When doing an oil change can the oil filter be changed first before draining the oil?

Can the oil filter be changed before draining the oil through the oil plug? Does the order matter? Or is this going to cause all the oil in the car to go through the oil filter? I wouldn't want that to happen.When doing an oil change can the oil filter be changed first before draining the oil?
Some of these answers are scaring me a little bit. The order does not make a difference at all. The only oil that will come out by the filter, which is a good thing, is the dirty oil held up by the anti drain-back valve if it is working properly. Most, if not all, of the remaining oil will be in the oil pan. It doesn't matter where or how the oil filter is mounted. the only oil that will come out is the oil I mentioned above regardless of whether you drain the pan or not.





You will still need to drain/evacuate the oil from the pan, but the order does not make any difference if you are performing an oil change.





On most European cars (Mercedes, BMW, etc) you have to take the filter element out first because there is about a 1/2 a quart of oil sitting inside the housing that will drain down to the pan when you change it.





This link is to prove a point.





http://www.2carpros.com/how_to/how_to_ch鈥?/a>When doing an oil change can the oil filter be changed first before draining the oil?
I have performed oil changes on Civics up to 2008s and I do them the same way. The only vehicles that are different are the ones with filter element housings on top of the engines because there is oil inside of the housings. Report Abuse

There's always a first time for everything or maybe others have did it before. Unless you only want to change the oil filter due to it being defective you certainly can do so as on most cars the oil sump is lower than the oil filter. Other than that the sequence is drain oil then replace oil filter as it seems to make sense.
Once you take out the Oil filter, the oil will drain out where the hole is, and usually, that'll be down your arm, or generally all over the floor. makes it a pain. Its much better to drain your oil first with the drain plug, then take off the filter. When you do an oil change, you want to change the oil, not just the filter.
I would not do that. You need to drain all the oil first. Then put the plug back in then take the filter off. Remember to lube the new filter around the top edge and just put it on hand tight. Then pour the new oil in and your done. Oil will get everywhere and you may have to put it back on again.
depends where the oil filter is. IF its on top of the machine, then no. If bottom, then sure, you might want to consider using a clamp to close the circulation of oil inside the machine.before and after the filter...
Could? yes


Smart? no


yeah pretty much what will happen is the oil will come out where you're trying to replace the filter.





So yeah, drain the oil before replacing the filter. =)
YES, drain the oil before you take the filter off!