oil cartridge falling apart?

Pictures may better explain issues I've seen with the TRD filters. Also added a few other brands to compare against. Weakest link in a 10K oil change is the filter.

 

Wow, none of the TRD filters I've installed looked like that. Did you return them for a refund ? I would.

 

GasSaver1 said: "I just changed my oil and when I pulled the canister off and took the filter out I went to wipe down the inside of the canister and saw a chunk of the filter on the bottom of the canister. It did not occur to me to take a picture at the time.... it was roughly 1 square cm. I had to fish it out with a screw driver before putting the new filter in...."

Question: Was there a hole in the old filter, corresponding to the "chunk of filter" you found?

 

Looking at the Wix filter I do not see how that works. The pleats in the filer material are open ended giving a direct non filtered passage for the oil flow.

John (Britprius)

 

It looks similar to the OEM filter for my 2010. Oil flow is through center and out, or vice-versa.

 

It's the opposite of what you say.

The intake to the oil pump is in the center.

Again, I say that it was a piece of scrap or dross from the production that NEVER made it into the oil pump or the engine.

 

Ok, I was not sure, thus the vice-versa on the end.

 

That's normal for the Toyota TRD filter- they're hand stitched together- each filter is unique.
If you look closely at the Toyota TRD filter- you'll notice it has a perforated metal interior core also- none of the other filters have that or the metal endcaps...

 

Sorry. I don't buy the "each (TRD) filter is unique". Even if this is only a cosmetic defect, it's a defect none the less. Zero excuse for these ever being OK'd to ship. These are made in the USA. We can do better.

 

Doesn't the oil flows from the center out? If not, then how does the oil filter bypass work?

 

No, from outside in.

 

Well, I thought that is why it has a spring holding the filter against the engine housing so that the oil could bypass the filter if the filter was clogged or there was too much pressure. So I guess not.

Where is the oil filter bypass?

 

Now hat I think about it, it can't be anything but a scrap of filter material left from the manufacturing process.

The oil comes into the center of the filter housing from the pick up, which has a screen on it, through the filter into the center and to the oil pump. The center of the pickup has some 1/16 inch or 3mm holes for it to pass through.

If the piece breaks off from the filter media, it would have had to travel through the 1/16 inch holes through the center of the take up, through the oil pump and trough the tight engine galleries and return to the oil pan.

That just can't physically happen.

Since the scrap was the same yellow tan color as the rest of the filter media, if it laid in the flukes, it would have been hard at all to see. Most pieces would probably be blown away by a jet of air in the manufacturing process. This piece probably for some reason "stuck," and was NOT blown away.

Based on the above, I wouldn't worry about any damage.

 

^Agree with Rude person's. No one has any evidence so far of an OEM or any other oil filter "falling apart" as stated by the OP. The OP doesn't seem to know whether his used filter failed since he has not answered my question about whether it had a hole in it.

 

If you look at the Wix filter the ends of the pleats are not sealed making a strait unfiltered path at this point for the oil to go through. All the other filters have end plates bonded over the end of the pleats.
There also seems to be an assumption in other threads that the filer is before the oil pump The pump drawing oil through the filter. This is not the case, the pump works in unfiltered oil pushing it through the filter.

John (Britprius)

 

It's not a "defect" that's just how they are made.
Have you ever bought an article of clothing with the tag "this garment is hand made (or hand dyed, hand stitched, etc...) and each is unique- slight differences in appearances should not be considered a defect...."? The TRD filters are stitched by a human using a sewing machine- not a robot assembly line.... each filter will look unique. I've purchased 6 TRD filters since 2012- every single one looks different from the other TRD filter... that's just how it is. Just by construction alone (metal endcaps, metal center, etc...) the TRD filter seems like a better filter than the others shown above. None of the TRD filters I've used have separated at the seams once removed from 5-10k of service.

 

John,

These are pictures of the filter from the 2010 Repair Manual. The filter slides over a cylinder in the removable filter housing on the left and the cylinder in the fixed filter housing to the right . The seal is the rubber ring around the center hole that fits tightly around the cylinder in the filter housing.

Whether the oil flow is from the outside to the center or vice-versa, the open pleats do not allow any oil bypass. The oil has to pass through the filter to flow either in to or out of the center.

Darn, the images did not show up in the post. I will have to copy the images to a file and upload the file.

I hope this helps.

Dwight

 

Dwight, thanks but there is no pictures.

John (Britprius)

 

John,

Try now. I just added the pictures in the post above.

Dwight

 

Thanks again got it this time.
The problem I see "unless I am missing something" is at the end of the filter outside of the white seal ring on the filter is what appear to be open pleat ends.
Where on the outside diameter you have a fold on the inside diameter it is open, having a fold to either side. The end of the pleats cannot reasonably seal even against a flat plate. This gives a clear passage to oil in whatever direction the oil flows. I will take the top picture and try to arrow my area of concern to make it clearer tomorrow as it is very late here now.

John (Britprius)