Used too large an oversize filter- bad idea!

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I run a longer filter on my Tacoma, but it's mounted to the side of the block and in a really hard to get to spot. If something manages to hit it, the whole truck is probably in trouble by then! Luckily your outcome wasn't catastrophic.
 
For this very reason, I usually advise people against using a taller filter when the oil filter is mounted at the bottom like that. The only exception is when the original filter is extremely tiny, and the upsize filter is a reasonable size but not too big.

As an example, it is usually safe to go from a tiny 6607/51358/14612 to the taller 7317/57356/14610

I'm lucky enough to have my oil filter mounted sideways
 
Some vehicles have a light that comes on when the oil gets a quart low. I had a friend who owned a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee that high miles on it and the light would come on and warn you it was time to add a quart. It had the small V-8 engine I think it was a 318 CI.
 
The only problem I see here is the OP did not observe the one rule of using an oversize (yet compatible) filter.

If the very long filter was not exposed to impact it seems to have been working fine.
 
Originally Posted by CR94
Originally Posted by dlundblad
You definitely don't want an oil filter to be the lowest object on a car. Ouch.
True, but any design that requires a stubby filter to avoid that issue is a bad design!


Not sure I'd go that far. Ultimately, most engines are using a filter based on available space.
 
If you are going to use a smaller filter, why not give Royal Purple or Amsoil a try?

They both are very efficient at removing small particles and offer better oil flow

compared to celulose mediered filters.
 
This example is the same reason I don't run a bigger filter on my daughter's 2012 2.5L Fusion. It takes the FL910. It's easy to get an FL400 on there, but it hangs down past the protective structure. I had, for a while, a 2010 Fusion with the same engine. I decided long ago that "bigger ain't better" in this case. The UOAs on my old 2010 were stellar; it's not like the little FL910 was failing at it's job.

Upsizing a filter may or may not be a good idea, but there is a generality that I think is true ...
OEM filter sizing is good enough; I've not seen one example yet that an OEM sized filter went into some perpetual bypass due to being "small".
 
Use oversize filters on all 3 of my vehicles, 83 Silverado, 2008 Malibu LTZ and 2017 Regal GS with no problems, like the idea of more filter surface area and added oil.
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Originally Posted by dnewton3
This example is the same reason I don't run a bigger filter on my daughter's 2012 2.5L Fusion. It takes the FL910. It's easy to get an FL400 on there, but it hangs down past the protective structure. I had, for a while, a 2010 Fusion with the same engine. I decided long ago that "bigger ain't better" in this case. The UOAs on my old 2010 were stellar; it's not like the little FL910 was failing at it's job.


I dunno. I've used lots of FL400s filters on my 2010 Fusion with the 2.5, and I don't recall them sticking out past the plastic bottom cover. They do come about even with it, but that's about it.. and honestly, the cross member in front of the engine sits lower than the filter, and is in front of it, so it kind of shields it.

Having said that, I have also run FL910 filters on the same engine, and they seem to hold up fine upon inspection..
 
Originally Posted by Malo83
Use oversize filters on all 3 of my vehicles, 83 Silverado, 2008 Malibu LTZ and 2017 Regal GS with no problems, like the idea of more filter surface area and added oil.
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What he said.
 
Bigger is not better if a hole gets punched in it from a stone, curb or whatever.
I use a longer filter like a Fram 7317 in Nissans instead of the puny stocker.
But not on the newer Sentras because it will extend to far.

One curb damage and there goes that 4 banger.
 
I didn't consider it necessarily for filtration but for the added half quart oil capacity. More oil= more cooling, more dirt holding capacity. In my application (Ford FL-1A used in a zillion old fords) even twice the length wont extend down anywhere near below the oil pain. I have to reach way up to get the stock size filter).
 
Originally Posted by DoubleWasp
Not sure I'd go that far. Ultimately, most engines are using a filter based on available space.

My Infiniti uses a 6607-size filter although I use a 7317 on it. It has room for a much larger filter too but I think Nissan/Infiniti tries to standardize on 2 filters for their entire range. Trucks, SUVs and minivans with the same 3.5L engine use the larger filter too. I think the reason the G35 specs the smaller filter is the non-AWD models have the filter oriented different with less room and they don't want 2 different filters spec'd for the same car. Makes sense...
 
Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2

When installed on the car, the filter came down too far (it's mounted straight down) to be protected by the various plastic shrouds / subframe on all sides, but after inspecting it closely, I decided it would take a very (un)lucky strike from road debris at just the right angle and placement to hit the filter in some way. I've only had the filter on for a week, and boy was I mistaken! It wasn't even my wife driving (who finds a way to hit undercar obstacles like tall curbs routinely, usuallly just under the bumper scrapes and such) but me simply pulling into a parking space at the dollar store! While inching up to the curb, I felt an awful-sounding metallic scrape and sure as [censored], the angle on the cement curb hit the filter just right so as to crush the very edge of it. The filter didn't leak and all was well after replacing it-- using the stock PH16 from now on, and not even taking a chance in the future! In retrospect it was a foolish idea, as the PH16 is sufficiently large to begin with for an engine of the size, and using a $2 filter up is not worth a potential catastrophe.


Got any pics of the damaged filter?
 
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Got any pics of the damaged filter?


Nope, I tossed it already. It looked as one would imagine a filter would if you threw one at a concrete wall and it impacted at the top corner. Crushed in a fair bit (1/2" or so) but not enough force to compromise the integrity of the filter or break the metal can. It was enough of a scrape that I both heard and felt it in the car; an experience I don't care to repeat!
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
My Infiniti uses a 6607-size filter although I use a 7317 on it. It has room for a much larger filter too but I think Nissan/Infiniti tries to standardize on 2 filters for their entire range.

Mine, too, has plenty of room and certainly no concern about the filter being exposed. I often oversize, since for the brands I use, the oversize is often cheaper, and I do prefer the Wix 57356 construction over that of the specified 51358. Of course, for me, even the superseded Wix filters haven't given me grief, either.
 
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