More on Oil Filters

My SO's new RAV4 (4 cyl) has a great filter location. It is hanging straight down at the front of the vehicle on the passenger side in the clear. Not the easiest, but very good. It is sooo much better than the filter on my Nissan Frontier which is buried behind a splash shield with a removable panel that is way to small. My Sister's Honda is even worse, it is on the back side of the engine under the intake and just over the exhaust pipe. You can't even see the filter without jacking up the car. It invariably drips oil on the exhaust so you get that burning oil smell after every oil change.

Ed

Oil filter orientation is a pet peeve of mine as well!

We need to discover the CIA's most feared interrogation technique (waterboarding?), and get some answer from a sizeable sampling of mechanical engineering droids. Somebody knows why oil filters are set up this way, but nobody's talking.

The solution to an oil filter that is oriented so its contents will spill when removed is an elbow adapter like that used on the Camry for a while. The drawbacks are additional cost (although I think most do-it-yourselfers would gladly pay an additional $20 for an adapter), another potential source of leaks where the adapter mounts to the block, and in some cases, fit in the engine compartment.

There is a lot more stuff in the engine bay of a modern vehicle compared to a 1967 model. This includes (but is not limited to) the transmission on a front wheel drive vehicle. I think you would find that a modern Ford engine bay would be equally cramped.

My 1997 Ford Expedition was very easy to service. The oil filter was remotely mounted behind the front bumper. For the 2003 they moved it back to the engine. It was in a hard to see place above a cross member, but still relatively easy to reach. A skinny person could reach it without jacking up the truck. Amazingly my 2004 Thunderbird was really easy to change. The filter and drain plug were accessible from the front of the car and could be reached without jacking the car (but you did have to lay on your back to reach up under the front of the car). My favorite oil filter was my 2003 Saturn. It had a cartridge type filter. The cap screwed off and you just pulled the filter element out with the cap. If you drew out slowly, the oil drained back into the filter can. I think the new Camrys use a filter like this, but I have not actually seen one to verify.

Ed

"Ray O" mumbled incoherently to the rest of alt.autos.toyota:

Have you seen it on the celicas 3sgte? Have you?! (*£$&&£$(* stupid designer!

Is it safe to assume that one does not perform oil changes on Celica turbos for recreation?

Likewise with my Mazda. My 1974 Corolla and my 1985 VW Jetta were the best placements I ever saw. The Corolla was in 2nd place: the filter was right in the front top side of the block, but pointed down, so when you took it off, all the oil ran out, The Jetta had that beat. When you opened the hood, it was right smack in front of you, pointed UP, so when you took it off all the oil stayed in the filter.

My least favorite is the 'hachiroku', directly below the exhaust manifold (no wonder the car came stock with an oil cooler...)

Can't remember on the supra. On the tC, it is behind the grille/front facade, right-side up (doesn't spill_ but you have to get under the car to get to it. Nice if you have a lift! I guess that makes the tC #2, and the Corolla come in in third place...

"Ray O" mumbled incoherently to the rest

In this picture look for the turbo heat shield, look left and find the alternator, now go down 4 inches and back behind the dipstick and O2 sensor and you'll have my oil filter :)

Coyoteboy mumbled incoherently to the rest of alt.autos.toyota:

Oh, and yes its upside down with its closed end pointing right in your face. No you cant get a rag under it due to other items in the way. ARGHHH. Need a filter relocation kit for sure!

Take a look at the where the oil filter is located on the 2007 FJ Cruiser. Toyota really put some thought into this one.

yeah, well, I've owned 302 mustangs and their placement of the oil filter sucks even more. Also, on my 96 corolla I first open the oil pan drain and let the car cool down while it drains. Then an hour later or so I unscrew the filter and usually hardly any oil will run out. As an added benefit, the oil that does come out isn't super hot and I don't risk burning my hand from the exhaust that sits real close to it.

I don't have one handy. How about fillin gus in.

Ed

Have a look in alt.binaries.images.fun, something like "Why is Vash posting all these pics of a spark plug change"...

Talk about wanting to punch an engineer in the nose!

An Exposition and a Thunderbird? So you are the SOB who is responsible for global warming !!!

Well I don't own either any more. However, the Thunderbird got decent mileage (I averaged around 23 driving back and forth to work, better on the occasional highway trip). .The Expedition only got around 16. Sadly, the Nissan Frontier I have now doesn't do much better despite being a lot smaller and lighter (it is averaging 18, which is a shade better than my SO's Father's Tacoma).

Ed

Last summer I was shopping for a new Toyota for my wife and just happened to pop the hood on a new FJ Cruiser. I was really impressed when I noticed the oil filter was mounted up high at the end of a funnel like assembly. No need to get under the car and the assembly even had a hole probably for the oil draining from filter during removal. Unfortunately, the FJ was out of our price range.

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