No ADBV -> Harder Starts?

[Virtus_Probi]

My wife took our daughter's Impreza to a cheapo oil change place and the DD said that it was hard to start after sitting for a few hours, but then ran OK. She said that she first cranked it for about 10 second with no start, then it finally started after a few seconds on the second crank.
I looked to make sure there was actually oil in the sump and coolant in the reservoir (OK on those), but then I noticed they had used a CARQUEST oil filter. I don't know anything about those and have been careful to use filters meeting the higher bypass pressure specs on our Subarus, so I decided to put a Mazda branded Tokyo Roki on her car and check out the CARQUEST filter later. Has the same bypass pressure spec as the Subaru Tokyo Roki OEM filters and the Fram blue cans, plus it looks to be extremely similar externally to the Tokyo Roki AA160 filters that came on our two Subarus from the factory.
Well, I am ashamed to admit that the gorilla who installed the mystery filter defeated me, as I could not get the thing off the car with my bare hands or grip gloves (which were actually worse than bare hands)...I had to swallow my pride and get a strap wrench from WalMart. Once the stinkin filter came off, I noticed that it very little oil in it...it either had no ADBV or the valve had failed. I actually tried to get some oil to come out of the filter with no luck, usually I get a little bit of a mess in the cup when I change my filter and have to be careful to turn it over quickly to not get oil all over the car. I put the filter from my stash on the car after cleaning up the cup good (cheapo place didn't bother to clean it), putting a tad of oil in the new filter, and oiling the gasket.

I'm just wondering if the lack of or a faulty ADBV could actually result in such long cranking. The filter is mounted on top of her engine (same as mine) and she never had a long crank before, even below zero in the winter. I did start her car some time before I got to work on it, after it had been sitting for some time, and it turned over quickly. I will take a closer look at the CARQUEST filter this weekend to see if I can identify an ADBV.

I thought it was interesting that the cup her filter mounts into was quite a bit different from mine, I just have a thin aluminum (I think) cup and hers was much beefier and seemed to have some kind of drain in it. I actually don't think I could use the Tokyo Roki AA170 filters I use in my FXT in her car, as they are pretty wide and don't seem likely to mate up with the surface in her cup properly.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

You can tell if the oil filter they installed has an

ADBV by just looking at the inlet holes. If you see a black or orange diaphragm blocking the inlet, you have a ADBV.

 

[Brybo86]

I highly doubt the oil or lack of adbv or even filter type would cause a hard 10 sec start.
My guess is they were touching things they shouldn't. Maybe they left the air filter housing loose/disconnected....

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
I highly doubt the oil or lack of adbv or even filter type would cause a hard 10 sec start.
My guess is they were touching things they shouldn't. Maybe they left the air filter housing loose/disconnected....


I did check the air filter right away and everything seemed in order there. My wife thought maybe it was the cabin air filter... ;^)

I will take a much closer look at the filter this weekend, last night I was in a hurry to finish up after the unexpected trip to WM. I'm still miffed at not getting the filter off by hand...I probably spent 20 minutes on that before giving up in shame.

 

[The motor guy]

The car should start oil or not. Although it won't run long with the latter.

 

[WellOiled]

Virtus_Probi - Many times I will need an oil filter wrench to remove a filter. If I can not get the filter loose in 10-15 seconds by hand, I will use a wrench. Nothing to be embarrassed by.

 

[old1]

I always install my own filters by hand, and even when I was younger, and stronger, I almost always needed a wrench to take them off. I always oil the gasket too. But then I would rather they were a little to tight, and need a tool, than to loose and start leaking.

 

[SatinSilver]

Certain brands are harder to remove than others. I think Fram is one of them from some reports/posts on here. I wouldn't think twice about needing a wrench to remove it. Even Popeye would need a wrench to remove some of them. Have a beer and relax a little. Also try doing some pushups everyday, try to work up to 25/day.

 

[Crispysea]

Carquest filters are pretty good. I doubt they'd cause hard starts.

 

[Alex_V]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
My guess is they were touching things they shouldn't.


This. Be glad the filter was tight - better than the aftermath of some fast-change places. I don't use them regularly but the Car quest filters I've used in the past, I'd use again over others.

 

[goodtimes]

Make sure she isn't pressing the gas pedal, at all? The new cars want foot off the gas, sometimes people forget or just do it without noticing they are doing it. Since it was fine when you started it.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Well, part of the reason I was so embarrassed about not getting the filter off bare-handed is that I have kept up with my lifting despite my age and thought that I still had it. Maybe the truth is exactly that, I had it...past tense.
I doubt that my daughter has even heard of pumping the gas pedal before a start, I barely even remember that! I do remember my sister doing that to my CRX when I was going to let her drive it and then keeping her foot down, bringing my car to redline in the parking spot. That may have been the last time she ever sat behind a steering wheel, I got her out of there pronto. I will still ask my daughter if she happened to pump the gas or do anything else strange, though.
I tried to inspect the CARQUEST filter (keeps capitalizing automatically, I'm not doing it!) and one of my old Tokyo Rokis last night, the ADBV was quite obvious on the latter but the former has really itty bitty holes in the baseplate and I couldn't tell what was in there with any certainty...I'll look at it again in full sunlight and poke in there with a pick awl or something else with a point. I even tried to shine a little flashlight in there, maybe the ADBV is black and that's why I think I can't see anything...

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I took that CARQUEST (did it again) filter out into the gorgeous sunshine this morning and there is no ADBV, unless there is some way it could be somewhere other than under the holes in the baseplate. The Tokyo Roki AA170 I compared it to had a very obvious reddish ADBV.

 

[Gokhan]

No, difficult starts are caused by fuel system or emission system problems, or ignition system, not lubrication system.

Sometimes pushing the pedal halfway and keeping pushed while cranking may help.