Prius oil filter stories

Beans to you for the research. You must not have much to do in Vegas.
Seriously though. I just joined the Prius family ( 1 owner 2008 rally /87-k) I have always used a local shop for oil changes and tires. (19.95) includes rotation. Guess I'll have to take them my own filter or bite the bullet and pay the dealer the big bucks !

 

Thanks for posting that story epoch. A good reminder that, unless you're very sure of what you're getting with an aftermarket filter, you're better off staying with an OEM.

Personally I've never received a low oil pressure light at start up. The oil light (along with all the other dash lights) does come on briefly when I first make ready mode, but then goes off. And when the ICE actually starts, I've never even seen it blink.

Also, after every oil/filter change I'm fairly vigilant to listen carefully during the first start to make sure nothing went awry. So far I've been really impressed with how smoothly and rattle/knock/tap free that the engine always starts. I do always pre-fill the filter too.

 

Interesting. Can you post photos which show the Toyota oil filter cut open, as well as your test setup?

 

Interesting that you have low oil pressure light on when s.u. The fram although not my favorite filter should not have caused that so you either have low oil or really wrong viscosity or you have not had the car long and the last owner never changed the oil and the sump is gunked up.The car's general oil pressure level should be investigated asap.

Knocking is horrendous and will usually quickly cause damage.

I have always used the factory filter and always recommend it. Its only $4.50 and you know its the right filter and right bypass valve. Toyota knows what there doing and also knows where the oil level should be. I always cringe when I see people here recommending to run there cars with reduced oil level (below the full mark) because its supposed to help mileage.

 

Thats great ePoch. The Wix brand is really common down here in the south too. That's what JiffyLube uses also.

 

The Toyota branded filters can be had as cheap as any other; why use anthing else?

 

What grade of oil did you have in there at the time epoch? If you had the correct grade oil then that filter must have been completely collapsed or something. No one here has ever reported horrible delays like that (7 seconds) in getting oil pressure. That's really bad!

I know exactly what you're talking about though. Back in the '80s I had an old VW with about 300,000 miles on it and I was using mega-thick oil to try to control oil burning. The first start after an oil change was just like that, I'd be watching the oil pressure light and basically trying to will it to go off, "cooome on, you can do it, come on oil - go". She'd make all sorts of horrible rattles and clangs for about 6 or 7 seconds until finally the oil light went out and it quietened down.

 

Convinced me. I've been using Fram tough guard all this time without a rattle. But I looked in to prices for genuine Toyota at AutoNation Toyota Parts online and they listed at $4.06 a piece. So I ordered four.

 

I've got some cut open pictures of a Ryco oil filter that I previously ran on the Prius. It had 10000 miles on it when I cut it open. I'll dig up the photos and post them later today.

Right now I'm running a Toyota OEM filter. I think I'll cut it open when it's finished as well and compare. That ones still got another 6000 miles to go though.

 

Here's a cut open I did recently. The filter brand is Ryco, which is a fairly popular filter brand in Australia. Don't be misled by the state of the two metal end caps, they were nice and straight until I pried them away from the media with a large set of pliers. The filter media was very firmly bonded to the end caps.

Overall I was happy with the construction of this filter. The things I liked were:
- Metal end caps. Firmly bonded with no chance of unintended bypass.
- Real (coil) springs for both the bypass and anti-drainback valves.
- The "rubber on steel" bypass valve looked like it would seal well.
- The anti-drainback membrane was a still nice an pliable and working well after 10k miles.

BTW. The bypass valve is the small one in the metal end cap. The anti-drainback mechanism is combination of the large silicon rubber (orange) diaphragm and the larger spring (which keeps it compressed against the filter base plate).



Close up of the bypass.


Close up of the media.


Very close up of the media.

 

I think you have a different (serious) problem other than the oil filter. Take it to someone who can check the oil pressure, I'd bet there is a pump problem and the pressure is low. There is absolutely no way normal oil pressure would have a problem overcoming the resistance in an oil filter. Even on initial start-up with a new empty filter it would only take 2-3 seconds to fill and build pressure. A pressure switch will turn the light off at a much lower pressure than normal so don't think the pressure is normal just because the light is not on.

 

Yes I agree, the OP does seem to have been extremely unlucky to have had problems with more than one filter. Even in the worst case scenario you'd at least expect the bypass valve to kick in and save you.

Also the methodology of applying vacuum to the center hole of the filter and sucking air may not be a very good indicator. I say this because you may have ended up primarily measuring the vacuum to open the anti-drainback valve (or whether the ADBV actually sealed correctly against air). Thus those comparison of 1" versus 3" Hg (0.5 psi verus 1.5 psi) may not be particularly meaningful.

 

The low pressure oil spec of many engines is quite low like that. Many "idiot lights" don't come on until the pressure is down around 5 PSI. I think the situation is a bit like oil consumption, manufactures often specify ridiculous levels like 1qt/1000 miles as "acceptable" because it minimizes warranty claims.

The actual pressure you get will depend upon the oil you're using, it's temperature and the condition of the engine. Higher viscosity oil definitely gives you more pressure, but it's kind of a moot point since it can never give you more flow (and may in fact get you slightly less).

So when your oil is fairly cool you may get 40+ psi at idle, when it's full temperature you might only get 8 or something. However the oil flow will be as good or better at the lower pressure, so it should still do the same job.

 

Maybe the OP is exaggerating the 6 or 7 second knocking/rattling on cold starts? Or maybe hes hearing the programmed richer mixture start up ping?

I have to admit that my 2007 ICE is a little noisy sometimes on cold start. But its never knocked or rattled!! More like piston slap or valve train noise in my case. I use Purolator oil filters - either the white can (Classic) or the yellow (PureOne).

OP: Can you take a video of said noise on your next cold start?

 

I did not know prius has oil pressure light. Never seen one lighted in my 2005 nor in 2010.

- Alex