Hi Scotty,
I have a 2021 Tacoma TRD Off-road with 22,000 miles and change on it.
while changing my oil yesterday, I dropped the oil filter housing assembly in the dirt/ sand..
I wiped off as much as I could, put in a new filter and put the assembly back in. There were still a few pieces of sand in the threads of the filter housing assembly (it’s similar to a screw, as you reinsert the filter, and the screw the filter assembly back in, I’m sure you’re tracking already). Obviously I didn’t pour sand/ etc in the oil fill hole, but I’m worried that the few pieces of sand in the filter assembly will get recirculated through the engine and cause serious damage.
should I redrain and refilled my engine oil/ put a new filter in? (This time without the sand).
Again, it wasn’t like I put a few teaspoons of sand in it as I was refilling, there was some left on the threads of the housing assembly.
PLEASE HELP I DONT WANT TO HURT MY BABY
You're talking about the oil filter housing's outer threads. The thing is, there's a gasket that seals that on bottom and when screwing the housing back onto the male threads, I can't see how any sand grains didn't get pushed down against that gasket (best case, just an oil leak).
But you have a 2021 Tacoma! C'mon man, pull that housing off, wash it, (if I had a 2021 Tacoma I wouldn't mind taking a bath with its oil filter housing) and then clean off the male threads on the engine and go with a new filter.
You have a truck that can last 1/2 million miles and it's brand new.
You have to maintain it with respect. No dropping stuff into the sand and "wiping off as much as you can". Something drops in the sand, you wash it... maybe twice
Not to worry. That oil pumps so fast it will filter out any dirt in 30 seconds.
So essentially the oil filter *should catch the sand particles and keep them trapped?
Also, thank you for the quick response!
Certainly. Oil filters can pretty much trap anything the human eye can see.
Hopefully the sand stayed in the threads. next time put some gasoline in a dish and swish the part around in it, then wipe dry. That would have dissolved the oil and rinsed off any dirt.
I think the outside of the filter element is the input, and the clean oil exits the inner cavity right? In which case you should be ok. Maybe someone car smart like @jack62 can confirm.
And treat it with respect I shall. Gunna change the oil tomorrow *the right way.
Thanks for the responses