Why aren't you changing your own oil?

[ChitownStang]

@ChitownStang .....strongly disagree. For a recent discussion nof pre-feeling oil filters see The Oil Geek who did an empiracle study of this. Mymlate uncle a Shell chemical scientist did a number of studies on the importance od pre-filling oil filters. When younger in our family shop (employing 20 technicians building large construction engines and race engines for fun) they irrefutably proved that pre-filling oil filters made a huge difference in engine longevity. Just a couple of years ago Mercury Racing proved the efficiacy of pre-filling oil filters. Have a look at the Oil Geek's video on this topic . It is very imformative. I bet you change your mind. Bottom line do what you want. For 30 seconds of work the differences over time are astounding. BTW I pre fill my filter twice. Once for it to soak into the filter media and then to fill the channels.

I’ll read up on this .
Thanks

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[LouG]

How old are some of you guys? My dad is in his 70's and still changing his own oil

Good way to get under the car and check everything out every couple months.

Yeah, same here. But things do get a bit more difficult. And you bleed more. The number of times I've done some fettling and discovered blood running from a finger or arm that I didn't know I'd scraped.
Literally thin skinned.

 

[Starship Enterprise]

I always did everything I could myself. But with a bad back I just gave up and the mobil mechanic is excellent and does it in my driveway. He does it proper with the drain bolt, no siphon. he gets an excellent tip, and my back thanks me.

 

[MAT1955]

@ChitownStang ..... I hope I didn't come off as a know it all. My family has had a lot of engine maintenence and building history. the younger ones don't want to touch that - they're going for the wrx stuff. We built and dyno tested all the good stuff back in the day. The forum members are a great bunch and I genuinely care how your/their engi nes perform and last ..... sometimes i come off a bit strong and for that I apologize.

 

[ChitownStang]

@ChitownStang ..... I hope I didn't come off as a know it all. My family has had a lot of engine maintenence and building history. the younger ones don't want to touch that - they're going for the wrx stuff. We built and dyno tested all the good stuff back in the day. The forum members are a great bunch and I genuinely care how your/their engi nes perform and last ..... sometimes i come off a bit strong and for that I apologize.

Not at all. I’m not easily offended.
I appreciate your experience.
I’ve been reading many different opinions on this since you brought it up.
It’s interesting

 

[Ewags81]

i change my own oil in everything. trust issues. agree with double fill on filter per @MAT1955. why some people should stay away from oil changes... see thread I MIGHT HAVE MESSED UP. sorry

 

[goodlettjr]

For the pre-fill crowd…..
Make sure the tech is pre-filling it correctly. First, the guy in this video makes good points on how to introduce debris into your engine. Secondly…..Instead of tipping the guy, get him one of these.

Pre-Filler Device

 

[goodlettjr]

And I would argue that repeated cold starts and shutting your engine off without a complete heat cycle does more harm than not pre-filling your filter.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

I worked in a few independent shops, and have many friends at dealer shops. I've seen how other people touch your car and treat it.

Not going to have some douche having a bad day rev the tits off my engine cold, or take my car for a joyride.

sorry not sorry. Happens way way more often than you'd think

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

@ChitownStang .....strongly disagree. For a recent discussion of pre-filling oil filters see The Oil Geek who did an empiracle study of this. My late uncle a Shell chemical scientist did a number of studies on the importance of pre-filling oil filters.

I pre-filled the filter on every car I worked on, and every car I currently own. Its not necessary.

By the time your bearings experience enough wear to need a rebuild, chances are that your engine is already worn out significantly more in every other department, like low compression.

Bearing wear does not typically kill motors unless there was an external factor that caused them to completely shear, its usually low compression that requires a rebuild. The only time I have seen motors that need rebuilds because the bearings fail, it has been due to complete oil starvation, or lack of oil changes creating excess sludge, or overheating. Never have I seen a healthy old motor need bearings before piston rings or something else of that nature. Not old, not new, never.

You can continue pre-filling your filter, as will I, but lets be realistic about it. Bearing wear with age does not kill motors before low compression and oil consumption, and pre-filling the filter does not significantly impact that wear. It would take thousands of oil changes for it to build up to a significant amount of wear.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

And I would argue that repeated cold starts and shutting your engine off without a complete heat cycle does more harm than not pre-filling your filter.

100%

 

[AZ_Ryan]

And I would argue that repeated cold starts and shutting your engine off without a complete heat cycle does more harm than not pre-filling your filter.

100%

Its not that im against pre-filling a filter. I do it on my classic. I just think making a big deal about it on a modern engine like a coyote is nitpicking. Unlike older cars, the amount of oil and the start-up psi in modern engines isnt going to cause oil starvation. Not to mention modern synthetic oils and blends coat the internals and bearings even after you empty the oil pan. Its realy no difference than a cold start up at that point. When you take into account you are only doing one start-up every 5k or more miles after an oil change, its hardly a big deal compared to all the cold starts the engine is doing in between.

So do it if it makes you feel better. It certainly doesn't hurt. But getting worked up over a tech who doesn't do it is pedantic.

 

[MAT1955]

@AZ_Ryan ..... you might be interested in a video on this subject by "The Oil Geek". I believe it would be worth your time. I had high performance Mercury Marine racing engines. I had a number of discussions with Mercury Racing about breaking them in and maintenance. Pre-filling the oil filters was sop. The racing engines my family used to build all came with pre-fill sop. I fail to understand why anyone wouldn't do this as it takes less than 10 seconds to do. I do it twice - let it soak into the filter media then re-fill the core.

 

[Sofa King]

Pre-filling filters is quite impossible on some cars... they are mounted sideways or even upside down!

 

[s197richie]

Pre-filling filters is quite impossible on some cars... they are mounted sideways or even upside down!

If you're using a high quality full synthetic like Mobil 1 you could literally drain the oil out, drive to the store, leave it running while you run in for your oil change supplies, and drive it back home without any damage. I wouldn't recommend it but there are plenty of stories of kiddos driving long distances sans oil and/or coolant and the synthetic oil coating saving them.

That being said even using Mobil 1 I put some oil in the filter before I screw it on; it's a 45 degree angle so not a lot but still.

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