Toyota Oil Filter

I bought 6 filters on eBay about a year ago. The Toyota part number is 90915-YZZA2 for the 2004 Prius. Price with shipping was about $4.50 each including shipping for the "Toyota genuine" part

 

same filter 2k1-2k5

 

Are the Toyota filters really better than say a Fram filter or one of the other major brands? I have not done my first oil change yet and would like to maintain my Prius properly but I haven't found anything about the difference between various filter brands, if anything.

The head mechanic at the dealer thinks Toyota filters are better but can't explain why, other than to say he was told they filter better? He also told me that Toyota oil is just a Mobil non-synthetic such as Mobile's 5000 mile oil, does anyone know if this is true? Is Mobile 1 synthetic worth the extra cost? Would it improve fuel efficiency?

 

I haven't heard good things about Fram filters, but I can't quote sources. The Toyota filter is certainly better at protecting your warranty if there are ever any problems.

 

I get mine from:
http://www.brandsport.com/toy-90915-yzzf2.html
Fast service and good price. Check out their other Prius stuff.

 

Good price for filters. Then I checked out their other Prius stuff and got as far as "Custom Shift Knobs for Toyota Prius" and decided to stop.

 

Good one Bill :lol:

 

The Toyota filters have a valve that prevents the oil from draining out of the engine when in EV mode. This makes the frequent startups less damaging.

 

Just about *all* filters these days have an anti-drainback valve.. The valve is not specific to hybrids and has nothing to do with EV mode..

The original intent of the anti-drainback valve was for older engines with top-mounted oil filters (remember those?) where the oil would drain back out of the filter after the car was stopped, which meant that the next time you started the car, the oil system would have to pump enough oil to fill the oil filter again before oil started to flow to the rest of the car components.. This resulted in a short period during start-up, when there was *no* oil flow.. For most modern engines, including the Prius engine, the filters are mounted on the bottom of the engine and since oil does not drain uphill, it stays in the filter, and the valve isn't really needed anymore (on some engines, the valve may still prevent siphoning, but this can't occur with the Prius oil pump). Additionally, the oil pump design in the Prius is such that you pretty much get instantaneous oil pressure as soon as the drive shaft is turning.

The Toyota filter is somewhat unique in the configuration of its media- it's got a strange triangular arrangement vs. the simple pleated ring that every other filter uses, but is no different than any other filter in terms of the drainback valves and bypass valves..

As for Fram, they happen to OEM filters for just about every car manufacturer... Their regular line of filters is somewhat cheaper in construction, but their expensive X-2 filters with the semi-synthetic media were actually found to be every bit as well constructed as a Japanese filter (steel end plates, heavy-duty construction, large number of pleats for more media surface area).

 

It's Japanese -- That's origami.

Actually, said the Japanese Toyota rep to me, the folding provides more surface area, without most of the gunk going to the bottom of the accordian folds found in most filters. They claim better filtration.

 

Here we go again.

Not all fiters are created equal. There is a good chance that a Toyota branded filter is made by one of their subsidiaries in the U.S. Then again it could be made by anyone that makes filters.

Fram filters aren't so wonderful. Their construction is questionable. The highest end Fram filter is considered pretty good and has a silicone drainback valve, however every filter out there has a drainback valve of some sort. Some of them are made of plastic, some of rubber, and others of silicone. Silicone is the best as far as being able to operate properly at very cold temepratures, but beyond that doesn't really provide much improvement over less expensive valves at normal temperatures.

What you need to consider about a third party filter is the construction quality of its innerds and the media type. The problem is that getting the straight story about oil filters is difficult considering that in the auto parts and service world there is a lot more snake oil out there, not so much to sell you bad parts, but to sell you a serviceable part that costs more only becaus the manufacturer claims that it is better.

Check out this site and his evaluation of filters before going much farther or believeing everythign that a service department guy says. http://www.corolland.com/oil-filters.html

 

Thanks for the link, Jeromep. Mike Higginbotham, who wrote the article, says of the Toyota oil filter:

So it looks, from his report, that the TOYOTA oil filter is different from any other he looked at. That's the point you were trying to make, isn't it?

 

OEM yzz filter fits toyota 4 cylinders all of 'em. Like JeromeP said, we (Techs) are just out to sell you snake oil. I would strongly recomend saving $12 a year in cheaper filters to protect your $20,000 dollar investment. Yes, I think that is sound advice. Some people just deserve to drive Fords.
Regards, Mike

 

Mike, I think you are misinterpreting what I'm saying.

Third-party auto parts manufacturing and marketing is full of questionable products (it is also full of honest products and well made products). What about all those oil additives that end up on TV infomercials? And then after they have sold what they can through the infomercial they end up distributing their product through your friendly, if not a bit ignorant, local Schuck's store to well meaning, but overly ambitious d-y-i-ers, who are only out to do what is "right" for their cars. I'm not aware of a single OTC oil additive that is necessary or beneficial for a vehicle, but folks still buy them thinking the additive is good for their car. So many of those additives are "snake oil". And what is keeping individuals cars alive is good maintenance and good engineering design.

The same can be said for the filter business. Fram (Allied Signal) makes much lower quality filters than just about anyone else out there. Just about all third party research seems to agree about that one. Purolator (Arvin Meritor) is one of the much better quality filters out there. Toyota branded filters, at least at the time of sampleing in the Corolland article, seem to be great quality and uniquely designed. Motorcraft filters seem to be closely related to regular Purolator filters and are good quality. The list could go on and on.

I am aware that Denso has domestic manufacturing operations in the U.S. (thanks to others on this site). And as such it is my assumption (hopefully because manufacturer branded filters can come from just about any manufacturer, reference my earlier post in question) that they are the ones that are manufacturing the Toyota filters available at the dealer (along with other parts needed for Toyota USA and anyone else willing to contract with them). The last time I had my oil changed at the dealer, I gave them Mobil1 to pour in, and gladly took the Toyota filter that was part of the oil change. I will continue to do this for the foreseeable future. I hope that Toyota's filter is made by Denso or another reputable parts manufacturer.

The question is, how do we as end user d-y-i-ers, dealership customers or service techs know the quality of a filter? We can't see much inside it, it isn't in a clear case and the manufacturer is usually not labeled on the packaging or filter casing unless it is their flagship brand (Purolator marks box with Arvin Meritor branding).

No Mike, you haven't sold snake oil to me (and I'm always glad to see another Toyota Tech on this site), my local dealership and my selling dealership haven't sold snake oil to me, but it is very easy for the average Joe to go out there and find snake oil and buy it.

 

Brandsport gets $5.95 for a single filter, 2 for $9.99, or 10 for $47.00, not including the drain plug gasket, which sells for an additional $1.06.

I just ordered mine from www.metrotpn.com, same place I got my door mouldings & cargo net. Original Toyota filters are $3.50 each without the gasket, or $4.00 each with gasket. I ordered six oil filters, 1 cabin air filter, and the little first aid kit on Tuesday and they arrived yesterday. Shipping was $7.07. I've been very pleased with Metro so far and they link to PriusChat from the "Links" page on their website.

See: http://www.metrotpn.com/ProductDetails.asp...49&SortIndex=16

 

JeromeP, I appologize, I was a bit cranky. My father in law is in the last week or weeks of his life and it has that side of the familly (and me) wound tight. NO excuse for me popping off like that. If you read most of the posts here or anywhere else for that matter there is always an undertone of dealers are rip-offs, techs have room temperature IQ's etc. That is why techs are rare on boards, we get thumped pretty hard from time to time. Usually I can grin and bear it, but I snapped. I agree there is a plethora of snake oil out there for cars, whitch is OK if you have a snake that needs oilin', but otherwise is simply to part you from a dollar. I often feel that if your(chose a fluid) needs a special additive, you probably need a better base product.
I did not pay to much attention to the details of it because there is nothing I can do about it, but I do know about 18 months or so ago filers were no longer made in Japan, and are now fabrique en thailand. The parts guys say they are not as good but can't say why. I think the Japanese ones were designed for extended OCI's but that may be bunk. Perhaps it was a labor issue, cheaper to manufacture elsewhere. What about several of the regions getting together to purchase oem filters directly and have them distributed at club events? I bet the PDC would sell a 300 lot of filters for $2.00 each.
It does kill me to see people go so long on oil changes. Skip the other stuff but treat the ICE nice and do it at 4 to 5k no matter what your owners manual says.
Regards, Mike

 

The best price I've found for original Toyota filters is on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

$3.60 each with free shipping.

 

The Prius filter is at the bottom of the engine and mounted faces up. A flow back valve is not needed. Oil can't flow back up gravity holes in the filter. The valve is there because the filter is used in other engines like my lawn mower which has the oil filter mounted higher and horizontal.
That filter is best? I don't know and nothing I read in the thread seems tell me.
What micron size and oil flow does each filter have?
One thing is for sure the larger the filter the better and the Prius filter is pretty small.

 

The Prius ICE is the same as the Toyota Echo ICE - filters are easy to find, either locally or on line.

Micron is a software & hardware company in Silicon Valley. I think you are referring to the unit of measurement, micrometer (one-one millionth of a meter).