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Replacing the oil filter ONLY!..

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by iskoos, Mar 17, 2018.

  1. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    How much oil would I lose if I just changed the filter?
    If it is only the amount inside the housing, this should be doable.
    My question is: Will the oil stop pouring down?

    The oil just replaced on my car, the filter did not. I know it is stupid and I didn't want it and never ever practiced it but circumstances forced me this time.
    Long story short, I couldn't remove the filter housing. It was torqued insanely. I broke 2 tools trying to remove it. Local garage couldn't remove it either. I ended up at the dealer which actually replaced the previous oil. So their technician is the one behind this stupidity. I asked them to remove the filter housing and replace the filter (and not to replace the oil.)
    They removed and replaced the filter housing (probably they broke or damaged it so badly while removing it). They didn't charge me for that (At least they made sense here...). But they didn't put a new filter, instead kept the old one.

    So now I have a fresh oil with a 5000-mile old filter. I plan on replacing it but trying to avoid a huge mess.

    Thanks
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Why not ask the dealer to just do the oil change. Save all the trouble

    I'd suggest leaving the filter in place and do an early change next time
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    FWIW Honda recommends oil filter replacement at every second oil change. Hopefully it's not insanely torqued again, the spec is 18 ft/lb IIRC. I'll verify and update tomorrow.

    If you remove just filter (though I wouldn't bother) you'll lose around 200 cc.
     
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  4. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    Because I like to work on my cars. That way I know exactly what's been done to them.

    I have been doing oil maintenance on my cars for almost 20 years. This is the first time I had an issue. It won't stop me:)
     
  5. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    Yes my other car has the same torque spec for both the filter housing and the drain plug. I heard the same thing for Prius as well and that is what I plan on using for future oil&filter change.

    I am very curious to see how they torqued it this time. So that's one of the reasons why I want to get down there to remove it:)
    But maybe I will leave it in there and do an early oil change as JC recommended. But I really want to loosen the filter cap to see if it will move. Hopefully it I will be able to do so without an issue this time. Fingers crossed...
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Here's the Toyota instruction, with torque values:
     
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  7. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    there’s a good amount of oil in the filter housing, just replace the filter with a cheap brand cartridge and change it on the next 5k miles. Make sure to top off the fluids as needed to make sure it’s not low on oil.
     
  8. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    Thanks Mendel. I saved that document.

    18 foot-pounds on the filter cap but 27 on the drain plug. A little higher than I thought. Maybe due to the soft crush washer Toyota uses.
    My previous car was using a metal crush washer and the torque was 18 foot-pounds
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The more I think about, the more I think an electric impact wrench would do the trick for you. In future, once it's properly torqued, all you'd need is a decent long handled ratchet wrench.
     
  10. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Use an oil extractor pump. Takes only 10-15 min to extract engine oil thru the dipstick, no troubles that way.
     
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  11. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    It was intentionally done to make sure that if you can't unscrew it, you would have to drive back to the oil change place so they can do it for you.

    By design, they have to stay in business some how.
     
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  12. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    My trouble wasn't draining the oil. I couldn't remove the damn filter cap to replace the oil.
    Oil extractor pump comes in handy if your oil filter housing is accessible from the top. That way you get done without getting under the car.
    If you are getting under the car to replace the filter, I don't see much advantage with the extractor pump. Plus I don't think they work as good as the gravity drain does the job.
     
  13. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    You bet!..:LOL:
    I honestly thought about that... But it was the big Toyota Deale here in town:rolleyes: