Cartridge Filter Question

[BISCUT]

My son now has a permit and his aunt gave him a 2012 RQV4 in excellent shape. Great day for him!! I of course had to change the oil immediately! The engine is the 2.5 4cyl and has a cartridge filter. 2008 BMW N52 is the only other vehicle I've owned with a cartridge filter. It got me wondering why choose a cartridge over a can? Or a can over a cartridge for that matter.

I don't know of any reason for or against so I'm looking to learn something today. Take me to school!

 

[supton]

Less waste. Most people I'd wager are tossing the entire filter into the trash, metal and all. If you are a dealership and getting these cars back for routine oil changes, then I'd assume that they need to figure out how to dispose "properly" of said filters. Just having the paper is less waste and perhaps cheaper for a dealership.

IMO it does make checking the filter media easier...

FWIW, done a number of changes on my 2AR-FE (same as yours). I tighten the housing until it bottoms out, and no more. That o-ring imparts a huge drag and that housing is not going to loosen on its own. That said: I stick with OEM filters and the OEM o-ring that comes with it. I cheaped out once, bought a Wallyworld whatever, and after only 5k the o-ring had gone square--could just about have removed the housing by hand, no tools.

FWIW, I've never used the drain feature on the housing either. I've thought a few times of taking it apart and locktiting the works, so that I could just use a 3/8's drive to remove the house and toss the oil filter cap, but I've just never gotten to that point. The cap I have is one of the early ones and boy does it love to stick to the housing--a couple of times I could not find the cap when I'd go to do an oil change, only to realize: it's been on one of the cars for a couple months!

 

[dnewton3]

If there were a clear reason to choose one over another, the OEMs would all do the exact same thing.

I'll go one further; whyere are there so many can filters? Many of them see an overlap of specs and sizes. Can't the industry commonize? Sure they could, but they're not going to put effort into that.

It's simply because the OEM finds some niche they want to utilize for the criteria they believe most credible at the time.

Cartridge or can, they both work.

 

[Sayjac]

A corporate descision. It's been said that cartridges more eco friendly. It's also true that cartridge filter application costs more per vehicle unit because of the housing required. In "my" experience, spin on(canister) easier/faster than cartridge type. But, engine top side cartridge is well adapted, especially so with extractor use.

As for Toyota specifically which is an engine bottom cartridge set up, they went back to spin on use on some models.

 

[Leo99]

Toyota went back to the can in 2019. My Camry has the cartridge. I prefer the can.

 

[Kira]

I'll spew my thoughts with no guarantee of accuracy.
1) I think "less waste" benefits everybody from every angle. A little machining and a few parts during assembly means no metal has to be smelted, recovered, formed, assembled or recycled to make filters.

2) Engines utilizing element filters have bypass and ADB valving built into the block. I'll bet bypass pressures and ADBV operation are better assured by designed machinery over whatever gets stacked into a $3, disposable tin can....by a dazed worker sentenced to tending rows of trays of product on an assembly line.
Does anybody here think flapper styled ADBVs work consistently? I sure don't. Just think of the wild swings in quality we see in cans.
For heaven's sake, we've seen ADBVs installed upside down!
I trust the inwards of my engine more.

3) I think dnewton3 is correct in his theory of industrial pragmatism. Both can work OK.

4) The answer to, "Why are element filters more expensive" might be those skunks simply capitalizing on a perceived quality strata.
I also think manufacturers must use better media in an element filter as they're so easily inspected.

5) Maybe thoughtfully designed element systems can save valuable space aside an engine?

6) ...and just when we get retail oil filtration perfected....we swing over to electric vehicles

Either way, I hope that Pennsylvania company which cooks and squeezes old filters is still around.

 

[supton]

I have both. Since I cut mine open now, the can is kinda annoying. But it makes less mess (less paper towels) so...? Both require me to crawl under the car, so in a sense both are a fail: on my VW I could do topside oil changes. Now that I greatly preferred!

 

[BISCUT]

A corporate descision. It's been said that cartridges more eco friendly. It's also true that cartridge filter application costs more per vehicle unit because of the housing required. In "my" experience, spin on(canister) easier/faster than cartridge type. But, engine top side cartridge is well adapted, especially so with extractor use.

As for Toyota specifically which is an engine bottom cartridge set up, they went back to spin on use on some models.

I felt like a refined gentleman when I had the cartridge on the top of the BMW engine....Toyota pounded me back down crawling under the car again! Thanks for the insight. Seems like 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

 

[Sayjac]

I felt like a refined gentleman when I had the cartridge on the top of the BMW engine....Toyota pounded me back down crawling under the car again! ...

I can't say absolutely, but I suspect Toyota went back to spin on use on some models because of complaints about the engine bottom cartridge set up. Just speculation on my part.

Interestingly Hyun/Kia went from an engine top cartridge to an engine bottom location on newer models. I am wondering if that is because some/many of the top side cartridge engines had a start up rattle. Some more than others. I've also read comments this sub forum that the Jeep, Stellantis models with 3.6L engine top cartridge location, can have a start up rattle too.

 

[930.engineering]

.
- less waste
- easy to change (e.g. using a 27 mm socket)
- much easier inspecting filter media
- looks better (!!)
.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Cartridge filters quite often require a gasket repair where the associated housing meets the block. This repair is a nice little bone thrown to dealer service departments. Can't have things too durable.

In all seriousness I suspect it 100 percent has to do with disposal/recycling. The euros in particular for regulatory reasons must keep end of life/recycling in mind.

 

[JeffKeryk]

If there were a clear reason to choose one over another, the OEMs would all do the exact same thing.

I'll go one further; whyere are there so many can filters? Many of them see an overlap of specs and sizes. Can't the industry commonize? Sure they could, but they're not going to put effort into that.

It's simply because the OEM finds some niche they want to utilize for the criteria they believe most credible at the time.

Cartridge or can, they both work.

Well said. I have often wondered why there isn't 1, or maybe 10 different filter sizes.
Heck, I have 3 different Toyota cartridge filters sitting on a shelf in the garage!
I think that's equal to the number of can filters I keep on the shelf...

I use the 7317 for Honda/Acura and Nissan, another size for Toyota V6 and Toyota V8.

 

[Leo99]

Well said. I have often wondered why there isn't 1, or maybe 10 different filter sizes.
Heck, I have 3 different Toyota cartridge filters sitting on a shelf in the garage!
I think that's equal to the number of can filters I keep on the shelf...

I use the 7317 for Honda/Acura and Nissan, another size for Toyota V6 and Toyota V8.

I thought the same 40 years ago looking at fuel filters.

 

[Job]

It should be possible to convert it to a canister filter if you want. If there is an oil filter adapter on it now, the newer models have a new style adapter that replaced the cartridge type. It would be a matter of buying the new style adapter and the o rings that seal it to the block.
Those cars are worth their weight in gold used now.

 

[DwightFrye]

My Jaguar has a top mounted cannister filter and is designed to have the fluid extracted from a coaxial tube built into the oil filler tube.
Other than having to spend $100 for a Mityvac to extract the dirty oil and spend about $32 for an OEM filter vs. about $12 for a Mobil 1 regular filter for my Mazda, I think it is a real plus.

No more pulling the car up on ramps and crawling under it and no mess when removing the filter since the procedure is to unscrew the cap on the filter housing two turns to break the vacuum seal and then starting the Mityvac pump. By the time the oil is sucked out of the sump the oil in the filter has drained down into the sump as well and been sucked out.

 

[loneryder]

Toyota went back to the can in 2019. My Camry has the cartridge. I prefer the can.

I've always wondered why Toyota uses such small filters, even on it's larger engines and still want you to go 10k miles on it.

 

[The Critic]

I personally prefer the cartridge. Never had any issues with it as long as the cap was removed and installed using the proper tools and torque. I replace the center o-ring each time.

 

[UG_Passat]

When you want to examine the filter after an oil change, there is no metal can to cut.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I serviced a ton of cartridge oil filters on 1967 and older Chevrolets when I worked at the Mobil Station. Corvettes were my favorite.

 

[Job]

I've always wondered why Toyota uses such small filters, even on it's larger engines and still want you to go 10k miles on it.

The Toyota filters get larger with larger engines. Like the 90915-yzzd3 is like a Fram 3600. The 1mz-fe gets a d1=3614, and so on.