Oil filter crazy

D

Durdude

Joined
Aug 13, 2022
Messages
11
Okay. So I've gone crazy reading about oil filters. My conclusion is that as long as I have a filter on my car im doing good. LoL.

In all seiousness Im running synthetic oil for 7500 mi. OCI. My conclusion for the best filters is the fram line....with the Ultra as best and the extra guard as a few dollar saver. Also the regular wix filter instead of the XP because the regular wix is more efficient at the 20 (23) micrometer filtering or whatever it is called. The fram Extra guard says good upto 10k miles with a 95% efficiency at 20 mic. I thought that was pretty good for the orange can. Based on that im just guessing that the standard wix can handle 7500 mile OCI? Thoughts?

Anyways. Ill probably just stick with the fram ultra and still change it at every OCI even though I read about people running 2 OCI intervals.

Am I crazy or on the right track to go 500k miles on my engines?
 
You're on the right website with the thought processes you have. However, 500,000 is a pipe dream that can be achieved by a very few. Other things happen. The car rust away, the seats wear out, accidents happen, natural events like floods and tornados take out cars.

So with a lot of luck and proper maintenance... sure it is possible.

The engineering design of the vehicle plays a huge part. I had cars that no matter how well they were maintained, long term was not going to happen. Ex. 2002 VW Passat. First 5 years was ruff (mostly under warranty), another 5 wasn't going to happen, (out of warranty.)
 
As someone with a car and a truck well over 300k at the moment, in my experience filter and oil choice can enhance your potential life of the engine, but remember that regular changes, manufacturer/brand of vehicle and general maintenance take an equal impact on your results.

So following a good preventive maintenance schedule, using a garage for storage, etc are just as important.
Some brands and engines simply aren't going to go the distance, even if you use a quality oil and filter and change it every 2k miles.

My 2007 Tundra 4.7 is at 305,000 miles and all I did was use whatever synthetic I could buy cheapest (Mobil synthetic, Kirkland Signature, QS synthetic) and whatever filter was on sale (Bosch, Purolater, Supertech, though factory Toyota the last few years, as they are only $4) and change it every 6k to 8k miles. It doesn't consume any oil between changes and runs great as a daily doing 110 miles a day.

But all other maintenance is performed by the Toyota dealer and I exceed all fluid change recommendations and have the trans, diff, transfer case, coolant, brake and power steering changed every 90k with the timing belt.
 
Durdude said:
Okay. So I've gone crazy reading about oil filters. My conclusion is that as long as I have a filter on my car im doing good. LoL.

In all seiousness Im running synthetic oil for 7500 mi. OCI. My conclusion for the best filters is the fram line....with the Ultra as best and the extra guard as a few dollar saver. Also the regular wix filter instead of the XP because the regular wix is more efficient at the 20 (23) micrometer filtering or whatever it is called. The fram Extra guard says good upto 10k miles with a 95% efficiency at 20 mic. I thought that was pretty good for the orange can. Based on that im just guessing that the standard wix can handle 7500 mile OCI? Thoughts?

Anyways. Ill probably just stick with the fram ultra and still change it at every OCI even though I read about people running 2 OCI intervals.

Am I crazy or on the right track to go 500k miles on my engines?
Click to expand...
Years makes models engines current mileage and previous maintenance history driving habits and miles per year per vehicle

Otherwise, conclusions and hopium don't mean a thing
 
I was using Motorcraft filters for a long time and decided to spend a few bucks extra and now use the fram ultra. And synthetic oil in my van, Supertech is what I have been using. I mostly drive short trips and change my oil more often.
 
Yeah... I understand there are alot of factors with car life. I was somewhat joking about the 500k mile mark. I do drive a 2000 Toyota Camry though with 185k on it. I was more curious on peoples take on my oil filter choices.
 
I like the Fram Ultra Synthetic, it’s good for up to 20,000 miles. My car takes a cartridge style filter and the Ultra Synthetic just has a nice quality construction to it, plus the price is reasonable (think I paid $10 bucks for mine). In cartridge style filters in that price range, usually you don’t get metal or plastic end caps, they’re usually cardboard or particle board. The Fram has nice plastic end caps, a metal creased crimp in the synthetic filer media, and a metal mesh backing. When I buy OE filters I don’t get any of that...they may be just fine, and I’m sure they are, but for a couple bucks more I’ll go with the one is rated for 20,000 (as I’m now doing 10,000 manufacturer recommended intervals, opposed to the 5,000 I was doing before).
 
Durdude said:
Yeah... I understand there are alot of factors with car life. I was somewhat joking about the 500k mile mark. I do drive a 2000 Toyota Camry though with 185k on it. I was more curious on peoples take on my oil filter choices.
Click to expand...
I go for filters rated at 95% @ 20u or better. Many filters can meet that level of efficiency. The longer you run the OCI, the more important filter efficiency becomes to keep the oil particle count in check. Engine wear from dirty oil is proportional to the oil contamination level times the number of times the sump is circulated through the engine (ie, the OCI). Cleaner oil always causes less wear between moving parts on any lubricated machine.
 
ZeeOSix said:
I go for filters rated at 95% @ 20u or better. Many filters can meet that level of efficiency. The longer you run the OCI, the more important filter efficiency becomes to keep the oil particle count in check. Engine wear from dirty oil is proportional to the oil contamination level times the number of times the sump is circulated through the engine (ie, the OCI). Cleaner oil always causes less wear between moving parts on any lubricated machine.
Click to expand...
It's a choice and balancing act... you can pick an oil that may last 20k but bc of your filter choice requires a new filter at 5k and a top up; you may also choose a filter that can go 20k+ but with an oil that can only survive 5k in your engine and driving habits. The Holy Grail is finding the oil and filter that can cover your situation's max OCI and FCI and making those lines intersect; making your protection maxed out while maintaining the longest times between service intervals. This is the way to make your cost per mile the absolute lowest while properly maintaining your vehicle.

As of today, with my limited knowledge, seems like most of my "sweet spots" would require HPL oils, Fram XG filters, and a 15-20k service interval. But that's just my vehicles & driving habits; YMMV along with your gut/wallet checks.
 
Yeah 500k miles is very rare, many factors you realistically can't control, The best I ever got was an 01 Silverado. I did some block work for a local tire shop, and the owner had it for sale, I agreed to take it as partial payment. Had 124k-ish miles, I drove it to 380k when the transmission went out, had it rebuilt, and the truck went up to 410k when the head gasket went out.

I drove that truck all over the country while working as a Millwright, it took may anywhere I wanted to go with absolutely no issue at all, never left me stranded never broke down, this was the main reason for having the transmission rebuilt at 380k miles, it was a very reliable truck, and still cost less than it would to replace the truck. The only downside to the truck was it ate distributors yearly, it would become hard to start after awhile, which I was well normalized to, I would replace the distributor and it was good for another year.

I drove that truck with nothing but the cheapest of oils, and filters, changed at 5k.
 
kschachn said:
What didn’t you learn from reading that’s a new question?
Click to expand...
I learned that some filters like the wix Xp filter at 35 microns while the Ultra from Fram filters at 20. In reality as long as you change your oil and filter regularly you should be good to go. I am curious if the standard wix filter is good for 7500 mile oci. Thats my assumption but I dont want to be wrong. My only concern with the fram ultra is quality of manufacturing. I recently bought a fram air filter and the rubber seal was not manufactured well. It had a whole bunch of extra "squeeze" material from the mold that I was afraid would flake off and go into the intake. Just a over all question of quality control.
 
Nothing wrong with the manufacturing quality of the Ultra. Someone will come on here and say "the threads were dirty", but I've found "dirty threads" on about every brand of oil filter I've every used. Solution: clean the threads before using it.
 
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