When should an oil filter be changed?

[ziggy]

I know, that your recommended to replace an oil filter, at every scheduled oil change. I do my own oil, at every 3 months or 3,000 miles (dino oil) whichever comes first. Frams extend guard, says its good for 7,000 miles. SO would that mean, in this filters case, or others, should i just change my oil, and use te same old filter, for the last duration? I was thinking, maybe oil fitler media acts the same way, like air filters do, the more debris that builds up, th cleaner the air/engine is. Would that also apply to oil filter media?

 

[TurboJim]

In theory yes. The risk is that if the media becomes too plugged up with contaminant that it is also more susceptible to going into by-pass.

 

[Gary Allan]

You can probably change it every other time without issues. I think any modern engine ..using any filter ..can go 10k-15k or one year. If you own a modern vehicle, and it's in reasonable tune, I can't see you loading a filter.

 

[tigrpal]

Does anybody else remember, a long time ago, that changing the filter every other OC was recommended? Some time ago, I started hearing change filter at every OC. I assumed they changed the recomendation to sell more filters.

 

[ziggy]

WEll, i guess what im curious to know is, would more contaminants be romved with a fresh new filter? or using the same filter for 2nd oil change, collect more contaminants? I was thinking an oil fitler would remove mroe contaminants, using it 2nd time with fresh oil, than on the first.

 

[SteveD2]

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...would more contaminants be romved with a fresh new filter? or using the same filter for 2nd oil change, collect more contaminants?

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If you are referring to particles, in theory, the more dirt a filter has trapped in the media, the more effective a filter it is (to a point)...that point is plugging.

The reasoning: The more dirt that is trapped in a filter, the "finer" the filtration becomes because the holes become partially plugged. I believe they term this capacity of a filter (the amount of dirt it can hold).

So in theory, a filter that is almost plugged is very effective at trapping particles...but obviously not a good filter.

steved

 

[MADMIKE]

The manual for my 1995 Maxima specifies "every other" oil filter chages, oil at 7,500 miles and filter at 15,000 miles. And that was back in '95!

 

[wavinwayne]

I think I may start using M1 filters again on my VW, but only change them every 15k miles. The ones that I have cut open after 5k miles looked barely used.

 

[ziggy]

Thats bascially what im geting at Wavinwayne. I hack my oil fitlers open at every oil change, 3 months or 3,000 miles. On ALL occossians, the filter media barely looked used at all, outside of the oil staining it. Overall, the filter media still looked fresh outta the box!

 

[SteveD2]

In theory, you should not see a lot of dirt...think about the oil system on a car...it is more/less a enclosed system that external contaminants can't really get into.

It simply recycles the same fluid, unlike an airfilter that is filtering new air/dirt all the time.

An oil filter should not plug (short of sludge buildup release from incompatable oils) for several oil changes...because there should not be gross wear particles floating around...

I would guess the dirtiest filter your car will ever see will be it's first one as the casting is flushed and all the "burrs" in the system are scoured off...

steved

 

[Gary Allan]

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Does anybody else remember, a long time ago, that changing the filter every other OC was recommended? Some time ago, I started hearing change filter at every OC. I assumed they changed the recomendation to sell more filters.

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The every other OCI filter change appeared, IIRC, when unleaded fuel became popular. I imagine that the retreat to every OCI is more a function of the extension of the OCI to 7500/6months ..something that may have gone unnoticed in the mix there. Now we're finding that it's not out of range.

 

[harry j]

I am going to change my oil filter every 4th oil change. I am presently on my third go round, no problems.

 

[Doc8404]

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I am going to change my oil filter every 4th oil change. I am presently on my third go round, no problems.

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what vehicle?
how many miles.
oil?

 

[harry j]

1993 Civic,
208,000 miles
0W-30 Amsoil

 

[MADMIKE]

How many miles in 4 oil changes and what brand filter?

 

[harry j]

MADMIKE,
I go 5,000 miles between changes, presently using the Amsoil Eao20 filter.

 

[Bill Kapaun]

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Quote:

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Does anybody else remember, a long time ago, that changing the filter every other OC was recommended? Some time ago, I started hearing change filter at every OC. I assumed they changed the recomendation to sell more filters.

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The every other OCI filter change appeared, IIRC, when unleaded fuel became popular. I imagine that the retreat to every OCI is more a function of the extension of the OCI to 7500/6months ..something that may have gone unnoticed in the mix there. Now we're finding that it's not out of range.

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I remember reading the owners manual for a 60 Rambler. OCI was 1000 miles with the filter changed every other time.
It was 1962? when auto makers went to a 2000? mile interval.

 

[Gary Allan]

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Does anybody else remember, a long time ago, that changing the filter every other OC was recommended? Some time ago, I started hearing change filter at every OC. I assumed they changed the recomendation to sell more filters.

---

The every other OCI filter change appeared, IIRC, when unleaded fuel became popular. I imagine that the retreat to every OCI is more a function of the extension of the OCI to 7500/6months ..something that may have gone unnoticed in the mix there. Now we're finding that it's not out of range.

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I remember reading the owners manual for a 60 Rambler. OCI was 1000 miles with the filter changed every other time.
It was 1962? when auto makers went to a 2000? mile interval.

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Quite possible. I imagine that the oil was wearing out before the filter back then too

 

[SteveD2]

Just to point this out, I go 10k on an OCI/filter change...I also run a bypass filter and my OE filter is a lot bigger than most small cars.

And further, my recommended factory OCI/filter change is 15k.

steved

 

[ziggy]

Well, whats the consensous then, replace oil fitler with new one at every oil change, or use same filter every other oil change?