Anyone Have Oil Filter That Comes Loose? [Merged 7-8]

[RacerXXX]

Anyone have oil filter that comes loose on 2nd gen AWD.

I was thinking If a safety wire, on the oil filter will keep it from coming loose.




Thanks,
Jim

 

[Chuck_3]

That sucks man! The oil filter stud on my friends talon came loose and he lost all of his oil and spun a bearing, pretty lame.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

Apparently these lights aren't as unreliable as everyone says. Anyways,

So I was cruising on the free way, and I look down at my dash, and I see the idiot low oil light is on. I'm like WTF shit..So the second I glanced at it, I pulled over and shut the car off. I was confused at how this is possible because I just checked the level last week and it was full. So anyway, I check the dipstick, and it's clean, absolutely no oil on it. I knew my car leaked some oil and burned a little as well, but this was ridiculous. Thankfully, I had 4 quarts of oil in the car with me.

I put 1 quart in, check the dipstick, and it still does not show up on the dipstick, so I'm assuming the motor was running bare with absolutely no oil for maybe under a minute. I put another 2 quarts in, and it was a little above the minimum mark. So I start the car just to see what's going on, quickly run out to the front, look underneath, and there is massive leak. Yep, the oil filter backed off. So I tightened it, put in the last quart, started the car, and everything seems to be fine. I must have caught it at a really good time.

Now, besides the fact that it wasn't initially tightened properly during the oil change, is it possible these two things could have caused the filter to come loose:

1. It looks like when I initially had that oil change done, they over-filled it by maybe half a quart, could this have caused the filter to come loose?

2. My timing is off a bit, so the car is really loud at higher rpms and tends to vibrate a bit more than it normally does (I can even feel it in the shift knob when I shift at higher rpms). Is it likely the vibrations are bad enough to cause it to go loose?

 

[r1991_4g63t]

neither of those things will cause a filter to come off

what will cause a filter to come off:

1. not tightening it enough which would come off in a matter of minutes if not seconds

2. wrong filter

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

neither of those things will cause a filter to come off

what will cause a filter to come off:

1. not tightening it enough which would come off in a matter of minutes if not seconds

2. wrong filter

Hmm strange, I wonder how it could've gotten so loose then.

 

[r1991_4g63t]

when did you last change your oil? depending on how different the filter is if its wrong it could stay on for some time, ive seen some come in with the totally wrong filter but it held up...

 

[SpiralOut]

This is why you dont "get your oil changed". You have to do it your self in order to KNOW its done right.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

This is why you dont "get your oil changed". You have to do it your self in order to KNOW its done right.

It was done on short notice, I normally do my own oil changes.

when did you last change your oil? depending on how different the filter is if its wrong it could stay on for some time, ive seen some come in with the totally wrong filter but it held up...

The last time it was changed was about a week ago. It's an STP filter and seems to be the right one as when I tried to screw it back on, the threads seemed to match. And it's the typical large filter for the 6 bolts, so I don't think it was the wrong filter.

 

[r1991_4g63t]

might wanna check and be sure, there are a couple filters with similar part number and size

 

[rich3389]

neither of those things will cause a filter to come off

what will cause a filter to come off:

1. not tightening it enough which would come off in a matter of minutes if not seconds

2. wrong filter

Not true, oil filters backing off is a typical DSM thing, it happened to a buddy of mine coming back from the track on the highway and seized the motor, i cought mine loosening and leaking a few times and saved it in time.

Oh and it seems that the OEM mitsubishi oil filters tend to back off the most. I usually use purolater and the seal seems to stick to the housing after a few heat cycles and holds it from backing off.

 

[cs82685]

Oh and it seems that the OEM mitsubishi oil filters tend to back off the most.

Interesting, because as far as I can tell, the evo and 1g filters are the same and I have had no backing off issues on the Evo (thank god) I'm always afraid of something like that happening for a few days after I change my oil.

 

[sbiggi]

If your idiot light came on, you already damaged the bearings, you can be sure of that.
How bad? Who knows.

I've had my oil filter back off 2 times. Both times it damaged the rod bearings and I caught one with in a couple seconds of it happening.

You can make a safety wire to prevent the filter from backing off for less then $5.

-Seth

 

[dazzellerr]

a good way to ensure the filter never comes off unless you want it to is to use a hose clamp clamped around the filter, then a ziptie from the filter to the filter flange on the motor side.
heard this works quite well for dsm's and other rigs.

 

[crimsondragon]

I just tighten it as much as possible. Better to have a tough time getting the filter off at the next oil change then to lose a motor.

 

[19Eclipse90]

STP 3950 is the part number for a 1g. I have used them for the past two years without problems.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

If your idiot light came on, you already damaged the bearings, you can be sure of that.
How bad? Who knows.

-Seth

Well hopefully it did little to no damage. I can't hear anything unusual coming from the engine bay when driving or at idle, so maybe nothing happened. But we'll see over time.

Oh and it seems that the OEM mitsubishi oil filters tend to back off the most. I usually use purolater and the seal seems to stick to the housing after a few heat cycles and holds it from backing off.

I've also heard FRAM filters had a tendency of backing off too. I've always used NAPA oil filters for more than 3 years, and i've never had a problem with those.

STP 3950 is the part number for a 1g. I have used them for the past two years without problems.

Is it written on the filter itself?

 

[gma0408]

I never really wanted to gamble with a filter. STP doesn't even post their filtering percent on the box.

I usually go with an OEM or at the very least a fram Heavy Duty filter

Also, your filter might not be the problem It could be you oil filter housing/cooler. Overtightening the filter numerous times will crush the cooler. This will cause your oil filter to back out no matter how tight you have it on there.

A wire on the filter would be a good precaution, but a 90' filter housing and external oil cooler will eleviate the problem all together.

 

[r1991_4g63t]

I just tighten it as much as possible. Better to have a tough time getting the filter off at the next oil change then to lose a motor.

thats a easy way to make sure they back off

BTW Fram filters are about the worst you can buy IMO, cardboard filter elements are not something i want in my motor when they break down

 

[wishihadatalon]

It isn't the filter that comes loose. It is the sandwich plate nut that they use on the filter housing. It is a double threaded bolt with the hex in between the threads. Find the right socket (it is pretty huge) and tighten it up. Do not over tighten it though as you can damage things. After I tightened this down, I never had a single problem with it ever again.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

thats a easy way to make sure they back off

Care to elaborate?

 

[mitsu93gsx]

I had that happen to me, But it was the oil cooler extension that the oil filter screws on to, it backed off and spray oil everywere, then It jump freaking time, sucks ass, so just make sure no oil got near the timing belt

 

[r1991_4g63t]

Care to elaborate?

overtightening a filter crushes the gasket to the point it wont seal and most of the time they back off

 

[19Eclipse90]

Yes, 3950 should be stamped on the filter itself by the logo.

 

[BoostedinSoFla]

It's a PITA just to get my filter off when it's oil change time. I tighten that bi*** but not too tight to cause any damage to the OFH.

Mobil 1 M110 filter here.

 

[crimsondragon]

overtightening a filter crushes the gasket to the point it wont seal and most of the time they back off

Haven't had mine backed off. It's solid on there.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

Well it happened again everyone, unfortunately in the middle of traffic this time. This time I found the problem. There's a bolt that holds the filter housing and it became loose. All I could do is tighten it and hope that it doesn't happen again. Anybody else ever have that happen to them?