Canister vs. Cartridge oil change: should the oil

[arhncmh]

New member, first post. There may be other posts on this topic, but I couldn't find them. I'm trying to quell some paranoia based on what I'm seeing in the drain pan when I change the oil in my wife's 2015 Corolla vs. what I see when I do the same on my 2017 Civic. Her engine uses a cartridge and when I look in the drain pan while changing the oil on her car, I search I can see very tiny particles in the bottom. It's easiest to see them when it's sunny and I'm emptying the drain pan into a jug for recycling. Is this just the result of her car using a cartridge filter so the captured debris gets dumped into the drain pan, something you'd never see from a car that uses a canister filter?

 

[Kuato]

First off, You are correct, any small particles you see in the cartridge would be contained in the canister. If you are concerned you could always have a UOA done to check.

 

[CR94]

Are those particles coming out of the cartridge housing, out of the crankcase drain hole, or (I hope!) from miscellaneous external dirt you've inadvertently knocked loose above the pan? It's possible there could be particles stopped by the filter that are too large to be stuck in the filter media, so they come out when you open the filter cap. They should be rare, though. I haven't seen particles in the drained oil from my Prius, which uses the same filter as your Corolla. I do see tiny black particles trapped in pleats of the media of the cartridge.

 

[jj51702]

ok

 

[DdDd]

It's the style of filter like others said. Not to worry, they get filtered right up again when they get sucked up through the oil pickup.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: Kuato

First off, You are correct, any small particles you see in the cartridge would be contained in the canister. If you are concerned you could always have a UOA done to check.

to check what?

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Ducked

Originally Posted By: Kuato

First off, You are correct, any small particles you see in the cartridge would be contained in the canister. If you are concerned you could always have a UOA done to check.

to check what?

To check the condition of the oil and wear metals to see if there is anything out of the ordinary going on.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: arhncmh

I can see very tiny particles in the bottom. It's easiest to see them when it's sunny and I'm emptying the drain pan into a jug for recycling.

Like Glitter, correct? It is normal. Yes, it is very freaky to see.... it makes you think your engine is coming apart!

 

[oil_film_movies]

I've never thought about this subject, but yes it does sound like catridges release stuff back into the drain flow, down through the oil pump, and into the sump when you open 'er up. Iron maybe? A magnet would prove that. Also, I say use a GoldPlug magnetic drain plug to grab Fe. I see Fe fuzz on mine all the time, particles too small for the oil filter to get. An oil filter only traps particles larger than 10-50 microns, depending on oil filter media type and brand. Fram Ultra seems to trap the best.

 

[Powerglide]

My daughter’s ‘95 Corolla has the same sediment in the bottom of the catch basin when I change the oil. It’s disconcerting for sure. But it’s got 200k miles on it, runs and drives perfectly, gets 24-33 mpg and uses 1/2 quart of oil between changes (6-8k miles OCI). As a result, I don’t give it a second thought after I close the hood.

 

[arhncmh]

Thanks to all for your responses/feedback to my question. Seems if I perform my next oil change on my wife's Corolla by following the steps below, I should be able to better understand my situation: 1. Only drain the contents of the oil pan into the receiving basin. If I see any of the fine "glitter" (great description, linctex) I've seen before, maybe I have a problem. 2. Empty the receiving basin & wipe clean, then remove the plastic housing covering the cartridge filter and drain the remaining oil into the basin. It seems this volume of fluid is where the "glitter" should be (retained behind the filter media. If I had a standard container-style oil filter, this is where the particles would be trapped & I normally wouldn't see. By performing the above, hopefully I'll be able to confirm that the fine "glitter" particles I'm seeing are actually common, it's just that they get released into the waste oil collection basin instead of staying trapped within the oil filter due to my car's filter type.

 

[bigj_16]

Originally Posted By: Powerglide

My daughter’s ‘95 Corolla has the same sediment in the bottom of the catch basin when I change the oil. It’s disconcerting for sure. But it’s got 200k miles on it, runs and drives perfectly, gets 24-33 mpg and uses 1/2 quart of oil between changes (6-8k miles OCI). As a result, I don’t give it a second thought after I close the hood.

Those E100 Corollas were bomb proof!

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: arhncmh

... Seems if I perform my next oil change on my wife's Corolla by following the steps below, I should be able to better understand my situation: 1. Only drain the contents of the oil pan into the receiving basin. ... 2. Empty the receiving basin & wipe clean, then remove the plastic housing covering the cartridge filter and drain the remaining oil into the basin. It seems this volume of fluid is where the "glitter" should be (retained behind the filter media. ...

That's a reasonable plan. There still shouldn't be much "glitter," unless something is wearing abnormally rapidly. If you see it again, note its color, and whether it is attracted to a magnet or not. Can you see glitter in the filter you removed? If some is coming out of the filter housing, then many smaller particles should still be on the filter surface. Thanks!

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint

Originally Posted By: Ducked

Originally Posted By: Kuato

First off, You are correct, any small particles you see in the cartridge would be contained in the canister. If you are concerned you could always have a UOA done to check.

to check what?

To check the condition of the oil and wear metals to see if there is anything out of the ordinary going on.

He knows he's got wear because he can see it. The relationship between the metals picked up by a UOA and overall wear is uncertain, so it wouldn't tell him anything very definitive. Separating the sump and canister contents, as suggested above, just checks whether the visible particles make it through the filter, a check on gross filter performance. They probably don't, and it doesn't seem to tell you much else. To learn much you'd have to quantify the wear particles in both the filter and the oil, a good trick if you can do it. If you did it, you probably wouldn't have anything to compare it to, because...nobody does it (AFAIK) So you either have to fund a non-trivial industrial research project, or stop worrying about it.

 

[Ducked]

http://dsportmag.com/the-tech/whats-inside-your-oil-filter/ Is it just me or are these debris-in-the-filter-pleats pictures obviously and ludicrously fake?

 

[mcwilly]

Yes, very obviously placed in the pleats. To give an idea what to look for, but I doubt you'll ever see anything that large or concentrated on the filter. I want that filter cutter though!