I Don't Change My Oil - Test Results

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: jsinton
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
You still have the used filter partially filled with oil plus the paper cup with used oil to dispose of even more frequently.
And how are you doing that? From the sound of things they are not being returned to the appropriate place that one returns used oil for recycling?

If you just want to avoid jacking up the car you can pump the oil out of the the dipstick tube into a used oil jug and leave the oil filter on for a couple of oil changes. That would seem to be a more efficient approach if you value your time.



You make assumptions. I store used oil in any spare water bottle on the road to recycle later, or dump it in my waste oil container at home. And it stays clean because I change the filter, not because I add oil so much. Besides, sucking out oil from the tube doesn't sound so easy or convenient to me.


A filter doesn't filter out visible particulate. The filters on diesel engines (think bypass filtration or centrifuges) are far more efficient than your typical automotive filter and that oil still gets jet black in short order.

Your oil is staying visibly clean because, as CATERHAM noted, you are replacing some of it every time you swap the filter.

 

[jsinton]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: jsinton
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
You still have the used filter partially filled with oil plus the paper cup with used oil to dispose of even more frequently.
And how are you doing that? From the sound of things they are not being returned to the appropriate place that one returns used oil for recycling?

If you just want to avoid jacking up the car you can pump the oil out of the the dipstick tube into a used oil jug and leave the oil filter on for a couple of oil changes. That would seem to be a more efficient approach if you value your time.





You make assumptions. I store used oil in any spare water bottle on the road to recycle later, or dump it in my waste oil container at home. And it stays clean because I change the filter, not because I add oil so much. Besides, sucking out oil from the tube doesn't sound so easy or convenient to me.


A filter doesn't filter out visible particulate. The filters on diesel engines (think bypass filtration or centrifuges) are far more efficient than your typical automotive filter and that oil still gets jet black in short order.

Your oil is staying visibly clean because, as CATERHAM noted, you are replacing some of it every time you swap the filter.


No, I'm pretty sure that's not true because it takes few hundred miles or so for the oil to really get clean. Perhaps the new TBNs help, but for sure the performance of a filter is liner just like a vacuum cleaner or a fish tank filter, and does not improve over time.

 

[Stang40]

I've been contemplating this for a while as well, and I think my little truck would be a prime candidate... It goes through 1qt every 500 miles and only has a 3.5 qt sump.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I had a friend that did this for about 40000 miles on a Hyundai Santa Fe ... well, except for the routinely changing the oil filter. I snuck a few oil filters on it, though.

He would run it until the "change oil" light came on (the oil pressure light), then dump in whatever said "oil"

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: jsinton
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: jsinton
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
You still have the used filter partially filled with oil plus the paper cup with used oil to dispose of even more frequently.
And how are you doing that? From the sound of things they are not being returned to the appropriate place that one returns used oil for recycling?

If you just want to avoid jacking up the car you can pump the oil out of the the dipstick tube into a used oil jug and leave the oil filter on for a couple of oil changes. That would seem to be a more efficient approach if you value your time.





You make assumptions. I store used oil in any spare water bottle on the road to recycle later, or dump it in my waste oil container at home. And it stays clean because I change the filter, not because I add oil so much. Besides, sucking out oil from the tube doesn't sound so easy or convenient to me.


A filter doesn't filter out visible particulate. The filters on diesel engines (think bypass filtration or centrifuges) are far more efficient than your typical automotive filter and that oil still gets jet black in short order.

Your oil is staying visibly clean because, as CATERHAM noted, you are replacing some of it every time you swap the filter.


No, I'm pretty sure that's not true because it takes few hundred miles or so for the oil to really get clean. Perhaps the new TBNs help, but for sure the performance of a filter is liner just like a vacuum cleaner or a fish tank filter, and does not improve over time.


1. Depth filtration is an interesting topic. Here's a link to an article that covers it while discussing beta ratios: http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/564/filter-beta-ratios

2. TBN (total base number) is the oil's ability to neutralize acids and has nothing to do with the colour. A lubricant will discolour due to oxidation, particulate....etc. It isn't even necessarily an indication that the oil is actually "dirty". An old test to check for how "dirty" the oil was is the blotter test, FWIW.