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Why do engineers design the oil filter so that you have to install from the underside

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I like the filter under with the top up.

I hate it when they are on the front half way down the engine and you half to stick your arm through a bunch of wires and crap to get it.

also anyone got any ideas? i was going to change the oil on my taurus and the bolt is stripped.
 
waggy said:
I like the filter under with the top up.

I hate it when they are on the front half way down the engine and you half to stick your arm through a bunch of wires and crap to get it.

also anyone got any ideas? i was going to change the oil on my taurus and the bolt is stripped.
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Hammer on a smaller socket.
 
Zenmervolt said:
Why on earth would anyone change the filter without also changing the oil?

ZV
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Running AMSoil synthetic, changed the filter at 7500 miles because I'm to cheap to spend another 50+ USD on 5 more quarts of oil. I check it frequently and the oil is still in good condition.
 
Filter is a pain on Saturn S-series.

It's great on my 1.8 Honda though. Right bottom front of the engine, its in a little protective shroud so it doesn't get an impact. Makes it easy to do oil changes on this car though. Can even lift the car from the rad support.
 
My M3 is on top.

The S-series isn't so bad if you cut an oil bottle and put it under the filter with the 'spout' off to the side.

I let the pros do my changes...on a basic car the dealer does it for $15.99-20 around here, for my M...the cost of the oil is most of the job. The labor is insignificant.
 
SyndromeOCZ said:
Running AMSoil synthetic, changed the filter at 7500 miles because I'm too cheap to spend another 50+ USD on 5 more quarts of oil. I check it frequently and the oil is still in good condition.
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If the oil's in good condition, then the filter isn't in bypass mode, otherwise the oil would be full of the gunk that the filter's no longer stopping. Stock intervals on modern cars are edging the 14,000 to 15,000 mile ranges today and no-one recommends changing out the filter in the middle of the interval. I'm all for maintenance, but there's a point where it becomes ridiculous.

ZV
 
Well just as you pointed out, the oil is going to be good until the filter is full right? Well maybe its not that cut and dry. But its much cheaper for me to buy the filter and 1 quart and exchange it. I can do it without lifting my car, just turn the wheel out and lay on the ground and its done.
 
I like the filter on the bottom, it makes the oil change process easier because you only have to get back up once you need to refill.

On the bimmer, you have to drain from the bottom, then stand up and take the oil filter off from the top, then go under to recap the bottom, then stand up to put in new oil filter and refill.

PITA!
 
KIAman said:
I like the filter on the bottom, it makes the oil change process easier because you only have to get back up once you need to refill.

On the bimmer, you have to drain from the bottom, then stand up and take the oil filter off from the top, then go under to recap the bottom, then stand up to put in new oil filter and refill.

PITA!
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Since the oil filter is already on the top, change the oil filter first. Saves me a few steps and seems to make more sense.
 
Mounted under is better. It is easier to remove without spillage, since you are down there for oil drain anyway. And since the filter goes on "open end up" it can be prefilled, which gets oil to the bearings much faster than a dry filter. You can't do that on a filter that goes on from the top "open end down". And on some new cars, they are now using cartridge elements inside a filter housing. A little trickier to work with until you get used to it.
 
When I was growing up, changing my own oil was expected of me. To this day, I do all my own brake work, etc. on cars. But, I discovered the convenience of an independent shop where I just drive in, a guy in the basement of the place works on the oil change from below, drains the oil, changes the filter, etc., and the guy working above refills the oil, fills any fluids that might be low (generally this means the wiper fluid), all within 5 minutes. My hands stay clean and it only costs about $5-10 more than it would cost me to do it myself, and saves me all that time of running to the parts store for a filter, cleaning up, disposing of the oil, etc.
 
SyndromeOCZ said:
Well just as you pointed out, the oil is going to be good until the filter is full right? Well maybe its not that cut and dry. But its much cheaper for me to buy the filter and 1 quart and exchange it. I can do it without lifting my car, just turn the wheel out and lay on the ground and its done.
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The oil will wear out long before the filter.

Your owner's manual is the best recommendations for long life. Only if you want an extended life should you alter anything.
 
alkemyst said:
The oil will wear out long before the filter.

Your owner's manual is the best recommendations for long life. Only if you want an extended life should you alter anything.
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So maybe the better recommendation is only change the filter every other oil change? 😛
 
On the MR2 the oil filter is immediatly behind the exhaust manifold. Cant change it while hot. Thats why oil filter relacation kits are popular. They also can allow for a larger filter to be installed.
DSC03269.JPG
 
FuzzyDunlop said:
On the MR2 the oil filter is immediatly behind the exhaust manifold. Cant change it while hot. Thats why oil filter relacation kits are popular. They also can allow for a larger filter to be installed.
DSC03269.JPG
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I need to get an oil filter relocation kit for my 2003 Chevy Trailblazer with the 5.3 V8. You have to tilt the oil filter 90 degrees, dumping all the oil before you can pull the filter out through the stupid hole in the skid plate. I make a mess everytime. I'd like to shoot that SOB who came up with this design. I even took it to a Jiffy Lube thinking that maybe they'd make less of a mess changing the filter and boy was I wrong. Apparently they didn't have any better luck getting the filter out with their vantage point than I did. The next morning there was a small puddle of oil under the trailblazer where the excess oil the Jiffy Lube spilled had dripped.
 
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