# Wrong Oil Filter/New Engine **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** damage, prius, toyota, oil\ **Created:** [March 30, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184 "2011-03-30T21:17:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lstirratt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lstirratt](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lstirratt)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/1 "2011-03-30T21:17:30Z")
During the last oil change in my toyota prius, the dealer put on the wrong oil filter. 5 days afterwards I found myself stranded on the highway after the filter came off. They are paying to have a new engine installed so that’s good at least. But I am wondering if any other damage is done to other parts by the car runnig out of oil like this? ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/2 "2011-03-30T21:20:41Z")
It should be fine but that brings up a common question. You state they are installing a “new” engine. How is the word “new” being defined? Many define that word as meaning a partial repair or even a well-used salvage yard engine. Does this mean a brand new in the crate from Toyota Motor Company engine? ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/3 "2011-03-30T21:51:00Z")
No. The damage would have been limited to the gasoline engine. ---
**Author:** ![lstirratt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lstirratt](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lstirratt)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/4 "2011-03-30T21:52:57Z")
It is a used engine with 20,000 miles on it. The previous one had 76,000 miles on it. The other complication here is that I just bought the car last week so I’m really trying to decide if I want to keep the car now or just return it. I bought it from a non-Toyota dealership and they are using a Toyota dealership to fix it. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/5 "2011-03-30T21:54:00Z")
Shouldn’t be any other damage except to the engine. And they probably used the correct filter, but didn’t install it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/6 "2011-03-30T21:55:13Z")
I ask that you do something for the readers of CarTalk. I ask that you give both part numbers,describe how the filters are the same and how they differ and if you could explain how this mix-up happened. It would be of great value for you to provide CarTalk with this information. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/7 "2011-03-30T22:40:19Z")
The only issue that might occur relates to what happened when the engine failed: did anything unusual happen regarding the battery/electrical motor side of the powertrain? Did you lose the gas engine and then drive it on battery power until the battery was fully depleted? I would certainly want those parts fully checked out by the dealership once the gas engine has been replace. ---
**Author:** ![UncleTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9a140/32.png) [@UncleTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/UncleTurbo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/8 "2011-03-31T01:10:38Z")
If they replace the engine with one that is new, and equivalent or better to the previous motor you should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![galant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@galant](https://community.cartalk.com/u/galant)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/9 "2011-03-31T02:14:39Z")
And how do we know that the “new” engine only has 20,000 miles on it? Are we to take their word for it or they will show you papers. If no papers they should give you some warranty on the engine. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/10 "2011-03-31T05:42:03Z")
I am still waiting for the details or at least the filter part numbers. What could be “wrong” with a filter that works for 5 days and then simply falls off? Was it a threaded section that was a close match but not exact, that does not sound right. Too short or too long would not matter. Incorrect base would leak immeditaly, well perhaps we will never know. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/11 "2011-03-31T19:43:57Z")
This “wrong” oil filter situation is bugging me so I looked around. Here is a link to a discussion here that discusses the question of “will the Prius automaticaly shut down the gas engine if low oil pressure is detected”? [http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2155446.page](http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2155446.page) I have found some discussion about oil filters with what appeared to be “twice cut” (like the twice baked potato)threads. Perhaps it was the correct filter but one with incorrectly cut threads that allowed the filter to fall off. The twice cut thread discussion is about 2/3rds of the way down,this is a Prius based discussion forum. > **[How to Change the Oil on your Prius with Pictures](https://priuschat.com/threads/39094/)** > > I always see lots of questions about how to change the oil on the Prius which is why I decided to post this. A lot of people assume that somehow it is... In reality I bet it was decided by management it was better to say they selected the wrong filter rather than to admit they did not tighten the correct filter enough. In situations like this, management figures they since are paying the bill for the fix then at the very least they get to construct the chain of events. ---
**Author:** ![impala61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@impala61](https://community.cartalk.com/u/impala61)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/12 "2011-03-31T22:57:43Z")
You’ve waited all of 22 hours. ---
**Author:** ![impala61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@impala61](https://community.cartalk.com/u/impala61)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/13 "2011-03-31T23:07:30Z")
Could you clarify the chronology? It sounds like you bought a used Prius with 60-70,000 miles on it, had the oil changed on it, whoever did the change messed it up around the 76,000 mile point, and you bought the car recently enough that returning it to the non-Toyota dealer where you bought it is an option. Am I understanding correctly? If so the 20,000 engine, if verifiable, sounds like a good deal. So does simply returning it. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/14 "2011-04-01T00:50:04Z")
24 hrs is a standard internet posting “bump” time. Ok you got me by two hours, I am soooo embarassed.How much you want to bet the OP never returns? ---
**Author:** ![impala61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@impala61](https://community.cartalk.com/u/impala61)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/15 "2011-04-01T01:44:26Z")
Given that there were three posts between “I ask” and “I am still waiting” with the most recent being less than four hours earlier, it wasn’t much of a bump, was it? > **[Internet forum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_(Internet))** > > An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporarily archived. Also, depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible. Forums have a specific set of jargon associated with them; example: a single conversation i... ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/16 "2011-04-01T03:06:39Z")
I do my best to please. ---
**Author:** ![impala61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@impala61](https://community.cartalk.com/u/impala61)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/17 "2011-04-01T04:01:50Z")
If you do your best, I suppose it would be unreasonable to expect more. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/18 "2011-04-01T04:40:50Z")
The “more” part is right below. ---
**Author:** ![impala61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@impala61](https://community.cartalk.com/u/impala61)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/19 "2011-04-01T07:52:28Z")
Yeah, I read that when you wrote it (your best) and when you edited it (more). Please feel free to have the last word. I am looking forward (so much nicer than “I am still waiting”) to the OP confirming or correcting my understanding of his/her post. Wouldn’t that be a nice lagniappe? ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wrong-oil-filter-new-engine/63184/20 "2011-04-01T10:31:22Z")
You have not said if you take my bet (that the OP never returns to explain how this mixup occured).If the OP provided the information I have requested I would do much more than my best getting the word out, lagniappe can find out for themselves (your word not mine).