Oil Change: Its Wrong or its Right period. 5th Gen.

[Paco]

Like most I have done my oil change, and had the low oil light come on.????
Does not mean it comes on right away, but within a day or 2 it does.
Not something you want to see at all.

When it happened to me, I had just restarted the truck 1 day after oil change 6 PSI I think??.
Pulled over shut off truck, and thought about what it could be????
I had just changed out my oil, same as I had done on my 2014 for the last 8 years.
I checked oil level, checked for leaks nothing, leaves 1 thing oil filter.

Pulled the oil filter off, checked ring to make sure it was oiled(Like I do when installing new filter), and slowly spun filter backwards till it felt correct, then retightened.
The difference this time: It rotated on until I could turn it no more.
Not because I need more pressure.
The fact is it had seated itself, you can actually feel it click as it comes to the end of the treads, and you know it cant be tightened anymore.

1. If you have a warm motor before you change out the oil( Which of coarse you should), the oil filter will seat itself, with only hand pressure. assuming you oiled the new filter gasket, and the motor is warm.
There is zero reason to use any type of wrench.
If you use any tool to tighten it down, you have it threaded wrong.

Another thing you will notice: If you tighten it down and it does not seat on the block with hand tightening you know its wrong.
But when it does seat properly, it will take several more turns before it seats properly.( You will notice this and it wont make sense, cause you will think how could I be so far off on cross threading it in the first place???.

So the only thing you need to remember is: If the oil ring gasket is oiled and the motor is warm, you should be ably to Hand tighten the filter down to a stop, with nothing more than hand pressure.
If you tighten it down, and it does not actually come to a stop that you feel, then take it off and do it again.

When its done right, you will notice it cannot be tightened anymore, and you wont be tempted to tq on it with a strap or wrench.
You only have to get this done once correct, and you will never make the mistake again.

I hope this helps, some like me who got the low oil pressure light on there new truck.

 

[Darksteel165]

I'm confused what you are saying
You cross threaded the filter and somehow that caused low oil pressure?

I also use a ratchet to tighten my oil filters for the last 15 years and have had no problems. Just don't be an idiot and make it gorilla tight.

Did you not do the first oil change on your truck?
Ram used their resident Silverback Gorilla to tighten in at the factory and there was no problems with that (until a lowly human tries to remove it next change).

 

[djevox]

I like to tighten mine until it cracks and then loosen 1/16 turn.

 

[Paco]

Everyone who has a low oil pressure light had just changed there oil.
Yes I did my first oil change, and yes I fcked it up.
Even though I did my oil changes on my 2014 for 8 years and never had a problem.

When I reinstalled my oil filter after I changed out my oil, it went on, what felt normal but it wasnt.

If you install the oil filter correctly, you will be able to tighten it all the way down till it seats on the block, without tools.
You will not need a wrench, because it cant go on any further.

What I am trying to say is:
You can tighten the oil filter by hand, and you will Not need a wrench, as it screwes all the way down to the end of the threads.

If you need to use a wrench to tighten it: You probably fcked up, so unscrew it and start over.
This is what I found, Im sure my truck cant be any different than any other 2020 series eco???

 

[Paco]

When you do your oil change do you even need a wrench???.

I started out with a wrench on my first oil change.
When I got my Low oil light, on the side of the road I did not have a wrench, so thats how I know I did not need one when tightening down.
If you need a wrench to tighten it, you know you did it wrong.
If you do it right, you will be able to turn it down till it seats without a wrench.

I know some older people, or weak wrist people might not be able to turn it tight by hand, but you would have to be pretty weak not too???.
I read through a couple threads about this, but none seemed to identify what went wrong. I did??

 

[djevox]

When you do your oil change do you even need a wrench???.

I started out with a wrench on my first oil change.
When I got my Low oil light, on the side of the road I did not have a wrench, so thats how I know I did not need one when tightening down.
If you need a wrench to tighten it, you know you did it wrong.
If you do it right, you will be able to turn it down till it seats without a wrench.

I know some older people, or weak wrist people might not be able to turn it tight by hand, but you would have to be pretty weak not too???.
I read through a couple threads about this, but none seemed to identify what went wrong. I did??

That’s all well and good, but your hand is not going to accurately detect 27nm (newton meters) every time. That’s why torque standards exist.

 

[Paco]

I hand tighten my oil filters, always have.
Too many articles on this, but most say hand tight is fine.

Brave Search

Search the web privately ...

search.brave.com

If you try it by hand, you will know what I mean.
Until you try it, no point in arguing over it???

I can guarantee not many people are using tq wrench on there oil filters, but for those who are not adept at things like changing a oil filter then a tq wrench is good for piece of mind.

 

[Paco]

That’s all well and good, but your hand is not going to accurately detect 27nm (newton meters) every time. That’s why torque standards exist.

If your not a car guy, you dont have tq wrenches.

You would need a 1/4 tq wrench, not 1/2 for such a low measurement.
Most wont have either.

My 1/2 tq wre4nch is not something to use on a oil filter.
My 1/2 drive digital mac one is.
If you seat the oil filter correctly, you dont need a tq wrench.
I would guess 27nm is close to hand tight anyway, but to cold to go outside to find my tq wrench.
Enjoy the discussion, not just for the sake of arguing. Cheers Grant

 

[Darksteel165]

I have had oil filters get loose and leak very small amounts of oil in the past when I only did hand tight.
I get filters that either have a 1 inch cap on the end for a socket, or I turn it crazy tight by hand to what I would of done if I used a ratchet.

Some cars\trucks the filter turns a lot more to get the same levels of tight which is why I always use tools to feel it.
Not once have I had a problem with a filter using a ratchet to tighten and loosen it.

I also refer back to the original Ram filter which is tighter then any filter I have tightened even with a ratchet, second only to a filter that was changed on my wife's car from Valvoline which I couldn't get off except using a breaker bar and an oil filter wrench.

More importantly is don't cross thread the filter, on by hands spinning freely first no matter what. Goes with most bolts\screws imo.

 

[Paco]

https://www.autozone.com/filters-and-pcv/oil-filter/dodge/ram-1500.

They recommend hand tight???

I have never stripped or broke a bolt of oil filter by hand tightening.( Anything).
Just like tire lug nuts: You dont start a bolt, oil filter or anything else with a wrench.

The point of the thread is: if you thread the oil filter on by hand, there will be a point where you feel the filter seat against the block.
It cant be tightened any further, and you will feel it.
If you cant feel it seat itself against the block, you did it wrong.

Even if you use a wrench you will still feel it seat itself against the block.(Just dont over tighten it like most do).
The first time i did this I did not seat it onto the block and I got low oil pressure.
Now I know better.

 

[Paco]

I have never had a problem removing a oil filter that was put on hand Tight.

I have never had a problem with removing a oil filter that was tightened with a wrench or a strap wrench: LOLOLOLOLOL. NOT.
If the motor is warm and you oil the gasket, and you can get a good grip on filter hand tight will work everytime. My opinion.

 

[Darksteel165]

If your not a car guy, you dont have tq wrenches.

You would need a 1/4 tq wrench, not 1/2 for such a low measurement.
Most wont have either.

Cars have nothing to do about using the correct torque.
Even building a bicycle requires you to use proper torque specs.
Anytime I made adjustments to my guns\scopes I need to make sure I use the proper torque to prevent scopes from moving, or breaking parts.

Also drive size has nothing to do with torque.
I don't even use 1/2 inch anything as I only use 3/8 ratchets for everything.

Harbor freight has 5-80ft lbs for $17.

3/8 in. Drive 5-80 ft. lb. Click Torque Wrench

Amazing deals on this 3/8In Dr Click Type Torque Wrench at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I use a $35 one from Amazon as it turns smoother, but both work.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M68G49R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing right.

 

[Paco]

If your using a $17 dollar tq wrench I got nothing more to say about it.
Neither should you????

Funny though: Most people dont even know how to use a turn dial tq wrench.

 

[Paco]

Maybe Moderator can close thread, seems to have gone completely sideways.
Just trying to help.

 

[Darksteel165]

Uhhh, ok...

 

[Paco]

I know you offer a lot of support for members in this forum.
Not my intention to be a ****, even if it seems like I am.
Sorry.

 

[djevox]

I’ll go down this road a little bit. I don’t think you’re being an a-hole, I just think there are a lot of assumptions being made, or there is a language barrier that I’m not aware of. I would trust that harbor freight $17 torque wrench in the hands of most diy’ers than I would them feeling out 27nm. I also believe that anyone that can read can set a torque wrench. I do not believe that anyone can perfectly feel out torque and have it match the exact torque every time. They might get lucky, but it will not happen consistently. I do give you credit on an underlying theme that you probably didn’t intend to have is that if you tighten it just enough to not leak, well, it won’t leak.

 

[mikeru82]

People tend to become defensive when told they're not wrenching correctly. Try not to let us deter you from offering up suggestions on how to do something. I'm all for hearing someone out who thinks they know a cool way of performing a task. Just try not to let it get to you if/when someone tells you their way is better. A thick skin is helpful when posting on forums.

 

[Jako]

People tend to become defensive when told they're not wrenching correctly. Try not to let us deter you from offering up suggestions on how to do something. I'm all for hearing someone out who thinks they know a cool way of performing a task. Just try not to let it get to you if/when someone tells you their way is better. A thick skin is helpful when posting on forums.

Thick skin or water on a duck's back.

 

[Rich6896]

I had the low oil pressure light, exactly as described. I used the torque wrench on the filter, but I did not oil the threads. I brought it to the dealer. They said to fill on the high side of the dipstick. I had the 8.5 measured out.

But after reading this thread I'm thinking the oil filter was the culprit.