I'm in the middle of changing my oil for the first time on my 2005 Mazda 3 2.3 liter. When I removed the filter canister a spring popped out. Does the spring sit inside of the filter?

Thanks.

 

sounds like something broke. the filter housing has a 'core' that goes into the middle of the filter just to hold it in place. There is a spring behind all that but it shouldn't be exposed.

It's a few days after your post, so i'm guessing you figured something out. If not, shoot a photo and show us what part you're talking about.

 

Yes the spring should be attached to the canister that you drop the filter into. As far as I know mine has never come apart like that so I'm not sure if something is broken on yours or not.

Actually for my next oil change I'm going to convert my car from the drop in filter to the spin on filter the 2.0 L engine uses. Should make changes far easier from here on out. So I'll be going from this



To this.