Be a stand-up guy and change your filter

[TomYoung]

It pleases me that the folks out there advocating oil changes without changing the filter never really go away, but seldom convince many others to their way of thinking. I recognize that some of these folks are bouyed by supposed recommendations in some owners' manuals. Still others are making the case that filters are so good these days that they will simply go much farther than in the old days. There is a faction of people who will tie their habits to specific, long-lasting oils like HPL. There are some who are will advocate changing the filter at every 20 or 25,000 mile interval, but maybe changing the oil three, four or five times.

But I don't get it. You are already under the hood with wrenches. The price of the filter is really not that high. You may be arguing that you have cut the filter open and that it looks great. The fact is, you have no idea what you are not seeing in the filter, and a cut open filter will never tell you how long it operated in bypass.

Even if you are sure on the forgoing points, aesthetics alone would tell you that you are mixing old, dirty, depleted oil with new when keeping that old filter in place. I think most BITOGers see it this way.

 

[gman2304]

K……….

 

[JWC86]

Each to their own sir.

As someone that does an oil change every month or more I like using a high quality filter and leaving it for two OICs.

With the fumoto valve it means I can have a truly clean, not spill one drop of oil on me or the floor oil change every other time and that is something I appreciate! Haha

Like I said, to each their own. I truly try to live by this and not tell others how to live their lives, change your filter as often or as little as you like, I don’t care.

 

[TomYoung]

Each to their own sir.

As someone that does an oil change every month or more I like using a high quality filter and leaving it for two OICs.

With the fumoto valve it means I can have a truly clean, not spill one drop of oil on me or the floor oil change every other time and that is something I appreciate! Haha

Like I said, to each their own. I truly try to live by this and not tell others how to live their lives, change your filter as often or as little as you like, I don’t care.

I am not telling people how to live their lives, but at BITOG, I think we are all (almost all) searching for the sublime in automotive maintenance.

 

[HemiBenny]

I never understood the idea of not changing the oil filter at every OCI and I never will. There again, it’s not my money or my engine, so who am I to tell them they’re right or wrong?

 

[HemiBenny]

I am not telling people how to live their lives, but at BITOG, I think we are all (almost all) searching for the sublime in automotive maintenance.

“Sublime”, by definition, can mean many different things to many different people based on personal preference.
What one finds sublime, another may not.

Again, I agree,..just change that cheap oil filter at every OCI.

 

[DV0993]

I used to sit in the same camp as you. Where I live, filters can be expensive (especially mid to high tier quality) at circa $10-18 USD a pop.

On a vehicle that is tracked, I sometimes go 800 miles on an OCI, Depending on its use (usually 1000-2000 miles). After cutting open every filter, I came to realise replacing the filter at every oil change was a total waste. I now push it out to every 2nd or 3rd oil change.

Filters can go two 5000 mile OCIs on healthy engines with a good maintenance record.

 

[ZeeOSix]

To run an oil filter for X miles, or Y OCIs depends on a lot of factors. And most of the BITOG members who do it know those factors. What about Honda and a few other manufacturers who say change the oil filter every other OCI? Leaving a few ounces of "dirty" oil in an un-changed filter won't hurt anything.

 

[MrQuackers]

@dnewton3

 

[HemiBenny]

While the chances may be small, there may be a defect in that filter being used over several OCI’s that you can’t predict based on previous oil filter analysis. Defects can happen, filters are cheap.
I would rather change the oil filter at every OCI knowing that there’s no chance that I’ve ran a defective filter more than 5k, 6k, 7k,..or whatever your OCI is.

 

[ZeeOSix]

While the chances may be small, there may be a defect in that filter being used over several OCI’s that you can’t predict based on previous oil filter analysis. Defects can happen, filters are cheap.
I would rather change the oil filter at every OCI knowing that there’s no chance that I’ve ran a defective filter more than 5k, 6k, 7k,..or whatever your OCI is.

What if the new one you installed has a defect? Only X-ray vision could tell, lol.

Most people who use an oil filter for more than one OCI are doing short OCIs, and still keep the filter use within the filter's rated use mileage.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I used to be anal about filter changes, letting the pan drain for an hour (or even over night) at the perfect angle, etc.
Now I MityVac out the old stuff at 5K intervals and open the M1 jug. 15 to 20 minutes all in; no mess. Filters swap every 2nd or 3rd service.

 

[HemiBenny]

What if the new one you installed has a defect? Only X-ray vision could tell, lol.

Most people who use an oil filter for more than one OCI arecdoing short OCIs, and still keep the filter on within the filters rated use mileage.

I can’t tell if it has a defect because I don’t have X-ray vision.
That’s exactly what I’m saying, why not change the filter every time you feel inclined to change the oil? Why chance running a filter with a possible defect longer than needed given the price of an oil filter? If, by the odd chance I did get a defective filter, it wouldn’t be used any longer than the OCI.
If I feel that the oil needs changed, I feel the filter needs changed too. I would trust the integrity of the oil far more than I would the structural integrity of an oil filter. Who knows what’s happening inside that can or canister? Manufacturing defects happen.
People flush out $25-$40 worth of oil early, but they refuse to change a $6-$10 filter. (These particular numbers vary of course. )

 

[ZeeOSix]

I can’t tell if it has a defect because I don’t have X-ray vision.
That’s exactly what I’m saying, why not change the filter every time you feel inclined to change the oil? Why chance running a filter with a possible defect longer than needed given the price of an oil filter? If, by the odd chance I did get a defective filter, it wouldn’t be used any longer than the OCI.

You missed the point. If someone keeps an oil filter on for two 5K mile OCIs vs one 10K miles OCI, then the filter was ran the same number of miles. It doesn't care if the oil was changed at 5K miles or not. Nobody knows if a filter failed during use until it's done being used, so the argument that it should be changes every short OCI because it might have failed has no logic. The new filter could be defective too. And defective filters are pretty rare, and people on BITOG sho hang out in the oil filter forum typically don't use oil filters that have a lot of reported issues/failures here.

If I feel that the oil needs changed, I feel the filter needs changed too. I would trust the integrity of the oil far more than I would the structural integrity of an oil filter.

Depends on the filter. Use one that is know performance and qualify. Don't use off brand, clearance $1.98 filters from eBay or RockAuto, lol.

Who knows what’s happening inside that can or canister? Manufacturing defects happen.
People flush out $25-$40 worth of oil early, but they refuse to change a $6-$10 filter. (These particular numbers vary of course. )

Again, nobody has X-Ray vision to look inside the new filter going on, so every oil filter has the low risk of possibly being defective. All you can do is inspect what you can visually see on the outside - some quality defects may be found.

Running a filter for say 10K miles doesn't care if there are 2 or 3 OCIs over that 10K miles. Again, most here that run an oil filter for multiple OCIs don't use the filter any more miles than it would on a very long OCI. That's the key.

Based on your logic, the oil filter should be changed every 100 miles because the one on the engine might be defective.

 

[gman2304]

Shhhhhhh! My old Chevy 5.3 with 242,000 miles on the odometer, that has had its oil filter changed every other 5,000 mile OCI for at least a decade might hear this and explode…..! And those miles were put on her using plain old Valvoline HM 10w30.

 

[BigCahuna]

Years back before I retired, I ran mobil 1 10k rated oil in my Explorer. I ran the oil for 10k, but changed the filter at 5k. I did that until got rid of it due to the trans going out at 260k. The only repair to the engine I had to do was leaking valve covers. So between reading what other peoples experience's have been and what mine have been, unless you know for a fact you have existing engine problems, changing out filters every other change works perfectly fine. If you open up your old filter and find some specks or whiskers in there, that's fine. It means your filter is really doing something. Plus, if your the type of person who changes out cars every 3-5 years, you will never recoup the cost of premium priced filters and oil.,,

 

[UncleDave]

There is a difference between cheap insurance and assured waste. (pretty sure thats Dave Newtons quote0

Do you throw away other consumables 1/4 - 1/2 used?

In terms of already being under the car already - Im not. I use a topside oil changer so there is no getting under the car until its FCI time.

There is so much oil left in the elsewhere engine anyway the tiny amount in the filter doesn't amount to a hill of beans, a zillion UOA's bear this out.