What is the oil and full flow oil filter change intervals with Frantz filter?

[sifan]

After successfully installing the Frantz oil filter I have few newbie questions:

1. What will be the TP change interval?
2. What will be the full flow oil filter change interval?
3. What will be the oil change interval given M1 5W30 is used?

Thanks,

Simon

 

[fasty]

1. What will be the TP change interval?

3000 miles

2. What will be the full flow oil filter change interval?

12,500 miles

3. What will be the oil change interval given M1 5W30 is used?

25,000 miles then full oil change.


I have MotorGuard and Trasko. Both are running TP.

 

[sifan]

Here are the answers I got from Frantz:

1. 4000~5000 miles with Synthetic oil and a 4- cylinder engine

2. Twice for every cold year, once for every two warm years. I was suggested to replace the FF filter once a year since I live in Maryland.

3 No need to change oil since a qt. of fresh oil is introduced every TP change. With 18K miles of driving per year I was suggested to change oil once a year if I want to.

I understand the answers for question 1 and 2 vary by the driving condition. However, for question 3, is there really the need to change oil. The impression I got from reading many benefits of bypass filter is that there was no need to change oil at all with regular TP replacement and addition of fresh oil. Why do I see so many threads on this forum that TP bypass filter owners still change oil???

For those expensive spin on bypass filters whose manufacturers claim extremely long OCI without introduction of new oil, I can see the need for annual oil change.

 

[mjo]

>Why do I see so many threads on this forum that ?>TP bypass filter owners still change oil???

Because most but not all contaminants are removed using bypass filtration. Similar to how additives can not be filtered using TP, engine wear causes minerals to be dissolved into oil that don't come out (too small). Also, fuel dissolves oil and makes it thinner, less viscous. Frantz is much less effective at removing fuel than it is at removing water. When too much fuel is in oil your engine runs like crap. The best way to separate gasoline from oil is with a refinery.

 

[Ken2]

Even with the bypass filter the oil does deteriorate. Unless an analysis shows otherwise, expect the oil to slowly oxidize, have the viscosity index improvers shear, have depletion of the TBN and other things that decrease the engine protection. The bypass filter certainly does extend the life of the oil greatly.

The cellulose bypass filter elements remove some water...toilet paper, Amsoil, Oil Guard, etc. A coolant leak is a problem with the residual antifreeze products remaining in the oil. Nothing removes fuel in the oil except draining the oil. Fuel in the oil seriously reduces the viscosity and can cause engine failure. In either case, the source of the coolant leak or the fuel leak must be found and fixed.


Ken

 

[sifan]

Prior installing the bypass filter I noticed the M1 5W30 oil in my 2003 Toyota Echo turned dark brown very soon, and had to change it every 3k miles even though I did very few short trips. It seems Echo is very hard on oil. I do not understand why Toyota recommends >3k miles OCI.

Yesterday I change the first TP after 2k miles on the oil because the oil looked much darker than I expected even with a bypass filter. I put in a new TP, drained out 1 pint of used oil from the oil pan, and add 1 quart of fresh oil and 5 oz of Lube Control (LC) oil additive. It is surprising to see the color of oil returns to golden yellow resemble that of brand new oil after driving to work this morning, which allowed the bypass filter to clean the oil a bit. Either the old TP was so saturated with contaminants with only 2k miles of service that it could no longer filter properly, or the engine oil was running out anti-oxidant such that the engine oil became dark brown. For some reasons the Echo engine soils its oil in a relatively short period of driving. With the addition of LC (containing anti-oxidant) the oil hopefully might not look too bad after another 2k miles; otherwise, I would replace the TP at shorter interval like 15k miles. I think the TP, FF filter, and oil change intervals need to be tailored to an individual engine design.