Is it necessary to drain the oil before replacing the filter? If not, do you lose oil when removing the filter like when pulling the oil drain plug?
Here’s some backstory if anyone is interested…
I tried changing the oil myself on my old 96 Toyota Tacoma (180k miles), which I use as a backup vehicle and drive once a week. I had my oil changed by a mechanic last August using synthetic which is good for 6 mo / 5000 miles and oil filter supposedly good for 1yr / 15k miles. The truck is leaking oil and I decided to change the oil myself using high mileage synthetic oil as well as Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak
I drained the oil but had difficulty removing the oil filter. It’s difficult to reach and i gave up after several attempts and just left that filter on since it still should be good until next oil change in August, plus it was getting late. I’ve only driven my truck about 800 miles in 6 months since previous oil change in August. I did manage to put a small nickel sized dent on the oil filter trying to remove it. Hope that doesn’t cause any issues.
Now I’ve found a better tool for removing the oil filter and was wondering if I could make another attempt to replace the filter without having to drain the new oil and the stop leak treatment I spent about $30 for. Will I lose oil when removing the oil filter like when pulling the oil drain plug? If oil should be drained first I guess I will just wait until the next oil change in 6 months