Reusing filter ... Help

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Guys, I need your help on this one. I have a friend in Florida that reuses his oil filter for 2 or 3 OC's. He removes the filter and "cleans" it with kerosene and then re-installs it. He uses STD oil and a Walmart filter. He drives a Chrysler PT Cruiser and his driving is probably 75% in town. I have tried, until I'm blue in the face, to convince him that he should replace the filter at each OC. How can I convince him to change the filter at each OC?
 
He cleans it with kerosene?
crazy.gif
 
You can lead a horse to water...


That being said. He must think his $3000-$5000 engine is pretty cheap. A new filter is what $3-$4 ?

You've told him. I'd just keep my mouth shut and let him blow his engine.
 
Probably can't, some people just don't get it. I've never heard of cleaning a canister oil filter.

"Cleaning with kerosene"? Unless he's pushing fluid through the filter in reverse flow, he's not cleaning anything. Not to mention what reverse flow is doing to the filter media *(or the drainback valve). The only thing he's doing here is encouraging his filter to go into bypass, and adding a small amount of kerosene to each fresh oil fill.

Let me guess, he waits a long time between oil changes, too?
 
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Just tell hiim run a fram ultra or Bosch distance plus. Dont even pull it off, just refill and definitely dont use kerosene on it.

Im on my second run with a bosch distance plus. Its not unheard of with an extended drain filter with short ocis.

Perhaps he would be better off just using a good syn and extended drain filter for 8-10k that way he can get the most out of his oil and filter
 
Well, some makes (Honda, at least) actually recommend changing the oil filter every other time the oil is changed. But cleaning with kerosene... that is different.
 
Originally Posted By: SuperDave456
You can lead a horse to water...


That being said. He must think his $3000-$5000 engine is pretty cheap. A new filter is what $3-$4 ?

You've told him. I'd just keep my mouth shut and let him blow his engine.


+1 ... send him this thread. He sounds like a super penny pincher kind of guy. Why else would someone waste all that time and energy (and cost of kerosine) to go through the trouble of cleaning a used spin-on oil filter.
 
Using a filter for more than one OCI is one thing, but actually taking the time to remove it, 'clean' it, then reinstall it and not just using a new one at that point is dumb. The time and mess involved in doing so is not worth the $3 saved.

As someone else has said already, he could put a Distance Plus or a Fram Ultra on and not touch it for 2-3 OCIs.
 
Originally Posted By: SuperDave456
You can lead a horse to water...


That being said. He must think his $3000-$5000 engine is pretty cheap. A new filter is what $3-$4 ?

You've told him. I'd just keep my mouth shut and let him blow his engine.
"It's the STINGY man who pays the most". Ray, from CLick and Clack.
 
rightly or wrongly, we like to push ourselves (our opinions and ideas) onto others. can we, do we ever look at ourselves and see that we are doing just that?

Let him be, we can only help ourselves.
 
He probably spends more money on the cleaning solution than the price of a new oil filter.

Give the man $3, and tell him to stop being such a miser.
 
Originally Posted By: stro_cruiser

Let him be, we can only help ourselves.


+1

His method is ridiculous, but it's his car and his dumb process. Don't worry about it. Don't waste your time trying to convince him of anything.
 
I would be curious to know the age of the OP's friend in Florida. In my neighborhood, a few elders perform some bizarre rituals on their vehicles that date to pre-detergent oil days. In one case, any time the overnight temp is forecasted to drop below freezing, a neighbor spends a few minutes warming up his truck before going to bed.

I asked him how he knows when to shut it down. Of course, his answer was "When the temp gauge shows it's warm." When I pointed out that the coolant temp is not the same as the oil temp, he just shrugged. When I suggested that he check the oil fill cap, he had no explanation for all the "mayonnaise" under his valve cover.
 
Show him the Youtube videos on oil filters cut outs and comparisons. That really opened my eyes and who makes good filters and who makes [censored].
 
Welp, filters trap dirt so rinsing won't work. Not sure Kerosene is a good idea for a cheap cellulose paper media held together with glue. The residue running through the engine is less than desirable. No issues running multiple OCI's with an extended interval synthetic filter on a clean engine. Multiple as in a total of 10-15k on the filter.
 
If you really care, you could try cutting open one of the filters after he is done with his 2-3 oil change "flush-and-replace" ritual. My guess would be it will not be a pretty sight.

If it does look fine, then hey, the damage being done is probably minimal.

Either way, at the end of the day, I'm the timid type who would rather somebody blow up their motor and it not be my problem then try to tell them how to live.
 
Originally Posted By: hisilver
Let it blow up. Its a PT Cruiser.


lol.gif
... exactly.
 
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