of the skid/filter housing coming off and I'll just make an educated guess. Not like I'm going after them or anything, and at the end of the day I've already made up my mind about them. This is really just about me being crazy.

 

Oriellys sold me an oem filter a couple weeks ago. With the cartridge design I think its enough of a common part used along many models to where it doesn't hurt to have them laying around .

 

Fair enough, just wanted to bring in that point of view! Moral of the story, they lost your trust in one area; you're justified in believing that they probably neglected the filter too.

 

This is good info - I didn't know local parts places stock OE filters. I normally order mine online.

And yeah I'll be under there anyway servicing the trans, difs, and t-case so it's not much extra effort for me to just spin off the filter housing as well.

 

In most cases, you can tell if the filter has been changed when the canister has been wiped down clean (or a mess of oil if they didn't). If you still see road grit and dust on it, that's a problem. Could they wipe it down to fool you, sure, but it is something to check.

 

If you worry about work being done put a dab of witness paint on the housing. If the paint is broken the housing was opened. If that doesn’t satisfy your skepticism, there is the DIY option.

 

Seems no matter who's video i've watched, its always funny seeing the oil run down their sleeve as they unscrew the filter housing.

 

Here is a TW thread which should encourage you to do your own oil change (or learn how to do it).

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/be-careful-if-anyone-other-than-you-changes-your-oil.755946/

 

Oil change's on these v6 engines appear very simple, you just need a quality filter housing removal tool like the motivx one.

 

Oh I'm not new to this. I only paid someone to do it to save time. I've learned not to do that anymore. I built my prior Jeep with a small tool kit from Wal-mart and a pipe for leverage

 

use a plastic soda bottle to seat the filter housing drain and the oil will go into the bottle, not down your arm....Or spring for a neat housing drain tool and hose.