Changing filter every other oci

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FCD

FCD

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So until now i've always changed my oil filter every other oil change, so every 2 years so every 4000/5000 Km or so ( 2500 / 3000 Miles ), running conventional oil, should i change it every year? does it really make the engine run cleaner? Sorry if this question has already been asked repeatedly before

Second question ,i'm planning to use VR1 on my next oil change and spend some extra money, is it really worth it?
 
I would not push the OCI/FCI (oil change interval / filter change interval) that far on a conventional oil. Even though your weather is temperate, you still may have some condensation in the oil which softens the cellulose in the oil filter. So for a cellulose based filter, I would replace it along with the oil change. For a full synthetic oil filter, you could go much longer because the synthetic fiber tolerates water well.

Racing oils do not have the additives needed for long oil changes. Racing oils are designed to be changed more frequently. I will leave the rest of this explanation to those who race.
 
I've done 3 5000 mile OCI'S on Street Legal (silver bottle) VR1 20/50 in my Harley Road King, and that's one of the most destructive applications for motor oil.

There's no sludge, varnish, or anything to be seen inside of my engine. Viscosity never takes a hit. Shear resistant as oils come.

Point is, your engine will hardly be a challenge for VR1 by comparison, over a 2500/3000 mile OCI.

Use a good synthetic media filter, and you might be able to get away with running the VR1 and filter together for 5000-6000 miles.

If it were me, I'd run the VR1/filter for 1 year/2500-3000 miles, do a sample for UOA, and see if it's good to go for another year.
 
it only says to change the oil every 6000 miles doesn't specify how often to change the filter, i change it every year though oil being cheaper than engines, might consider a "synthetic" filter though i'm using just regular Motorcraft filters atm
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
I do 3 OCI's on all oil filters on my cars. No harm done, engines are spotless inside.

thumbsup2.gif
 
It's fine as long as you use a filter that can hold up to the long interval.

Some manufacturers, like Honda, say to replace the filter every other oil change right in the manual.

Truth be told oil filters do very little in a well maintained engine with a good air filter and no air leaks.

Whenever I've had high wear metals in a Blackstone UOA it's always air path issues not oil filtration issues.
 
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Hi FCD,
I would keep going with what you are doing now. Oil every year with filter every second year. 5000 km on a regular filter seems fine to me, nothing to worry about, but two years is long enough.

Yes I would spend the extra coin on the road legal VR-1 racing oil, it has an excellent reputation and should be a better oil than that HX3 you are using right now.

To me 20W-50 oils like HX3 are made to a low price point with a low additive dose rate (recall the charts Shannow linked to from one of the additive companies). But oils like Valvoline 20W-50 VR-1 are made as modern high performance oils for tuned street machines and competition engines. They use high quality components and a heavy add package.

I'm not saying your car needs VR-1 over HX3, but I am saying that VR-1 is a much better oil than HX3 (IMO).
 
Originally Posted By: KingCake

Truth be told oil filters do very little in a well maintained engine with a good air filter and no air leaks.

I tend to agree with this, once a car is run in, and if it's properly maintained (good air filters, correct OCI & no sludge, etc) then an oil filter should have very little to do in a well kept car.
 
Consider how much oil the filter holds also if not changed.
What size is it?

My skoda's filter is massive and holds at leats 0.5 litres (plus the housing). That would dump quite a lot of old oil into the new if I didn't change it.

My peugeot filter is tiny and doesn't hold much.
 
If your vehicle holds 4 qts of oil and you opt to not change the filter, you probably have half a qt in the filter and half a qt left in the motor. So you are doing 3/4 of an oil change. The remaining qt is dirty oil which gets mixed into and contaminates the new oil you just added. So isn't the point of changing your oil to remove as much dirty oil and contaminates as you possibly can? Then why would you leave a filter with dirty oil on?.,,
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
What's a "road legal" racing oil? Are there now rules in come countries on what you can put in an engine?


By road or street legal, I mean the oil has also been formulated for regular road use with regular drain intervals ( eg 5000 km to 10,000 km ) as well as for heavy duty race track use.

Some race oils are low TBN etc oils, that should be drained every race (or two) and should not be left in the sump for any significant length of time.

A "road legal" or "street legal" race oil can stay in the sump and on the road for a normal amount of time.

These terms "road/street legal" don't refer to any rule or law, it's more a commonly used expression. Sorry for any confusion.

The Valvoline document I have in front of me says "VR1 racing engine oil is a race-proven...lubricant...recommended for engines ...in track and street service...in any car, light truck or van where API SJ is recommended". So it's a race oil that is also API SJ rated. But pay attention to what you buy, as not all VR1 oils are SJ rated, only some.
 
SOP for the State of California. 10's of thousands of cars and light trucks. Change filter every other time.

Me - I change it every time, but might stop doing that on the wife's JAG as it's a real messy job and it drools on the steering rack while changing ...
 
Originally Posted By: SR5
Hi FCD,
I would keep going with what you are doing now. Oil every year with filter every second year. 5000 km on a regular filter seems fine to me, nothing to worry about, but two years is long enough.

Yes I would spend the extra coin on the road legal VR-1 racing oil, it has an excellent reputation and should be a better oil than that HX3 you are using right now.

To me 20W-50 oils like HX3 are made to a low price point with a low additive dose rate (recall the charts Shannow linked to from one of the additive companies). But oils like Valvoline 20W-50 VR-1 are made as modern high performance oils for tuned street machines and competition engines. They use high quality components and a heavy add package.

I'm not saying your car needs VR-1 over HX3, but I am saying that VR-1 is a much better oil than HX3 (IMO).


You don't need an oil filter for 20w-50 b/c it's running in bypass mode all the time anyway.
 
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
If your vehicle holds 4 qts of oil and you opt to not change the filter, you probably have half a qt in the filter and half a qt left in the motor. So you are doing 3/4 of an oil change. The remaining qt is dirty oil which gets mixed into and contaminates the new oil you just added. So isn't the point of changing your oil to remove as much dirty oil and contaminates as you possibly can? Then why would you leave a filter with dirty oil on?.,,


lol you know how much old oil is left in your engine anyway? It's not a problem.
 
At this rate of use, you could leave both the oil and the filter for two years.
I probably wouldn't. I'd probably just change both once each year, but I live in a land of dirt-cheap oil and oil filters.
If I give the old E350 an oil and filter change each year even though the old dear will run only around 3K over that period, I'm spending maybe twelve dollars.
I'm pretty sure that if I were paying EU prices for the materials, I'd go at least a couple of years on a change.
 
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