oil filter every other change?

[rocketman]

I mentioned this in another post but had no replies. I change the oil oil filter in my wife's car, a 1997 Lumina every 3 months. It is not driven very much. It's lucky to get 1800 miles in those 3 months. Mostly city, the odd highway run. Here's my question. Since the oil filter is a ROYAL pain to get to & get off for the average do-it-yourselfer(me), can I get away with changing the the oil every 3 months but doing the filter every 6? Any other recommended OCI's? There were some recommended OCI's in my last post, just wondering if there's anyone else out there.

 

[Gary Allan]

You wouldn't consider putting on a bypass filter, would you? That would pretty much make the ff kinda redundant and probably not need changing for a very long time.

You're a prime candidate.


Other than that ...I wouldn't have a problem with every other OCI for the filter. Your main problems would probably be fuel dilution and moisture ..which you're purging every 2k/3m.

 

[pitzel]

Oil filter change interval on those cars is 15k miles is it not?

Why not just stick with what's in the manual? 7.5k mile oil changes with an oil such as Mobil Clean 5000, and a filter change every other oil change. So essentially a once-a-year oil change.

As used oil analysis have shown for the 3100/3400 engines, if you can keep the coolant out of the oil, the oil will pretty much last forever.

 

[pbm]

I think you'd be fine changing it every other oil change with the mileage you mentioned. I'd probably extend the oil change to at least 4 months (which would be only about 2400 mi according to your estimates). Pitzel is right to watch for coolant in your oil which is a problem with the GM 3.1 and 3.4's.

 

[T-Keith]

What engine does it have? I don't know of any filter on a Lumina that's hard to get to.

-T

 

[Steve S]

You may be changing the oil too often, a full flow filter is not redundant . If you understand how an engine oils you will see that a bypass filter is a secondary filter . A full flow is necessary, if the engine gets up to operating temps more often than not go for longer oil change intervals.

 

[Bagger_Matt]

Yes, your idea will work fine. I would fell safe doing that to my cars.

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

Seems to me that you could go 1 year no prob on OCI. thats only 8k per year based on your figures. Go with Amsoil, Redline or Mobil 1 and a high quality filter. Maybe a little Lube Control to help with the thickening due to shorter trips etc. I currently go 10k on RL and it take roughly 8 months. used oil analysis come back looking fine. Give Terry Dyson a shot and he'll have you out from under that car in no time. He is a stand up guy and goes into a lot more detail than you see in the average post around here. And no I'm not on his payroll. i just think it's always best to use a professional, and that he is...

 

[Mike_dup1]

You are wasting your money changing oil that often. You could easily go 6 months or 7500 miles with a good synthetic blend. I am going 1/yr on our 1993 Lumina V6 with Amsoil XL7500 10w30 and no problems at 65,500 miles. Only gets driven about 3000 a year (grocery getter) now, almost 30,000 miles were put on it the 1st 2 yrs of ownership, late 92-94ish.

Use a good oil filter, one that is designed for longer intervals, like the Asmoil SDF filters or Mobil 1 etc. Stay away from the cheaper brands you find in the Walmarts and other discount stores. They are designed to get you to buy them on pric. They assume you will be replacing them every 3000 miles, so thats all they design them for. You need a filter that not only can filter out fine contaminates, but one that is quality built to hold up to the heat and designed to last for more miles than 3,000.

I am talking from 40 years of experience, not from sitting at a comtuter in a college dorm.

[ February 23, 2005, 10:55 AM: Message edited by: Mike ]