Shorter Oil Filter

[sir1900]

Picked up some Microgard filters at O'Reilly's during a recent visit to the US.

I noticed the Microgards, manufactured by Purolator, are about an inch shorter than the regular-labelled Purolators (PL14610).

Is there anything that should be of concern if I am planning on 5-7k OCIs and using the Microgards?

 

[Fazzone]

IMHO, I'd say you have nothing to worry about. The filter for my 6.0 is barely any larger than the one that goes on my sisters Civic. I think it's what's inside the filter that counts. Just my 2 cents!

 

[labman]

The outside of a filter and how much media it has inside can be quite different. I think the 10193 I ran recently was as big as the Purolator on the outside, but had less media. And the Purolator had less than they used to. I can hardly wait to see how much the STP 3950 I am running now has.

Of course, as I keep saying, the quality of the media is a great unknown. It is quite possible for less media to do a better job.

 

[tomcat27]

I noticed the same thing on Quaker State filters in the 14610 size (actually labelled as a QS16 - but made by Puro). Super Techs (champion e-cores) in that size are also shorter. dont know whats up.

 

[labman]

I have been chopping oil filters open for 10 years or so. There is a steady down trend in size both inside and outside. The Ecore has a radical new construction and may allow the same media in a smaller space. You can always pack in more pleats.

I have been ragging on Purolator pretty hard for their reduced media, but may find the STP on my truck now no better.

The newer numbers are smaller too. The PF 9 my truck called for 30 years ago was huge. The PF 52 wasn't as fat, and the PF 47 is shorter than it is. Maybe we don't need tons of media.

 

[Spector]

Maybe the manufacturers of the vehicles are slowly telling us we do not need oil filters any more!

 

[defektes]

Originally Posted By: Spector
Maybe the manufacturers of the vehicles are slowly telling us we do not need oil filters any more!


I think this is the case, OIL is not really as dirty out of the bottle as it used to be.

I think the real purpose of a oil filter is to catch the bigger things that may cause actual engine damage; While also picking up contaminants and microscopic particles along the way.

Does a bigger filter benefit the longer OCI past 5k: Defenentaly.
Does a smaller filter affect 5k oci's and risk damaging your engine? IMO I do not think so. Personally I prefer a larger filter vs the smaller ones, but I will use a small filter if it's what I have on hand at the time and I won't even look back.

Look at this: My shop had a 2000 astro van with the Vortec 4.3l that was the same as my truck. This van made it to 225K miles before the tranny blew. The van had a filter that was HALF the size of my Sierra with virtually the same 4.3l vortec. The engine had no oil related issues and it had a very small filter. Almost the same size filter my old 2.0L pontiac sunbird had. This van was abused, used for towing, driven like a race car and not one failure.

So basically IMO if you can use a bigger filter, by all means go for it! But don't worry if you get a small one. It won't make much difference for the regular 5k oil changer like me.