Small vs larger oil filters?

Originally Posted by 2009Edge
Why do vehicle mfgrs put really small oil filters on engines when there is adequate room for a larger filter?


Two reasons I can think of, the first being cost and the 2nd being compatibility.

While a filter may fit your engine in your car, the same engine in another car may not have the room for a larger filter.
 
Originally Posted by 2009Edge
Why do vehicle mfgrs put really small oil filters on engines when there is adequate room for a larger filter?

Is there a need for a larger filter? Is the smaller filter not working well enough?

Sure, they could put larger everything, and next thing you know the vehicle would weigh 5000 lbs and get horrible fuel economy.
 
Cars today are different from yester-year and so are the quality of oils, they don't require big filters any longer because the engines and oils aren't generating a lot of junk to catch and the filters are acting more like an insurance policy against any debris that might be harmful in the even it is generated. Even the tiny filters that are cut/posted here look great even at 10K miles (16K KM).

It's the "obsession" factor here that makes people think otherwise because folks often forget that the majority of the population gets by just fine usually on conventional oil using jobber economy oil filters for 200K miles.
wink.gif
 
Last edited:
The pennies they save per unit add up over hundreds of thousands of vehicles. I would think they want to consolidate filter inventory over as many vehicles as possible. Its the ecologically correct thing to do. Smaller is better.
 
Larger filters are unnecessary. Match the filter size to the appropriate engine and need.

Time and the changes that come with it present us all with new paradigms. Fifty years ago nobody thought cars would be glued together or that we would fly on airplanes made of carbon fiber and plastic resin.
 
Is a big filter really needed? I started slicing open my filters and I'm not finding much--of course, really fine stuff I can't see, so perhaps that is not a good test. Still. I suspect new and low mile motors are simply not putting much into the oil for the filter to do.
 
Originally Posted by StevieC
Cars today are different from yester-year and so are the quality of oils, they don't require big filters any longer because the engines and oils aren't generating a lot of junk to catch and the filters are acting more like an insurance policy against any debris that might be harmful in the even it is generated. Even the tiny filters that are cut/posted here look great even at 10K miles (16K KM).

It's the "obsession" factor here that makes people think otherwise because folks often forget that the majority of the population gets by just fine usually on conventional oil using jobber economy oil filters for 200K miles.
wink.gif


Actually the filters shrunk when lead was removed from the gasoline.
 
Exactly. It's not those quart can filters are holding two pounds of dirt and debris when they are removed.

I suspect when they first came out, such large cans were needed to hold enough media to be effective.

Today, just as we've had advances in oil technology, we've had advances in filtering media technology. So less physical media is needed to flow and filter similar volumes as the larger filters.

Therefore, why would we need large filters when a smaller one will do the job?

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by 2009Edge
Why do vehicle mfgrs put really small oil filters on engines when there is adequate room for a larger filter?

Is there a need for a larger filter? Is the smaller filter not working well enough?

Sure, they could put larger everything, and next thing you know the vehicle would weigh 5000 lbs and get horrible fuel economy.
 
The mid 90s 5.7L GM trucks had a smaller oil filter on the 4WD models than the 2WD models. This is because the larger standard filter wouldn't clear the front driveshaft. Same engine, two different filters.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by 2009Edge
Why do vehicle mfgrs put really small oil filters on engines when there is adequate room for a larger filter?

Is there a need for a larger filter? Is the smaller filter not working well enough?

Sure, they could put larger everything, and next thing you know the vehicle would weigh 5000 lbs and get horrible fuel economy.



x2

Even though you own a 4,500lb SRT
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Do the small ones fill up during the recommended OCI? If not, why go bigger?


I've always felt that more filtering area means the same flow at a lower PSID which means the less time spent with the bypass open.
 
Cost, and warehouse space...

Up to 1999, GM used 40 amp relays for everything...
In 2000, they switched to 20, 30, and 40, same base, same operation.

The 30 is now discontinued...

Save 25 cents per car, times 100,000 cars, equals $40,000...

Been using oversized oil filters for nearly 40 year, no problems...
 
Originally Posted by RamFan
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by 2009Edge
Why do vehicle mfgrs put really small oil filters on engines when there is adequate room for a larger filter?

Is there a need for a larger filter? Is the smaller filter not working well enough?

Sure, they could put larger everything, and next thing you know the vehicle would weigh 5000 lbs and get horrible fuel economy.



x2

Even though you own a 4,500lb SRT
lol.gif


Yup, and it gets horrible fuel economy for some reason. Go figure.
smile.gif


The SRT actually uses a smaller filter than my 530i, but I am not concerned. I haven't seen any evidence of these HEMI engines failing due to a lack of a big filter.
 
Thin oils create less pressure differential on filters. A smaller filter is no problem on today's clean engines.

I can't remember the last time I saw any debris in an automotive filter. I currently recommend changing filters every other oil change.

Recently performed the first oil change and pulled the filter out of the 2018 2.7 Ecoboost. It's a cartridge filter and is easily inspected. It had nothing in it. Not even a speck of carbon.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top