Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I have a new oil filter that I want to install without doing an oil change or putting my car up on a rack and doing it in my garage. Will I have any issues? Any advice?

Thanks

No more oil will leak out of the filter than would if you had drained the oil. You will leak a little, but not enough to make a big mess. That being said I always manage to make a bigger mess than planned, so putting something under the filter to catch the oil is recommended. Cardboard on the floor and rags just under the filter is my recommendation. Also would be a good time to add an anti drain back tube if yours is missing.

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking that it wouldn't be a big deal, but I wanted to be sure. I do have a drain back tube.
Take it easy and be safe, Howard

What 311 & yr
The rear main rope seal s R16 are to be considered
As different oils can start it to leak

1969 2000.

1969 2000. I use 20 50 non-synthetic oil.

20w50 isnt needed
Id recommend 5w30 now or 10w

redroadster wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:15 pm What 311 & yr
The rear main rope seal s R16 are to be considered
As different oils can start it to leak

Wait, what? Different oils can cause the rear Main rope seal to leak on a 1600? Please explain…

Why change the filter without changing the oil?

DCooke wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:21 pm

redroadster wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:15 pm What 311 & yr
The rear main rope seal s R16 are to be considered
As different oils can start it to leak

Wait, what? Different oils can cause the rear Main rope seal to leak on a 1600? Please explain…

It is the split rope seal type that can leak with different oils it may be more when you had Pennsylvania grade still around but different oil additives act to shrink it
Ive seen it on old trucks too with the rope type farmers who had to drive on dusty limestone gravel preferred rope seals to the rubber or 1st rubber ones the grit would stick in the rubber and wear the crank
And they always want to use the same brand oil
Engine oil isnt super slippery as to a seal rubbing a steel / bearing journal there are friction modifiers added in some oils , like ATF

redroadster wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:08 am

DCooke wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:21 pm

redroadster wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:15 pm What 311 & yr
The rear main rope seal s R16 are to be considered
As different oils can start it to leak

Wait, what? Different oils can cause the rear Main rope seal to leak on a 1600? Please explain…

It is the split rope seal type that can leak with different oils it may be more when you had Pennsylvania grade still around but different oil additives act to shrink it
Ive seen it on old trucks too with the rope type farmers who had to drive on dusty limestone gravel preferred rope seals to the rubber or 1st rubber ones the grit would stick in the rubber and wear the crank
And they always want to use the same brand oil
Engine oil isnt super slippery as to a seal rubbing a steel / bearing journal there are friction modifiers added in some oils , like ATF

I am an old farmer who has been driving on dirt roads for over fifty years. I have both types of seals in my tractors. If I somehow contrived to let my oil get dirty enough to get an amount of grit on the seal that it would cause noticeable wear on the crank I expect that it would get into and get held much more readily by a rope seal than rubber one. I have changed brands of oil multiple times too.

Ive seen it 4 times 1 I changed no oil leak on the 311
Coming in backing out theres the oil thought a filter seal etc but no, leak at rear main and oil level right
Also saw it at jeep on old truck , the techs at Datsun in the 70s knew of it talked of it, training staff too
Our gravel is flint rock in the Ozarks
( Very hard ,actually shows a tiny spark in dry weather , that dust / grit in a wet seal hard on wear ,

You realize there are rope seals that get installed on a garage floor on a creeper ,
i put one in, pulled it thru under the watch of our VW tech ( he pretty good ) it got a bit stiff about the
11 oclock pos , we moving the crank then it came quite easy , he saying nope , said ibet t twisted and will leak ,took us a half hour to get out and it wasn't laying the same the rope seal is not tight in the housing so it can slightly stick to the crank and spin / bunch up causing a leak

This leak was a slight pour not a drip im talking of.
and this is a known problem in the pro auto tech / service ind. when it happened to me the other techs all knew what it was , At the time, I 18 or 19 wasn't aware of rope seals

My experience is that oil appearing to be dripping dripping the hole at the engine/transmission interface is almost always from another source. No matter where the leak is, anywhere on the engine, that is where it drips from. It takes very close study to trace it back. Last spring I investigated a leak numerous times and it wasn't until it finally got a lot worse that I traced it to a gallery plug on the back of the head.

Another spot that leaks, is the 0-ring between the input snout and bellhousing. That was my phantom leak, bellhousing was wet with oil that drained out the hole. Pat