Mobile One Oil Filters? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

oopssorryy · 01-01-2012, 06:09 PM

So my wagon is still down, and progress has been slow due to work. Today I took off the oil filter that I had put a week before she died (did full snyth oil change). Oil filter is the right one for my 94 5S, and the oil levels were good, and yet when I look inside the filter it is dry as a bone (the pan and balance shafts have been removed for a month or two though) and the blue plastic (?) at the bottom of the filter is still blue.

So my question is, has anyone had issues with Mobile One oil filters being too thick and not letting oil pass though? I've heard of Fram filters doing this, so the question has been passing threw my head. I know it might be my pump (can anyone point me to a DIY to take out/test the oil pump?) but it had no problems before I did the oil change.

The specific number of oil filter is M1-103. Don't know if this helps or hinders anybody in info finding.

z27ls3 · 01-01-2012, 08:12 PM

I have never heard of this, maybe a coincidence or one off problem?
have you tried another filter to confirm?

bdy0003 · 01-01-2012, 08:19 PM

So you mentioned you did a balance shaft delete a month ago. Did you block off the oil passage while you were down there? Just a wild guess, but it sounds as if your oil pressure is really low because you may have forgotten to block that passage.

oopssorryy · 01-01-2012, 09:17 PM

I didn't delete them (balance shafts), I just took them off to get a better look at my con rods. I only mentioned that I had removed them because the oil would have leaked down thru the engine and escaped. The Wagon was parked after a horrible (and as of yet, unexplained) death. At first she was loosing revs when I was on the throttle, even under WOT. Then she started idling at around 500 RPM with the oil light coming on. A dab of throttle to push the revs up to 700 and the red light of death would go off. Then she started stalling when I stopped at lights. We checked the timing an it was all good, along with my oil level. I was leaking no fluid (a first lol).

So after a full tune up (at night in my work parking lot) we started her up and all was well until I attempted to drive away. Right when I put the engine under load (its a wagon with a 4 banger) I got a very loud, and new, knock. No knock existed before. When we towed her home we had to drive up the ramp, and she had lost nearly all of her "power", barley making it up the short ramp.

So when I got her home I drained the week old oil, full synth, and it came out looking as if it had done 5000 miles. Along with metal shavings the size of finger nail clippings, (slight exaggeration, but they are still some of the largest I've ever seen) I fear the worst. They do stick to a magnet, but as of yet, I'm not sure what that means. There are also a TON of them.

***fenixus*** · 01-01-2012, 09:59 PM

^ I think that engine is toast ... your description reminds me of my old short '97 Alfa Romeo 145 with a 1.4L boxer type (mazda style) 4 cylinder engine ... it died the same way as yours at only 66K Km, started losing power, revs going low at idle, stalling at lights, occasional sputter, oil pressure light coming up sometimes ... and eventually total power loss, strange knock & death and tons of metal shavings in oil later ... friendly mechanic pulled the engine out for me and took it all apart and showed me the insides, all was terribly ground and worn, crank was pretty much all round (different engine I know) ...

the funniest part is that this engine had a factory fault regarding cold start oil distribution in some galleys

pretty sure, yours died also because of oil starvation for some reason. hard to believe the Mobil1 filter caused it ... I used Mobil1 EP filters on 5s-fe a few times and they were OK.

leakyseals · 01-01-2012, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oopssorryy

So my wagon is still down, and progress has been slow due to work. Today I took off the oil filter that I had put a week before she died (did full snyth oil change). Oil filter is the right one for my 94 5S, and the oil levels were good, and yet when I look inside the filter it is dry as a bone (the pan and balance shafts have been removed for a month or two though) and the blue plastic (?) at the bottom of the filter is still blue.

So my question is, has anyone had issues with Mobile One oil filters being too thick and not letting oil pass though? I've heard of Fram filters doing this, so the question has been passing threw my head. I know it might be my pump (can anyone point me to a DIY to take out/test the oil pump?) but it had no problems before I did the oil change.

The specific number of oil filter is M1-103. Don't know if this helps or hinders anybody in info finding.

There are many Fram myths. Not true. Filters will bypass if the media gets clogged. Media will still get wet. What's true is blasting a dry filter with oil from the pump can collapse and split the filter media, gives a very dry engine start. Dry starts are the leading cause of engine death. Prime your new filters with oil so the pressure change is minimal, and the oiled media will flow correctly.

oopssorryy · 01-01-2012, 10:38 PM

I don't want to start a Fram hate thread, there are enough of those online. Even if it's a lost cause I'm still very curious. I've been having a hard time finding reviews and people using this oil filter, so info was nil. Next step is to locate, remove, and test pump I guess. I didn't see any DIY's for this in the stickys, but I'm not perfect and may have missed it. Any links would be much appreciated.

bdy0003 · 01-01-2012, 10:45 PM

Yeah, sounds like your oil pump is failing. Did you replace it the last time you replaced your timing belt?

oopssorryy · 01-01-2012, 10:53 PM

No, I have only had the car for about 5000 miles, and was slowly fixing, and catching up on the maintenance schedule. I had just gotten a solid job to start really pouring money into her when this happened.

On a side note I feel a bit dim as I have already removed the pump when I dropped the pan and such *facepalm*. My brother in law is getting a good laugh about it. But how to test it is still a viable question.

bdy0003 · 01-01-2012, 11:41 PM

Maybe this will be helpful? http://www.ehow.com/video_5225928_ch...-pump-bad.html

oopssorryy · 01-02-2012, 01:25 AM

Thank you! I didn't think it would help at first because the engine had to be running for the first check (I don't want to cause further damage in the engine) , but the rest of the video told me the process. If anybody has a Haynes Manual handy could you post the clearance tolerance between the surface of the pump and the gears and the clearance tolerance in between the two gears themselves I would be grateful

Nark · 01-02-2012, 01:37 AM

Mine truck has a removable plug (about 19mm) perhaps this is for the optional cooler line. You can also remove pressure switch but I think this is after oil filter. Your engine is pretty much toast so why even mess with it. Just focus energy on another used engine.

bdy0003 · 01-02-2012, 01:59 AM

Clearance between driver rotor and body: 0.10-0.16mm max 0.20
Drove and driver rotor tips: 0.04-0.16mm 0.20

Quote:

Originally Posted by oopssorryy

Thank you! I didn't think it would help at first because the engine had to be running for the first check (I don't want to cause further damage in the engine) , but the rest of the video told me the process. If anybody has a Haynes Manual handy could you post the clearance tolerance between the surface of the pump and the gears and the clearance tolerance in between the two gears themselves I would be grateful

***JohnGD*** · 01-02-2012, 03:01 PM

Mobil-1 filters made by Champion Labs are decent. They may be more restrictive than Purolator PureOnes according to a test chart but all oil filters shouldn't block oil passage. Is the filter media dry as new as well? We've read about 5SFE oil draining back to the pan and left an empty filter quite often, so that may be another possibility.

If the timing cover is off use a power drill to turn the pump sprocket and see if the oil pressure builds up or if the oil just pour out of the bypass valve. Then you know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oopssorryy

when I look inside the filter it is dry as a bone (the pan and balance shafts have been removed for a month or two though) and the blue plastic (?) at the bottom of the filter is still blue.