O Ring for Oil Canister ?

I walked my neighbor thru changing his own oil. He removed the canister cap and handed it to me. It had a RED O ring that fit much better then the black OEM ones that come with the filter.
perfect fit in the groove no slop like the OEM ones. It was so nice we left it in there.
I have always noticed the OEM one fits loose.
So where did that come from? His last oil change was by somebody that comes to the house.
My neighbor said he bought the oil and filter and he thinks it was a Fram.
The old filter had like a cork material at both ends of the filter on the metal area.
Anyone ever see this red O ring before?

 

No.

 

Yep, I've been buying fram ultra filters and they come with the red silicone orings. Never really noticed that they fit any better...
Any oring that I've used has sealed well for the full service life.

 

It is likely just a silicone O-ring, and it looks like it fits better because it has been pressed into such shape when the housing was torqued down. The one time I had an oil leak from the O-ring was when I got lazy and re-used the O-ring. I don't recall if it was rubber or silicone, but the leak was minimal and observable on the housing.

 

I asked my shop owner friend, who told me that Fram are the worst filters.
If you want after market, he says the Napa Gold are the cream of the crop.

Walmart sells the genuine Toyota filter kit for under $8, so I buy those.
The same filter for the Tacoma also fits our RAV4.

 

1) How an o-ring fits the groove does not relate well to how it seals. As previously mentioned, an installed o-ring will spread laterally as it is compressed. An installed OEM o-ring will likely look the same.
2) Why use an aftermarket filter? My local dealer sells the OEM filter kit for $4.11 when ordered online and picked up.

 

I have been using Toyota OEM oil filters with the loose black O-ring for 10 years now (starting with my wife’s 2014 Corolla). Never had a filter housing leak.

 

I was just mentioned what was on my neighbors truck. i had never seen a red one and was curious.
for the record i always use OEM filter and the O ring it comes with.