Is this normal? Oil filter question
 

I own 3 vehicles, a Protege5, Miata, and Toyota Tacoma. The Tacomas oil filter is under the engine, so when I remove it, its full of oil. I changed the Protege5 oil today, and the filter didnt have any oil in it, only a film of oil. Last time I changed my oil, I had some oil drip down the side of the engine, but this time none. Maybe I let the oil drip out of the drain plug for a longer period of time? If this is the case, does this sound normal? I was also expecting the oil filter to look alot dirtier, but it didnt look to bad (last changed about 5k miles ago, I use Mobil1 synthetic)

when i worked at toyota, we used to unscrew the oil filter a little bit, and drain the oil through the plug, the suction from the plug would suck it out of the filter.

i dont know if that helps or not

Not sure if I confused ya, I was wondering if its normal for the Protege5 filter to be like that.

a filter thats upside down will hold oil...the protege filter is pointed slightly downward so it won't hold oil like other filters.

And a slight pain to put it back on at that angle... :rolleyes:

Yeah, my prior '88 323 and '95 Protege were are a pain in the ass to replace the oil filters. Oil ALWAYS drippled out of the filters and onto the engine side during replacements. It's location was pretty tight. The '01 is a "bit" easier -- not too much oil -- if any -- dribbles out and the location/angle is better. There should be some oil in the spent filter. I always drain it into the collection pan at a 45 deg angle.

I really MISS my '95 Camry! The oil filter was mounted directly on the FRONT side of the engine facing the radiator -- an 8-year old could spin it off! I did an oil change in like 15 mintues. Duhh... This isn't rocket science... manufacturers could make it a lot easier.