Please identify this 'thingy' that fell out from my oil filter canister? (pics)
 

Usually there is a perfectly good explanation for everything. But I'm all out of ideas on this one. So I hope you guys can educate me.

I did the regular engine oil and filter change last night on my 2004 4.4i. But when unscrewing the oil filter canister, some 'stuff' fell down into the waste oil tray. And after frantically sifting through 8 liters of extraordinary hot waste oil, I was left with this:

http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...0714_small.jpg

Apparently the black plastic thingy fits into the spring. The spring fits into the metal thingy. And the O-ring doesn't really fit anywhere.

http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...0719_small.jpg

The whole ensemble, except the O-ring, seems to fit on the bottom of the filter canister:

http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...0720_small.jpg

-Because when compressed the metal thingy fits perfectly into the recess, as seen here:

http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...0717_small.jpg

So far so good. But some questions remain unanswered:

-What the heck is it??
And perhaps even more interesting -where on earth was it placed until i unscrewed the canister?? Because there is no way the filter will fit inside the canister when this thingy is in there too.

-And what is completely baffling me is, where was these parts the last time I replaced the filter -and nothing fell out when i unscrewed the canister..??

I'm loosing my marbles here.. :dunno:

This is part of the oil check valve, or oil drain-back valve, depending on the terminology you use. When you stop the engine, it stops the oil from draining back into the sump. This means that oil is already there when you restart the engine, it doesn't have to be pumped up. Many filter designs have this valve inside the filter. BMW puts it in the oil filter reservoir. I remember a campaign on replacing it years back. I also know that more than one person who found the pieces did nothing except remove them, and disaster did not follow.

Here is one thread:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...il-filter.html

Here is another one, with a resolution history.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ce-update.html

Jeff

Thanks a lot Jeff. :thumbup:

Now I will be able to sleep again.
-That is, if I can restrain myself from wondering what made me wander off my usual "only OEM parts" path, and buy a Bosch oil filter that actually has a built-in non-return valve, in stead of the OEM that has not.. :confused:

I did an oils change today and found this same thing in my oil filter housing. I can’t seem to find the plastic pice but found the spring and band metal piece. Where the hell does this go? I’m sort of stuck with putting the filter back on. Any help would be great

Have you looked at RealOEM? Many times you can figure out what parts are and where they go using it.

I've had that, plus this - good times. Engine keep on ticking :)

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...il-change.html

Johnny 5
I can recall my own frustration about this back when i started this thread.
But given that BMW's official solution to this issue is to replace the entire oil pump at a ridiculous price AND that the general opinion of whether to fix this or not seems to be "not", i chose the latter.
Now, almost 7 years later i still haven't had any issues with ticking or oil starvation at start up.
So my advice would be to toss the parts into your "things-that-spontaneously-fell-out-of-my-engine -drawer" and not worry more about that.






This one was fun.
I haven't seen LVP's post before today. But the metal sleeve-looking thing in his picture looked suspiciously like something i found on the garage floor after another oil change several years ago.
A quick look in my own "things-that-spontaneously-fell-out-of-my-engine -drawer" confirmed that. :D
https://xoutpost.com/attachments/tes...valve-part.jpg

Until today i had no idea that it also was part of the oil check valve. I thought it came from somewhere else in the engine compartment and had rolled off of the bottom plastic cover when i removed that.
Another mystery is solved. :thumbup:

Couldn't find anything on this on RealOEM. I did find a few postings on this and it appears to be a oil pump check valve

What is that ring? First time I saw that! But yea from what I see a lot of people just pulled it out and its been fine. I ended up just putting everything back together. Never got that plastic piece out but Im sure it will be in the filter next time around

I did spend a few hours just stressing over it but eventually found a forum I believe on here where someone stated that the dealer tech looked into this and said not to worry about it per some service bulletin? Not sure if its true. Plus found a few other posts of others having this happen and had no issues what so ever.

Good to know you are up and having no issues! Feeling better now. Thanks all!