Can I use an oil filter twice

[SARG52]

The word for the day is credulity.
Used to be the vast majority of "fleet" companies just changed the oil filters & never drained the oil.
Fact or fiction ?

 

[ZeeOSix]

The word for the day is credulity.
Used to be the vast majority of "fleet" companies just changed the oil filters & never drained the oil.
Fact or fiction ?

In a case like that, they were probably using an additional 2 micron bypass filtering system on things like semi engines that literally held multi-gallons of oil.

 

[Dave Hess]

Honda stated 2X oil changes for their oil filters a while ago.

I don’t know if owner’s manual still recommends 2X intervals.

 

[jeepman3071]

To each his own ...... I grew up in a toolmaker environment ..... dad was a class A and I went through the apprentice training 50 years ago .... all to say I'm familiar with machining & tolerances.
The stuff I'm seeing on the forum are in the majority of cases ......... clearly stupid.
Common sense is indeed rare.

Oil and filter technology has changed quite a bit in the last 50 years, 10 years, and even 5 years. I wouldn't advise anyone to do an extended drain without first doing a UOA.

 

[RyanY]

I don't do it but Honda - they know a thing or two about engines - has been saying use the filter for 2 oil changes for decades. It's not a new revelation from them. If they say it's okay, I believe them. I just choose to replace the filter since they're cheap and I'm already under the car. I don't even think dealers leave the filter on for 2 changes as they'd get reamed over this, even when Honda says they can. If their work order says they "Performed Honda A1 service", they would be in the right, but I'd guess most say "Oil and filter service".

Honda is not the only manufacturer to recommend leaving the filter on for two OCIs. Chevrolet has been suggesting this since at least the 90s (the following is from the 1993 S-10 owners manual - see the last paragraph).

 

[GMBoy]

Some OEs (Honda, Mitsubishi, etc) even state that changing the oil filter every other OCI is the "normal" maintenance schedule. While not predominant thinking in the industry, it's not unheard of at all, and in many of these OE applications, there's been credible evidence to show it's detrimental.

Given your stated OCI of 3-4K miles and application, and a filter that's (generally) recognized as one of the better on the market, you FCI can easily be 2x for OCI and 3x would not be out of the question. I would recommend starting with 2x, and do a few dissections of the filters to see how things are going. Then if all looks good (probably will), then go to 3x and do a few more dissections. Your car is nearing the end of its warranty; while there are risks, those risks are small.

TRUE. I remember in the 1985 Pontiac Fiero (I had the V6) owners manual it stated oil filter change every other time. I tell you what - it was a hard to get to filter on the V6 and I did skip it every now and then lol! You had to remove heat shields to get to it then it made a big mess.

 

[TomYoung]

The word for the day is credulity.
Used to be the vast majority of "fleet" companies just changed the oil filters & never drained the oil.
Fact or fiction ?

Fiction

 

[TomYoung]

Just make sure you empty the filter between changes so the old oil therein doesn't contaminate the new oil.

I don’t think that is happening and even if it were, it would not eliminate contamination from old oil, although it would help. But if you are truly taking an old filter off, surely that would push most of the folks advocation filter reuse into the change camp

 

[billt460]

Just make sure you empty the filter between changes so the old oil therein doesn't contaminate the new oil.

Just stop for a second, and look at ALL of the cost associated with owning a vehicle. All of which are unavoidable. First you have the purchase price. Which today is higher than ever, and can easily run from $35K, to well into six figures on many fancy trucks and luxury SUV's.

Add financing on to that. (Which can now go out to 8 years), and which interest rates have also rapidly increased. Then you add the cost of insurance. Which has also risen wildly in the last 2 or 3 years.

Then you have the cost of fuel. Which again has risen tremendously to almost double what it was, in just the last 2 or 3 years. Then comes maintenance. (Many dealerships can charge up to, and over $1K to simply drain and fill the transmission).

Add it all up, and for most people their vehicle is the second most expensive thing they own. Or make large monthly payments on, for the privilege of driving it.

And after all of that, you're going to try and save $4 to $8 dollars, by using an old, dirty oil filter twice? That isn't false economy, it's borderline insanity.

 

[oil pan 4]

Honda stated 2X oil changes for their oil filters a while ago.

I don’t know if owner’s manual still recommends 2X intervals.

Makes sense to me.
When I cut open filters ran for 3,500 to 6,600 miles, 6 to 13 months they look almost brand new.
On my neglected dodge Dakota I get some junk in the oil filter after 4,500 miles, but it still looks pretty good.
On my 459cc engines they have 10 micron hydraulic filters being used as bypass filters, I'll run them for years and years, they may last the life of the engine before they start to clog.
For my riding mower I cut open its 2 year old one oil change mobil1, 107a oil filter (a way over sized filter for a mower) and it barely had any dirt in it, still looked new, this time I'm going to run a Fram FE3600 till it starts to rust or the 0-ring cracks out. I'll still change the oil every year and take the oil filter off and drain the oil out of it along with some of the dirt. Then I'll put it right back on.

 

[oil pan 4]

Just stop for a second, and look at ALL of the cost associated with owning a vehicle. All of which are unavoidable. First you have the purchase price. Which today is higher than ever, and can easily run from $35K, to well into six figures on many fancy trucks and luxury SUV's.

Add financing on to that. (Which can now go out to 8 years), and which interest rates have also rapidly increased. Then you add the cost of insurance. Which has also risen wildly in the last 2 or 3 years.

Then you have the cost of fuel. Which again has risen tremendously to almost double what it was, in just the last 2 or 3 years. Then comes maintenance. (Many dealerships can charge up to, and over $1K to simply drain and fill the transmission).

Add it all up, and for most people their vehicle is the second most expensive thing they own. Or make large monthly payments on, for the privilege of driving it.

And after all of that, you're going to try and save $4 to $8 dollars, by using an old, dirty oil filter twice? That isn't false economy, it's borderline insanity.

I'm cutting open filters and on well maintained vehicles with normal oci the filters still look new, especially when they're over sized.
The only time the filters look kind of dirty and well used is on neglected engines and when running standard sized oil filters.
I'm going to say the filter on my first oil change on this truck was to the point where you definitely want to change it.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...n-miles-cut-open-with-sludge-deposits.372975/

 

[ZeeOSix]

For my riding mower I cut open its 2 year old one oil change mobil1, 107a oil filter (a way over sized filter for a mower) and it barely had any dirt in it, still looked new, this time I'm going to run a Fram FE3600 till it starts to rust or the 0-ring cracks out. I'll still change the oil every year and take the oil filter off and drain the oil out of it along with some of the dirt. Then I'll put it right back on.

The remaining oil in the engine and filter shouldn't have much debris ("dirt") in it after being filtered over and over through the high efficiency filter. Not really worth disturbing the filter seal to remove the oil, and to empty the filter well you'd have to prop open the ADBV and drain it base down for a day.

 

[ChrisD46]

I don't change oil as often as most people here and I run a filter longer than most, often for two OCIs. Been doing this for 40 years. My cars run fine.

My 2016 Hyundai is a different story.

I use a Fram Ultra for two 3,500 / 6 month OCI’s then change out the oil filter in my ‘17 Sonata . So essentially 7,000 miles / 12 months in a well maintained GDI engine is all my Fram Ultra oil filters will see .

 

[oil pan 4]

The remaining oil in the engine and filter shouldn't have much debris ("dirt") in it after being filtered over and over through the high efficiency filter. Not really worth disturbing the filter seal to remove the oil, and to empty the filter well you'd have to prop open the ADBV and drain it base down for a day.

I'm also disturbing the seal so it doesn't bond to the metal after potentially being on there for 3 years or more.
I would stick a small screw or something in one of the base plate holes to push aside the ADBV. That's what I do before I cut them open when I want to chop them open almost immediately.
When I drained the 2 year old lawn mower filter I pushed aside the ADBV with a small twig and some black metal dust or soot appeared to drain out.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I'm also disturbing the seal so it doesn't bond to the metal after potentially being on there for 3 years or more.

The base gasket seal will also have a permanent set from being installed, and not have much if any "spring action" left in it when re-tightened. My experience is that a filter can be removed easily with the right tool even is left on for years.

 

[nomas]

You can reuse head bolts too but nobody does. Must be a reason.

There is a reason and it has zero to do oil filters .

 

[nomas]

Actually you're pouring dirty oil out. And the op is using a 25k mi filter. If the seal can't handle being re-tightened after just 3-4K mi, it's a junk filter to begin with and should be changed anyway.

That was an example of people creating their own reality ..

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Hello, I own a 2020 Subaru Impreza with 49k miles, I do 3-4k mile oil changes because I live in the city with lots of traffic and stop-and-go. The Fram endurance oil filter claims it can be used for 25k miles, I'm wondering if I can use it 2 or even 3 times without issues.

Use that filter as many times as you want big P. Up to you.