The wife wanted to wash her car, so I moved my truck out of the driveway. When I walk back to where my truck was parked I noticed two quarter sized drops of oil on the driveway. Made a mental note to look under the truck when I brought it back around. Well I crawled under the truck and noticed there was some oil on the front axle, etc... I looked up at the oil filter and noticed there was a drop of oil on the bottom of it waiting to fall. I grab a towel to clean up the oil filter, the oil filter was about a half turn loose. I tightened it up, and then checked the oil level, I was about 2.5 quartes low. I always keep an eye on my gauges and never saw a drop in oil pressure. The oil was changed at least 3 months ago, I know it hasn't been leaking since the change (no oil in the driveway until yesterday). I have two questions -

1. Damage to the motor? Would 2.5 quarts low in oil cause any damage?

2. How in the world would the oil filter get loose like that?

Thanks!

 

Doubt if there is any damage.
It probably wasn't tight enough to begin with or the gasket from the previous filter is stuck to the housing.

 

There was a post on here quite some time ago about a guy losing an engine because his old filter gasket stuck on the block and he had two gaskets on there. Watch close when you guys change your oil.

roadie00, do you put the filter on hand tight or use a wrench to snug it up??

 

Dr. Evil,

I snug it up with a wrench. I'm changing the oil this week, so I will be sure and check for the old gasket. I've been keeping a close eye on it until I can get it swapped out.

 

I was just curious because some guys just put them on hand tight, which I personally dont think is good enough.

 

I agree -

I always put it on as tight as I can with my hand, then I turn it about 1/2 - 3/4 of a full turn with a wrench. It's how I have always put oil filters on, I've never had a problem.

 

I always put my filter on hand tight and then a little bit "snuggy" more. i mean that I spin it on until it contacts and then hand tight another 1/2 turn or so (I'm fiarly strong so my hand tight might be tighter than most though). I always put a light film of oil on the gasket too. I don't seem to have room to get a filter wrench in there to tighten or loosen the filter. Even so by oil change time it's fairly difficult to get the old filter off. Once I even had to punch a screwdriver through the housing and use that as a makeshift wrench to loosen it. Personally I don't want to get it too tight or I'll have one heck of a time to get it off.

 

You could be a gallon low and not worry about the engine losing oil pressure. Of course if you're losing oil, you don't have much margin for further loss. I personally put a new filter on hand tight but I have a strong grip. If you aren't sure about it, then put a wrench on it. One thing I always do is to put a slash mark on the bottom with a marks-a-lot pen to show the position just as it touches the gasket. Then I can see how much it turns after the gasket touches. A pair of rough rubber gloves will give a better grip too.

 

I was underneath installing a new trans pan and noticed a little oil on the axle and a drop on the filter. I am in the middle of the full band on the dipstick so I think I'm ok.
My filter didn't budge by hand and I don't like to lean on them with a wrench.

According to what I read (on the filter box).... I've been putting my filter on by hand until just snug - initial contact with the gasket. Then turning it 3/4 more. I can almost do that by hand... but use a tool for the last 1/4 turn or so.

My concern is having the tool crease the filter and cause a big leak. I never thought about this until I read about a filter exploding and realized these filters are about twice as long as a little car/van filter.