oil filter gasket failure: experiences?

[dlb]

i changed the oil on my wife's vx the other day and found out the hard way that the gasket from the old fram oil filter stuck to the block when i removed it. it then bound up when i installed a new mann-brand filter. obviously, there was no seal made but being under the intake manifold, i couldn't see this, and all the oil came pissing out as soon as the car was started. i removed the mann, found the fram's gasket, and checked the fram to confirm that it was indeed missing its gasket. i found not only that, but also that another fram filter i removed from another civic is also missing its gasket! that means that the oil filter on our other civic is currently double-gasketed (but not leaking yet, amazingly) so i'm going to remove the filter to check it.

i have heard lots of "fram sucks" over the years but never much info on why. regardless, all the bad talk was enough to keep me from buying any fram stuff, but when you buy used cars you're at the mercy of whatever the previous owner has done. this was a super ****ty experience, and a catastrophic failure on fram's part, so it has only justified all that i have heard about fram over the years.

even though i'm still relatively new to wrenching, i've done all my own oil changes since i was a teenager and have never experienced this with any of the other brands of oil filter i've used. has anyone else here had similar experiences, with fram or any other brands?

[nemo]

Only two instances of oil filter problems, don't remember the brands. One was as you stated the seal was left behind. The other was the filter can was blown off the mount plate. At the time I was told it was the relief valve in the oil pump. The pump was replace and the problem never reoccurred.

[Rusty94cx]

Yes it happens from time to time with any brand filter. Always just check the old and new filter that they have gaskets. I have taken brand new filters out of the box and they are missing the seal. If you look at the old filter and see the gasket there you know it's not left behind.

[Frank Lee]

Yes it happens from time to time with any brand filter.

[2000mc]

if you work on cars long enough this will happen to you. after it happens, for some people a couple times, you will learn to check.

about a month ago the new kid in or shop pumped out about 13 1/2 qts in his bay and across the parking lot

ive had one experience changing oil on a car that came in, due for its next oil change, double gasketed, and the gasket stuck to the other gasket instead of the filter. i tried to put on the new filter to laugh at a triple gasket, but the adapter wasnt long enough to reach the threads of the filter

[user removed]

ALWAYS check the surface of the sealing surface where the oil filter mounts.
ALWAYS make sure you wipe some oil on the new filter's seal.
ALWAYS check for leaks.

Glad to read you did not lose an engine.

regards
Mech

[mechman600]

^^^^
Exactly.

Look at the sealing surface and give it a wipe to make sure there's no dirt/debris on it before screwing the new filter on.

[NoD~]

Many filters for me, never seen this happen... but I don't doubt it's probability in the future. I definitely shy from the Fram filters, but it's always been because of cheaper quality innards. All the same, I've never spent the top shelf price of the "high end" filters.

Something to add to Old Mechanic's rules is, if possible, prime the new oil filter with some of the new, fresh oil. My Mopar engines, luckily, all mount straight-up, so I can fill them to the top. If it went in sideways at all, likely wouldn't be possible to prime. After you fill it, you'll likely have spilled a bit of it on the O-ring seal anyways... just run it around with a clean finger from there!

[dlb]

yes, i have always filled the new filter with oil and wiped oil on the gasket. i think those two things are mentioned on most oil filters. i had never heard of gaskets coming off or sticking to blocks before this experience though, which seems odd since it seems to be common knowledge or at least a common experience. i wish that filter companies would add this to their instructions, or that my dad had mentioned it way back when. oh well, live and learn.

[Fat Charlie]

It's never happened to me, but I've seen it happen at work. With a whole shop full of eyes watching out for each other, it gets caught fast.