-Today, Saturday, out of state, Oso Blanco found oil splatter on the F-150 tailgate and elsewhere, then discovered a hole in the truck's oil filter. Oso travels on paved roads, highways, and, rarely, on gravel roads. I had the oil changed at a Ford dealer about 3000 - 4,000 miles ago.

-What causes a hole in the oil filter? Oso doesn't recall impacts to the truck that could put a hole in the oil filter.

=====
Weirdly, my 2018 Ford Explorer lost its oil due to hole in filter at about 2000 miles--about a 1.5 months after I bought it new. Again, I did not observe any action or impact that may have put the hole in the oil filter. We've never experienced oil filter holes before these two incidences, and computer searches have yielded nothing.

Thanks for any assistance.

 

A few questions,
Where on the filter does the hole appear?
Does the filter can show any sign of excessive pressure like bulging?
What is the name of the filter manufacturer?

 

Okay, Oso said it looked as if there was a bubble on the oil filter, and there was oil there and everywhere. Once the filter was taken off, did not see signs of holes etc.

This morning, at Ford Dealer, the filter and gasket looked okay, too. Attached are photos.








Next step (hope this is the best step) is to change oil/filter and clean undersides to detect possible leak.

 

If it is a hole, likely a rock or some projectile flew into the filter puncturing it. If the can is bulged out or the seam blew out, excessive oil pressure from an oil pump problem likely caused it. What I am concerned about how much oil leaked out. Hopefully little so any engine damage did not occur. Sadly, the oil pressure gauges are not actual pressure gauges but "idiot" gauges connected to a switch. The gauge will deflect and show pressure with as little as 6-7 pounds of pressure. Hardly enough for an engine running at 2-3000 rpm's.