Car is Making a Rattling Noise After Oil Change

If you just recently changed your engine oil and you noticed that your car engine is making a rattlingOpens in a new tab.

” Your car engine could be making a rattling noise after an oil change if you forgot to fill the oil filter with engine oil before installing it, you used the wrong oil filter, you added the wrong oil viscosity or you didn’t add enough oil. The rattling noise is just a warning that the engine is not getting the needed lubrication.”

Car is Making a Rattling Noise After Oil Change

After an oil change, your car could be making a rattling noise. The rattling noisesOpens in a new tab.

1. No Engine Oil In The Oil Filter

Car is Making a Rattling Noise After Oil Change

The first and most common thing that people forget to do is to put oil in the oil filter before installing it. It is important that you fill your oil filter with engine oil because the oil pump will need to pump the oil into the filter and then into the engine. If there is no oil in the oil filter when you start, the engine it will just start pumping air into the system and that can cause the lifters to make a rattling noiseOpens in a new tab.

2. Wrong Oil Filter

Car is Making a Rattling Noise After Oil Change - wrong oil filter

Another thing that can make your car engine louder after an oil change is installing the wrong oil filter. Installing the wrong oil filter will restrict the oil flow into the engine and this can cause rattling sounds coming from the engine. This can happen to anyone.

If you are a mechanic and your shop is full of vehicles that require an oil changeOpens in a new tab.

3. Engine Oil With Wrong Viscosity

Car is Making a Rattling Noise After Oil Change - wrong oil viscosity

Adding the wrong oil can cause rattling noises in your engineOpens in a new tab.

4. Not Enough Engine Oil

Not adding enough engine oil is also a very common mistake that people make. If you are a regular guy who wants to save some money by doing the oil changeOpens in a new tab.

Also, make sure that the draining bolt is tight and that it isn’t leaking. You could also add more oil than needed and cause a so-called engine oil overfill. This can create a different set of issues.

Is it OK To Add New Oil To Old Oil?

Adding new oil to old oil is very bad for the engineOpens in a new tab.

Those small particles are caught in the oil filter. If you don’t change the oil filter and the oil, the small particles would run through the engine over and over again causing even more damage. It is important that you change your engine oil and oil filter every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Here is a YouTube video of a mechanic actually opening an engine that had engine oil added.

Igor Iwanowski

I am a certified Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) mechanic since 2018. I specialize in Brake systems, dashboard warning lights, EGRs, general engine problems, EVAP and Emissions issues.

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Car is Making a Rattling Noise After Oil Change