Thoughts on only changing oil filter every other oil change

[Glenda W.]

And how is that determined (being defective)? And how many times has that happened?
Wavy pleats do not mean a defective filter.

I could care less about wavy pleats….Torn media, leaking leaf springs, excess glue breaking apart, cut ADBV’s etc. It happens more than I’d like to admit. In my fleet alone probably a dozen times over the last couple of years. I’ve weeded out most of the repeat offenders. There’s a reason I cut open every filter I use. This doesn’t include the problems like closed louvers or badly cut threads I find on pre inspection

 

[mitsuman47]

Some cars are such a huge pain or huge mess to change the filter that it can be nice to have to skip that task every other change. When I was doing 2x OCIs with my last Civic I would usually have it so that I would time it so that I wasn’t changing the filter during a mid winter oil change when I just wanted to get out of the cold quicker. I had an oil change last week on my Civic when it was super cold and I had to lay down in a little bit of snow and I would have loved to have kept the filter on there but it was my first run with VRP (which was another reason why I got stuck changing the oil mid winter instead of being able to wait until March)

Let me guess…At least one of these Civics was a 7th gen? I had one, and cursed the Honda engineers every time I had to change that filter. Created some new four letter words for those guys.

I did 2-3 OCI’s for each filter for the life of the car which was 390k miles.

 

[Patman]

Let me guess…At least one of these Civics was a 7th gen? I had one, and cursed the Honda engineers every time I had to change that filter. Created some new four letter words for those guys.

I did 2-3 OCI’s for each filter for the life of the car which was 390k miles.

My first Civic was a 7th gen (a 2000 sedan that I bought new), my second was an 8th gen (2006 Coupe) and now I have a 10th gen (2016 Coupe)

 

[tnt_motorsports]

I've always changed the filter every time. Currently, I go until the EVIC says oil changed required on my vehicles.

My rationale for changing the filter every time is I don't take a shower and put the same clothes back on.

Just my $0.02

 

[Patman]

I've always changed the filter every time. Currently, I go until the EVIC says oil changed required on my vehicles.

My rationale for changing the filter every time is I don't take a shower and put the same clothes back on.

Just my $0.02

That’s a different scenario though. When you change your oil you never get 100% of the old oil anyway. Many engines leave behind a full quart. So it really doesn’t matter that much if you’re leaving behind another 300-400ml.

 

[Sayjac]

A link to a link with all kinds of links on the subject ,,,

Yeah, I'm pretty sure somewhere in one, likely more of those links I've given my thoughts on the topic. In my observation, one of the more discussed topics here. Wanted to give credit to the OG "bitog links guy."

 

[oil pan 4]

Just thinking out loud. As a retired engineer, if an auto manufacturer has a recommended OC every 10-11 k miles, what's the wrong with changing the oil every 4-5k miles but continue using the filter until the next change? That's well within a "single" OC interval, and assuming you remove the old oil in the filter at the OC.

That's what I'm doing.
I've cut open a lot of oil filters on gasoline engines ran for less than 4,000 miles and they still look new, just a little bit dirty.

 

[zzyzzx]

The oil filter on my vehicle (GM 3400 engine) is already pretty small, so I would never do this in this particular vehicle.

 

[RooflessVW]

That’s a different scenario though. When you change your oil you never get 100% of the old oil anyway. Many engines leave behind a full quart. So it really doesn’t matter that much if you’re leaving behind another 300-400ml.

You can only change half the oil in the newest GT3...

 

[Patman]

You can only change half the oil in the newest GT3...

I didn’t even know that, a friend of mine has a 2022 GT3 touring and I believe he’s been getting the oil changed at the dealer every 8 to 10,000 km. He’s already got 90,000 km on it!

 

[Jerrysends]

It's a PITA to remove the oil filter on my wife's truck. I change the filter every other OCI. at 15K miles

 

[BHopkins]

I've always changed the filter every time. Currently, I go until the EVIC says oil changed required on my vehicles.

My rationale for changing the filter every time is I don't take a shower and put the same clothes back on.

Just my $0.02

That’s a different scenario though. When you change your oil you never get 100% of the old oil anyway. Many engines leave behind a full quart. So it really doesn’t matter that much if you’re leaving behind another 300-400ml.

What Patman says is absolute truth!

Every factory service manual I have read, shows two oil capacity numbers - one for the amount of oil required at an oil change, and the other for the total oil capacity, if the engine was to be totally torn down and reassembled. the 5.5 liter engine that was in my '07 SL550 held an additional 1.2 quart of oil, more than what could be drained at an oil and filter change.

 

[JeffChaseFan]

This is totally fine, especially if you are doing short OCIs (5K) to combat fuel dilution or just want to be on the safe side.
You can never remove all oil during oil change anyway, so changing another couple oz will make no difference.
As far as filters, you can examine them, the engines run clean nowadays, and filters look good at 10K marks or more.'

This is not about saving money for me, more about saving time.
I change oil every 4K miles, and change filter every other time. Its a lot faster and less mess if you skip oil filter.

That’s what I do. Pennzoil Euro 5w30 and Fram ultra synthetic. I change between 4 and 4500k miles. 2024 Nissan Sentra.

 

[RooflessVW]

It's a PITA to remove the oil filter on my wife's truck. I change the filter every other OCI. at 15K miles

Engine capacity is 8L, oil change w/ filter is 4.1L and you're supposed to measure the quantity removed and replace with the same amount, per the service manual.

 

[Jerrysends]

Engine capacity is 8L, oil change w/ filter is 4.1L and you're supposed to measure the quantity removed and replace with the same amount, per the service manual.

It's a 6 qt capacity GMC Sierra 4.3l. Without filter change, more than 5.5 quarts drain.

 

[ATex7239]

Usually if I’m changing the oil then I’m also changing the filter. $5 and 2 mins isn’t a big deal so why not. But I’ve skipped the filter change on the Hyundai before so there’s that.

There are some compelling arguments to skipping filter changes. Could be to reduce waste or maybe lower operating costs or if the filter is located in a bad spot.

 

[RooflessVW]

It's a 6 qt capacity GMC Sierra 4.3l. Without filter change, more than 5.5 quarts drain.

I quoted the wrong person. Meat to quote @Patman

 

[Corollaman]

The oil filter on my vehicle (GM 3400 engine) is already pretty small, so I would never do this in this particular vehicle.

I would think a vehicle with a smaller oil filter would be fine running multiple oil change intervals, most people are hung up on all of the old oil left in the oil filter so there is less "dirty oil". Small oil filters hold less oil. On a modern vehicle that has been maintened even a small modern oil filter can hold a lot of contaminants.

 

[Cripes]

Answer to a question that doesn’t make sense if you are already changing the oil and under the car.

I would say that depends on the vehicle, but mostly, I agree.

In my case, I use an oil extractor and pull the oil up from the dipstick. Same for ATF changes.

 

[RAVL]

Why? If the filter is perfectly serviceable for two OCIs??? Your motor will not build up sludge or blow up with this practice.

Because you are likely over complicating things. It’s more of a practice than a mechanical rule. If the manufacturer says, for example, that a 7500 mile oil and filter change is the interval, but you change it twice as often and you meet the specified service conditions (eg, normal v severe) , you are wasting money, time, and resources. If the manufacturer says change the oil and filter more often, say 5k, then for most cars that means oil and filter together unless there was is a contrary instruction in the manual. If the manual says change filter every other oil change, that is fine too - the filter is likely over size for this reason. But doing it on your own? No point.

Again, is any of this huge issue? Not at all. It’s like using 5w30 instead of 5w20 or 0w20. But over complicating things, taking more actions than is necessary, is often a cause of errors or other problems, and at the very least wastes time. And if the car is under warranty you are only introducing potential risk if you are outside the recommendations and there is a warranty claim. Again you will have people here and chime in and claim it never happens but it does. This is why I don’t see a reason for this. I don’t think it is a huge deal either but it is classic overthink and it causes problems typically.

Have a good day.