Metal oil filter housing

Why do you need to swap out the rube in the center if it’s a factory Toyota install.

 

Why would you not just switch them if the original on the 4Runner is longer? Risk/reward type situation in my book. It’s an easy task, you are going through the trouble of swapping out the plastic one, why not take the very short time to change em? In fact it took longer to read this post than it would to change it out.

in fact, I’ll add another sentence just in case more time is needed.

 

Well, thank you for stating the obvious but I don't have that choice. Ironically, given your post, I didn't bother with the whole story cause I was trying not to take up too much time, mine or others. But here it is:

My shop installed the metal filter housing without swapping over the tube, and now I think the old tube and broken housing are off to the great landfill in the sky. So that's why I'm wondering how big of a deal it is that I'm running the truck with the shorter tube. Do plan to get a longer tube in there at some point, but now I have to source one somewhere.

I'm not actually sure how the oil gets distributed through the filter. When you look at this cartridge setup, it kinda seems like a bathtub and the oil just sloshes around in there, under pressure of course, going in and out of the filter in a somewhat random fashion. The tube is presumably intended to force dirty oil through the filter, moving inside-out. So a longer tube would spurt more oil out higher up the filter. That makes sense.

But when you look at the design of this thing, seeing the fitting that's attached to the block that the filter housing screws into, it seems as though oil is just gonna be pressed through the filter from all sides and top to bottom anyway. I don't see how all or even most of the oil can be forced through that tube.

 

I believe you’re correct that oil direction is from inner to outer through the filter paper.
If you look up the p/n for the metal filter housing (

$52 15620-31060 15643-31050

15620-31060) it is actually spec’d for Avalon, Camry, Highlander, RAV4, Sienna, Venza, which use a shorter filter. Hence a shorter center tube.
I would just take the cost hit and buy an OEM plastic housing just for the center tube. Maybe on eBay.

 

If it were me I’d get the long tube, even if I had to buy another plastic filter housing.

ETA: Elelectroboy you beat me to it!

 

Thx. Prob will. In the meantime I Would love to hear from an engineer on my observation above: But when you look at the design of this thing, seeing the fitting that's attached to the block that the filter housing screws into, it seems as though oil is just gonna be pressed through the filter from all sides and top to bottom anyway. I don't see how all or even most of the oil can be forced through that tube.

 

Is all 5 Generation T4R oil change such a PITA ?
or just the 2022 TRD Sports.
This is my first T4R.

Not surprised the rookie oil change tech are cutting corners.

High recommended to stay/watch the shops changing the oil.
I don't have the skills to change my oil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP1EgnTIJQY

 

Has anyone taken photos of that area? I forget how it looks. Trying to imagine how the oil flows.

 

I preordered 2 of these:

https://jowettperformance.com/products/coming-soon-billet-oil-cap-for-filter

 

Can’t see inside that well but I think this is the part that connects the filter housing to the engine block. I don’t see how you don’t just have oil flowing every which way around and through the filter. It seems more like an oil bath and the filter just filters what it filters as the oil gets pushed around in the housing. How could it be forced only into that tube, to be forced through the filter from the inside out? Again, it seems more like the oil would be going every which way around, over and through the filter. Need an auto engineer to explain this lol!

 

I almost got this:

https://www.baxterperformanceusa.com/product/ts-501-bk-cartridge-to-spin-on-adapter-universal/

 

Ok, I'm pretty sure I've figured this out via that miracle known as Googling, and a subset of that miracle known as youtube.

The oil pump pushes the dirty oil into the housing along the outside of the filter. The pressure pushes the oil through the filter, from the outside in, and then this cleaner oil is pushed up through the middle of the filter and back to the engine.

The tube is there to prevent the filter from being crushed by this pressure. On a traditional spin-on canister type filter, this is often accomplished by a metal mesh lining along the inside of the filter. But in a cartridge type filter, the replaceable part is just the filter element itself. So we need something else to prevent it from being crushed.

Don't know how much of a risk it is in practice, but one can at least imagine a filter without a sufficiently long tube becoming crushed enough at the top to prevent the cleaner oil from flowing back into the engine as designed. My hunch is that the same pressure that would squeeze the filter in on itself would also be squeezing it out as the oil flows up from the inside, so really it's not that big of a risk. But who knows. When I next remove my filter I'll take a look at it and report back! Will it be crushed?

The other function of that tube assembly is its spring, which forces the filter upwards to seal against a mating surface on the engine block to assure that the dirty oil flows only along the outside of the filter, and the cleaner oil flows back into the engine from the space inside the filter.

Finally, the space below this tube/spring assembly acts as a bypass valve to assure the oil continues to flow through the housing and back to the engine in the event the filter becomes completely clogged.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLVyfaIVofc

and https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...oil-flow-into-the-filter.164825/#post-2433599

 

Good find. That’s what I also found out with a little more research. Even though the filter element is quite rigid the perforated tube acts to support it and keep its shape under pressure.

 

Thank you. That is the info I wanted.

 

PS — my guess is the bypass valve works by releasing the pressure that pushes the filter up against its mating surface on the engine block. The filter would drop down and the oil would just get pumped here and there, over, under and around the filter, before retiring to the engine. The housing would become the kind of oil bath I’d described before. Poor filtration of course, but perhaps not none.

Which makes me wonder lol — how long will oil last without filtration? After how many miles would you have done serious damage?

 

I get the temptation, but after reading about the pros and cons of canister vs cartridge systems I’m content to have the latter.

Cartridges reduce waste to landfills, and avoid the cost and inefficiency of recycling the canisters, which retain a lot more toxic used oil.

In principle cartridges are also more reliable, since the housings are much less likely to be torn or punctured by road debris or idiot oil change techs. (Something that happened to me at my friendly neighborhood Subaru dealer — I leaked oil all over my driveway and no doubt the two miles between the dealer and my house).

Also, this is my fourth vehicle with a cartridge system (two BMWs and a VW) and changing the oil is only another couple steps and 5 minutes of DIY.

I do think the auto manufacturers often cut corners by specifying plastic housings. I was definitely being an idiot when I broke mine, but if it was metal I wouldn’t have gotten into that situation. That issue aside, my oil change was easy. And not any messier than usual. The worst part was unbolting the skid plate.

 

Hmm. Air-cooled VW engines essentially have no oil filter (it’s literally a wire mesh basket in the sump) and the oil change interval for those engines is 3000 miles, if that’s any indication.

 

Good info. I imagine it also matters whether the engine is broken in. Would be more comfortable going filterless at 50k miles than 1k miles.

 

There is a very good reason for the oil to flow from the outside to inside on a filter cartridge. The removed filter can be inspected for debris or metal on the outside trapped in the pleats. This provides an opportunity to discover a problem before becoming a disaster. Cannister filters are extremely difficult to open for inspection without causing a ton of metal debris to be deposited on the outside of the very thing one wishes to inspect.

 

Great point. This is another “pro” in the pro-con list for cartridge filters.

 

And, as you stated, less waste in the landfills.

 

I’ll add another “pro” for cartridges: you can see and touch exactly what you have. There’s no mystery about the condition of the filter media, the gaskets, or the bypass valve before you decide to install them. It’s all right there, you can pick it up, feel it, turn it around, check on it from all sides.

Who knows what you’re really getting inside that metal can.

 

This video from a Toyota mechanic talks about whether an aluminum housing is necessary on the 4Runner.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KDcjAIFPQds

 

The plastic housing will not break in normal use as long as it is properly torqued when installed. But there are many cases of them being overtightened by dealers or others and then breaking when DIYers try to remove them. Not having a proper oil filter wrench will exacerbate the possibility of breakage.

Here’s one thread on the other forum about this.

 

Right. It's hardly crazy to stick with the plastic one Toyota gave us. I'm not saying people should certainly switch to the metal version. But I do think the metal one is better on balance, so I am making that switch for myself.

While my experience cracking the plastic housing, causing new oil to spurt everywhere and all the rest of it, was due mostly to my own incompetence, including my use of a poor wrench (and perhaps exacerbated by the last tech who changed my oil, as I think one of the plastic tabs was already mangled before I got to it), the experience does illustrate that these housings are somewhat vulnerable. As seen in the forums, many others have had similar experiences.

My guess is that if you're careful, the plastic housing will last as long as the rest of the truck. And if it breaks, nothing wrong with replacing it with a new plastic housing. But for me, I just rather not have this risk. And the fact that Toyota specs the metal version on many of its vehicles tells me it does not have significant downsides.

 

@skistoy posted this on another thread. A must watch. Convinced me to go back to the plastic OEM housing. The guy says the shorter stand tube causes the oil to bypass the filter from the get go. And swapping tubes is asking for failure because those tubes are not meant to be removed and reinstalled.
https://youtu.be/G_vl2AYe7Yg

 

Excellent video, thank you for sharing.

 

If they weren't meant to be removed you wouldn't be able to purchase the tube separately and swap it out in 10 seconds. These are serviceable. This guy gives solid advice but saying the housing is now trash because he removed the center tube is a little much. It's literally being held in by two metal tabs that can bend back in place. They're not flimsy tabs. There's no seal on that tube
It's a spring with tension and a small metal piece with a nipple on it. Just make sure you reinstall it correctly. His biggest advice should be never have a dealership change you're oil but he works at a dealership so you'll never hear that

 

The Car Care Nut opened his own independent shop recently. He is no longer working for a stealership. From what I can tell from his content (be that what it may) he has no shortage of clientele who seek out his services.