Use the same Mobil 1 filter for 3 oil changes?

[VK56VD]

My g/f drives a 97 Saturn s2 that burns abou a quart of oil every 1k miles. We top off the oil frequently to keep it from being under filled. The vehicle has 148k on the odometer and we intend to keep this car until it dies. Recently it went through two auto-rx clean cycles which did nothing for the oil consumption issue. We than decided to use 10w-40 oil to keep consumption down. With cold winters approaching, we bought 24 qts. of Pennzoil 5w30 conventional Saturn recommended weight that was on sale recently.

So here is the dilemma. I've acquired several Mobil 1 Extended Performance M-102 oil filters that are intended to be used for 15k. This vehicle will get 3k oil changes. Will it be alright to keep the filter on for 3 consecutive oil changes since it will only equal roughly 9k on the filter itself? Fresh oil will be put in every 3k with the dismount of the oil filter. I will than pour out the old oil out of the filter, fill with new oil, and re-install.

I know that some argue that filters need to be replaced every oil change. Is this still the case with the Mobil 1 filter as it's made for 15k oci on the same oil? The Saturn will get new oil every 3k and the filter will only have 9k of service on it, no where reaching the end of its service life that is intended for 15k.

 

[Robert1955]

I say go for it. The filter is rated to 15k It does not care if the same 5qts of oil are running thru it or 1,500 qts once. 15k on the motor/filter is 15k.

 

[rshaw125]

Robert1955 summed it up well. Run it for 15k.

 

[VK56VD]

I feel this method is even better than keeping the oil for 15k as this method puts in new oil every 3k, flushing contaminints out of the engine. With 9k of service, this filter should not be over loaded.

 

[Shannow]

Run them.

back in 3,000 mile OCI, nearly every car manufacturer had filters every second OCI.

As the others have said, you've got a high mileage filter, get the best out of it !!

 

[Titan]

I run a WIX filter for 15,000 miles in my Subarus (7500 mile OCI's), and the insoluables always come back stellar. It will be fine...

 

[ted s]

WHY the need for the 3 k oci?

 

[VK56VD]

The Saturn is very picky when it comes to clean oil due to engine tolerances. This info is based off of posts on various Saturn forums. I also believe Saturn now recommends 3k oci to reduce consumption problems and keep this engine healthy even thought it consumes a lot of oil and gets toped off frequently.

Honestly this car may not need oil changes, just filter changes every 10k with a quality filter, as it consumes about 1qt. every 1k so new oil is added regularly. I however do not feel comfortable with not changing the oil as it may create more problems for this oil burner.

 

[Gary Allan]

Get a Motor Guard or Frantz. Best of both worlds. You get to do your 3k service ..and get to buy 1/4-1/5 the oil. If you think about it, changing oil more often to reduce oil consumption has to be a "make the customer feel better" type action ..assuming that no damage or accumulations are occurring when not doing it.

 

[Drew99GT]

With that much top off, you could go 5K with ease. Seriously, it's not gonna make a difference except you not having to crawl under the car so often! And I really wouldn't even worry about taking the filter off to drain it. Just leave it be. There's still roughly a quart of dirty oil sitting in the oil galleys and on top of the cylinder head when you do an oil change.

 

[SHOZ]

When I did my ARX treatments on my oil burning SHO it took several thousand miles to show the true results. After about 15k it had almost completely stopped burning oil.

 

[mechtech2]

With all that fresh oil, your filter will have a good chance of being just fine at 15K, but that is about as long as I'd go.
Saturn engines are always wearing out more and faster than any other modern engine. Maybe it's the owners, or design.

 

[harry j]

I change my Eao every 3rd oil change, I don't see why the Mobil 1 filter wouldn't go as long.

 

[Donald]

A Super Tech filter is less than $3.00. Why even consider using a filter longer than spec'ed.

 

[VK56VD]

I'll probably go ahead and exchange the Mobil 1 filters for advance auto parts filters and change them every time the oil gets changed.

 

[Curious Kid]

perhaps as miles increase on the oil in this car it consumes oil at increasing rates, hence the 3k????

 

[VK56VD]

Perhaps...for the last 8 months we have been using 10w-40. But with winter here Pennzoil 5w30 conventional is in. The car starts a lot easier with it too! I will have to top off more frequently though.

 

[PT1]

I would go the 15k with it.

 

[Anduril]

I recommend soaking the pistons with Seafoam or Marvel Mystery Oil or similar for the oil burning problem. This would allow it to have direct contact with the rings, where it might do more good than ARX simply coursing through the engine with the rest of the oil. I also recall reading somewhere about adding a "catch can" to your PCV system; I believe it helped the oil burning as well.

 

[VK56VD]

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ADVICE