About a year ago someone posted that he had been running extending oil filter replacement intervals and keeping track of the suspended solids in the oil. As I recall, he found that around 40,000 miles was the maximum oil filter change interval – more miles and the suspended solids would start to increase.
As a result of his tests I’ve changed my oil filter element every other oil change. I’ve done this twice now and on the second oil change (same time as filter change) there is only a hint of metal on my magnetic drain plug. On the first oil change there is a small amount of metal – but noticeably more than on the second oil change. My car is out of warranty so I’ve increased the oil change interval to 10,000 km (it was 8,000 km per the owner’s manual. This engine/vehicle combination was one of the few that did not have Toyota’s blessing a few years ago to increase the oil change interval to 16,000 km if using Toyota 0w-20).
I have a 2010 RAV4 4-cylinder and run Toyota 0w-20 and Toyota filter elements. The filter housing can be drained without taking the housing off the engine so draining all the oil is quite easy even when the filter element stays in position.
The take-away from this? Unless you have other reasons to change the oil filter (e.g. you might suspect a coolant leak into the oil) consider extending your oil filter change interval, your engine might thank you.
Ian
As a result of his tests I’ve changed my oil filter element every other oil change. I’ve done this twice now and on the second oil change (same time as filter change) there is only a hint of metal on my magnetic drain plug. On the first oil change there is a small amount of metal – but noticeably more than on the second oil change. My car is out of warranty so I’ve increased the oil change interval to 10,000 km (it was 8,000 km per the owner’s manual. This engine/vehicle combination was one of the few that did not have Toyota’s blessing a few years ago to increase the oil change interval to 16,000 km if using Toyota 0w-20).
I have a 2010 RAV4 4-cylinder and run Toyota 0w-20 and Toyota filter elements. The filter housing can be drained without taking the housing off the engine so draining all the oil is quite easy even when the filter element stays in position.
The take-away from this? Unless you have other reasons to change the oil filter (e.g. you might suspect a coolant leak into the oil) consider extending your oil filter change interval, your engine might thank you.
Ian