Prefill Oil Filter

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fireflymedic

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Scott Kilmore just did a YouTube video on this, he's no fan of ram so wouldn't be surprised if many on this forum don't follow him (he seemsto love Toyota). But he said engines no longer send ALL the oil to filter just some of the oil so your engine won't go without oil for the second it takes filter to fill. Do oil the gasket though.
 

Speedy Mike

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I pre fill for piece of mind . I have being
this for a long long time. I know it sounds crazy but that's what I do
 

mikeru

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I pour in enough oil to saturate the filter media. Filling it about half full, then tipping the filter enough that the oil gets to the top of the media but not enough for oil to dump out. That way no oil dumps out when I install the filter. Is it necessary to do this? Definitely not. But it certainly won't hurt anything. I've been doing that since I was 15 when my dad taught me how to work on cars. I'm a creature of habit so I'm probably not gonna stop doing this.
 

mikeru

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Scott Kilmore just did a YouTube video on this, he's no fan of ram so wouldn't be surprised if many on this forum don't follow him (he seemsto love Toyota). But he said engines no longer send ALL the oil to filter just some of the oil so your engine won't go without oil for the second it takes filter to fill. Do oil the gasket though.
Pretty sure you meant Scotty Kilmer. I'd take what Scott says with a grain of salt. He's now in the entertainment business, and I'm not sure how relevant his information is with current technology. Some of his videos are entertaining, but the advice he gives is sometimes just wrong.

I'd be interested to know what he's referring to when you say he said that. Maybe I'm the one who's out of touch with current technology, but in every engine I've worked on, oil flows from the crankcase through the pump to the filter before going to the rest of the engine. There is a bypass in the oil filter itself, but I don't know of any other bypass for the oil between the pump and the filter. I'd be interested in seeing that video if you still have a link to it.
 

fireflymedic

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Pretty sure you meant Scotty Kilmer. I'd take what Scott says with a grain of salt. He's now in the entertainment business, and I'm not sure how relevant his information is with current technology. Some of his videos are entertaining, but the advice he gives is sometimes just wrong.

I'd be interested to know what he's referring to when you say he said that. Maybe I'm the one who's out of touch with current technology, but in every engine I've worked on, oil flows from the crankcase through the pump to the filter before going to the rest of the engine. There is a bypass in the oil filter itself, but I don't know of any other bypass for the oil between the pump and the filter. I'd be interested in seeing that video if you still have a link to it.


Hope link works first time I've done that. If not you're right it's Scotty Kilmer video title is "never do this when changing your oil"

I do take what he says with grain of salt do to him bashing about every brand particularly dodge but he loves him a Toyota. But he's more of a mechanic than I am so ...
 

18CrewDually

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Pretty sure you meant Scotty Kilmer. I'd take what Scott says with a grain of salt. He's now in the entertainment business, and I'm not sure how relevant his information is with current technology. Some of his videos are entertaining, but the advice he gives is sometimes just wrong.

I'd be interested to know what he's referring to when you say he said that. Maybe I'm the one who's out of touch with current technology, but in every engine I've worked on, oil flows from the crankcase through the pump to the filter before going to the rest of the engine. There is a bypass in the oil filter itself, but I don't know of any other bypass for the oil between the pump and the filter. I'd be interested in seeing that video if you still have a link to it.

You'd have blown up filters on some engines without an internal bypass.
Cummins below.
Screenshot_20230404-154843_Google.jpg
 

Gr8bawana

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So for those of you who do pre-fill the oil filters, what is it you think you're accomplishing?
 

Zoe Saldana

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I know this has been asked before, but I am going to ask again. 2018 Ram 2500, cummins. Do you or do you not pre fill the oil filter.

So far I have always pre filled, but man does it suck to replace a full filter. I just watched a video of a mechanic who does not pre fill.

You don't have to fill it completely. The get the filter media wet and put in a comfortable amount after that.

I have the 6.4L and the filter is horizontal; so if I filled it a lot would pour out.
 

mikeru

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You'd have blown up filters on some engines without an internal bypass.
Cummins below.
View attachment 518009
Thanks for posting that. I realize this is a Cummins forum but I have no experience with those. On any gas engine I've worked on the oil pump has an internal bypass which does return some oil back to the inlet side of the oil pump under high pressure situations, but it will still go through the pump and to the filter. It's not sending oil back to the sump, so essentially all oil that exits the pump goes through the filter. I'll concede that I may have been a little rough on Scotty in this instance. :cheers:
 

1979PowerWagon360

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Why wouldn't anyone prefill a filter as much as they reasonably can? By this I mean as much as you can and still install the filter without spilling any. It certainly cannot hurt and likely is helpful so why wouldn't you just do so?!
 

18CrewDually

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Why wouldn't anyone prefill a filter as much as they reasonably can? By this I mean as much as you can and still install the filter without spilling any. It certainly cannot hurt and likely is helpful so why wouldn't you just do so?!
See post #28.
 

Highway

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Why wouldn't anyone prefill a filter as much as they reasonably can? By this I mean as much as you can and still install the filter without spilling any. It certainly cannot hurt and likely is helpful so why wouldn't you just do so?!
I’m 62 and have prefilled as long as I can remember.
 

alpinegreenneon

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Many years ago, when I had a '70 Dart Swinger, I noticed that the oil light stayed on a few seconds after an oil and filter change. If I prefilled the filter, that didn't happen so I've been prefilling ever since. Can't prefill the filter on the Pentastar but no delayed oil pressure light.
 

Andrei20

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I usually prefill, but recently have seen several videos why you shouldn't prefill (oil you pour in the center of the filter goes straight in to the engine so any contaminants run in with no filtration) so I will probably stop prefilling here on out.
Same as when the oil is cold and partially goes through oil by-pass valve, as not to collapse the filter, so it's the same thing, contaminants and wear from the engine sump go straight into the engine.
The best would be to pre-fill the filter through it's side holes, you will have filtered oil in the middle.
 

John Jensen

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More oil is always better than less. Lots of vehicles have side mounted and down mounted filters. So you can’t always prefill. The talk of contaminants going into the engine is crazy, what is that person pouring in? Used oil? It keeps saturating the media as you fill also. Someone mentioned dealers don’t do it. HaHa, dealers don’t do a lot of things that doesn’t make it good! They do whatever they can get away with.
That "someone" was me.
You missed my point, which is the vast number of trucks that dealers change oil on, have no problems from not prefilled filters.
 

Andrei20

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That "someone" was me.
You missed my point, which is the vast number of trucks that dealers change oil on, have no problems from not prefilled filters.
Yes, the dealers do that, and that is a "good enough" thing, which the most people are used to, but there's also a "better" thing, like pre-filling the filter with oil, waiting for half an hour for most of the oil to drain, pulling the fuse for the engine ignition and cranking the engine a few times to fill the oil gallery before starting it.
So, each chooses what they want, good enough, or better. Can't judge either.
 
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