Fill the Filter First?

385,000 total miles on five spin on oil filter bikes. No pre oiling, no problems

Pauls1150 said:

A few days ago, I was at one of our local shops to spend some time BS'ing with the guys, and the question came up as to whether it is necessary - or desirable - to fill up a new oil filter before installing it. Some of us always do, I suspect some of us don't bother, and one of the guys claimed that he never does because it may cause cavitation at the initial startup (which I don't buy for a couple of reasons).
I've never seen anything about this in a manual.
So - what do you guys do? I'm not looking for an argument, I'm just curious what you do and why... especially, if you don't, are there any documented reasons not to?
Thanks!
Paul S

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385,000 total miles on five spin on oil filter bikes. No pre oiling, no problems

So what happens to the engines that you can't "pre-fill" the oil filter on? Like the 4.0 liter on a Nissan Frontier? The filter screws on to the front of the engine and is parallel to the ground. Any pre-fill would just run out when you screw the filter on? Just thought I throw this out there...

(And as a side note, these filters are messy to take off too. After 5 Nissan trucks, hundred of thousands of miles, there just doesn't seem a way to remove these filters without some spillage).

I always prefill the filter on the "Silver Dumpster"!

My '06 4.0L Frontier AKA "Silver Dumpster" gets its filter prefilled at every Mobil 1 oil change. OEM filter, 5,500 mile interval and I prefill the filter. The trick is you don't top it off or over fill, you put about a half pint in before you you even start to drain the oil out and you let the new filter absorb the oil in its element while you do the draining and clean up of the old stuff. Does prefilling make a difference with the "Silver Dumpster? I don't know to be honest but its gone 160,000 miles with no tics, clacks, crunches or things sticking out of the block. The '95 Nissan before that went 280,000 miles with no tics, clacks, crunches or things sticking out of the block and the house painter I sold it to claims its his best and most reliable vehicle, still running trouble free and I always prefilled the filter with the Castrol 20/50 Dino oil.

Thread "Highjack" admitted. Prefilling the oil filter much like the type and viscosity of oil you use is a personal preference which should always be consistent with manufactures recommendation and documented as such. If you don't mind an extra 5 seconds or so of clackity clack in the lifters and timing chain then don't prefill the filter, it probably doesn't hurt the motor any more than a 10,000 mile oil change interval that saves a few bucks with some of those synthetic oils out there.

Oh and lets not ignore the "Silver Dumpster" introduction into a BMWMOA oil filter thread.

Many new car manufactures have switched their oil filter location to the top of the engine so that you CANNOT prefill the oil filter. The reason for this is: Most consumer oil containers have aluminum foils over the spout. Most DIY owners just stick a screwdriver through the foil and rip it out. But, what most owners don't know is that when they punch the screwdriver through the foil, it often cuts out a sliver of aluminum foil that drops into the oil. If that very small sliver of foil is pre-filled into the oil filter, it can then go through the engine and clog up an oil orifice. If that happens, it can ruin the engine. If you do this with a new car, and you ruin the engine, your warranty will not be honored for a replacement engine. All car manufactures know about this problem. If your new car has a ruined engine, the mfg will tear the engine apart looked at each oil orifice for the small little sliver of aluminum foil. If they find it, you are screwed!

To make matters worse, over the past decade most engine manufactures are using more and more oil orifices. They can extend the life of an engine by putting the oil where it counts. One big new addition of oil orifices has been to shoot oil up to the bottom of the piston. This cools off the pistons. The reasons are: (1) It reduces pinging by extending the burn cycle; (2) Reduces carbon buildup; (3) Extends the life of the engine. The downside is that it burns up the additives in the oil faster. That is why many engine mfg have reduced the oil change interval from 7500 to 6000 miles.

Logic would tell you that prefilling an oil filter is a good idea. But, a more sophisticated and technical answer is that prefilling your oil filter has the potential of ruining your engine.