Every 3rd auto oil change, change filter?

[wolf]

Simple question. Anyone done this. Have Fumoto valve. Draining oil super simple. Ball valve. (no bolt). Change oil every 4 thousand miles. Filter every
8 thousand miles.

Getting lazy as I get older. Wonder, if I could still change oil every 4 thousand miles, but do the filter at 12 thousand mile interval.

It's not a matter of saving$, filters cheap. Just getting lazy. Anyone out there have real life experience?

 

[Walt34]

I've always changed the filter when the oil was changed. Oil & filters are cheap, engine overhaul/replacement is expensive.

 

[meierlde]

What does the owners manual recommend? I tend to agree with Walt and change the oil and filter together but with the oil use meter it works out to every 5-6 k miles or so. With a turbo charger it helps make sure all the oil is good.

 

[EQMAN]

I have a Fumoto valve on one of my cars. They are great. Change the filter with each oil change.

 

[frayne]

I've always changed the filter when the oil was changed. Oil & filters are cheap, engine overhaul/replacement is expensive.

Running synthetic oil, change every 5-6K miles and filter at the same time. Drive less than 10K a year as well.

 

[OldShooter]

Lots of folklore on this, few actual facts. Next oil change, pull the filter and cut it open with a tin snips. Spread out the paper vanes and inspect. If what you see is alarming for any reason, consult a good mechanic. If there are just a few grains of sand and mostly it looks like oiled paper, then the filter didn't need replacing. So next time skip the replacement. Filters are cheap so I wouldn't go completely nuts trying to use them over and over, but in most cases they really don't need to be changed.

When I was racing I used a filter with a replacement paper element. I would pull it after every race, inspect, find it clean, and then re-use it. Only once did I see anything but that was after I spun a center main bearing and from seeing zero oil pressure I knew it would be full of babbit.

Piston airplane engine filters are changed with oil changes, then cut open and inspected -- particularly for metal. Any metal is checked with magnet to see where it might hav come from, then the mechanic proceeds accordingly. Most times, fortunately, the cut-open filter reveals nothing. If you want to pretend you're an airplane mechanic you can buy your very own filter cutter from aircraftspruce.com.

 

[Bamaman]

If you are running synthetic oil, you have the other way around. At 4k or 5k miles, change the filter and top off the oil to full.

 

[HarveyS]

+1 for Bamaman. The filter is usually the weakest link.

 

[OldShooter]

... The filter is usually the weakest link.

Please explain the justification for this statement. I have no experience or information that would support it.

 

[sengsational]

I think he means that synthetic oil holds-up better than conventional, so no need to change the oil as often.

 

[Gumby]

I've always changed the filter when the oil was changed. Oil & filters are cheap, engine overhaul/replacement is expensive.

Same logic here. I drive over 26k miles per year and end up changing the oil about every 4 months (I use Mobil 1 synthetic). I always use a new filter and new drain plug gasket. A little overkill? Maybe, but I want to get 300k miles out of this car (265k to date) so I'm willing to be a little generous with the preventive maintenance.

 

[davebarnes]

Should be every third oil change; change your underwear.

 

[aja8888]

Running synthetic oil, change every 5-6K miles and filter at the same time. Drive less than 10K a year as well.

Same here.

 

[Senator]

I am putting a Fujimoto valve on my truck at the next oil change, or if I feel ambitious will use a shop vac to install it before the next oil change.

I do not change on a mileage schedule, but let the vehicle tell me when via the oil life monitor. The new truck went 9,500 miles. The car typically goes a similar distance.

Always oil and filter changed at the same time. Always a full synthetic. A synthetic should be able to go $10K miles easily.

I even started to do a Blackstone Oil Analysis on the oil.

With traveling, I am driving a lot more than when I worked. Maybe 40K miles a year.

 

[Sunset]

That Fumoto valve is very smart. It would have saved me putting in a piggyback plug after I stripped the threads on the oil pan.

They do warn about driving over stuff, to check the valve. I guess somebody somewhere might drive though a driveway pile of snow and open the valve ?

Orientation of the valve could reduce that chance, but it would be pretty terrible if it happened.

 

[wolf]

Lots of folklore on this, few actual facts. Next oil change, pull the filter and cut it open with a tin snips. Spread out the paper vanes and inspect. If what you see is alarming for any reason, consult a good mechanic. If there are just a few grains of sand and mostly it looks like oiled paper, then the filter didn't need replacing. So next time skip the replacement. Filters are cheap so I wouldn't go completely nuts trying to use them over and over, but in most cases they really don't need to be changed.

When I was racing I used a filter with a replacement paper element. I would pull it after every race, inspect, find it clean, and then re-use it. Only once did I see anything but that was after I spun a center main bearing and from seeing zero oil pressure I knew it would be full of babbit.

Piston airplane engine filters are changed with oil changes, then cut open and inspected -- particularly for metal. Any metal is checked with magnet to see where it might hav come from, then the mechanic proceeds accordingly. Most times, fortunately, the cut-open filter reveals nothing. If you want to pretend you're an airplane mechanic you can buy your very own filter cutter from aircraftspruce.com.

Like your observations. Real life experience. Which is what I was curious about. I tend to agree with you, but hard for most folks to understand.

Manufactures have excellent Marketing staff, to promote oil changes and filters. And, "scare" folks.

FYI. my Honda Odyssey van, 2001, 198,000 miles, MFG. recommends filter
change every other oil change. (4000 miles early side).

Thanks for the posts.

 

[Midpack]

For the first time, I’m running synthetic oil and changing oil and filter every 10K miles. So far so good after 70K miles.

As noted above, filters are cheap, not changing them might be penny wise, pound foolish? I’d look for savings on bigger expenses in my life. YMMV

 

[folivier]

I've never done it this way but some reports I've seen are changing the filter more frequently than the oil. Think about it this way, the oil doesn't degrade but the filter picks up the contaminants. Why throw away the oil but keep the dirty filter longer?
The reports I'm talking about are from fleet operators. Google it.

 

[street]

I have mine done now but I only went 2000 miles then changed oil and filter. I did this for years. LOL Now I have it done it costs me 39 bucks for oil and filter and they want me back every 5000 miles for an oil change and filter change.

I believe changing oil and filter OFTEN is the most important thing for longevity for the vehicle.

 

[Winemaker]

I have always done my own preventative maintenance. Oil and filter every 6,000 miles when I used regular oil. Before I drain my oil, the engine is always hot and I let it drain overnight. All my vehicles are driven until "wheels fall off". My '84 Chevy had the body expire at 454,000 miles and the speedometer cable broke a year prior.
I currently use the same oil change process, however, all my vehicles have oil life sensors, and I follow their cue. My '14 Chevy Colorado has 222,000 miles, '07 Trailblazer has 105,000 miles, and my '07 Torrent has 75,000 miles. The Trailblazer replaced my '96 Blazer 3 years ago that had 222,000 miles, and the transmission failed on it. Miles are not piling up anymore, we've both got out of rat race.

 

[Jerry1]

I run full synthetic and change it when the car tells me to. It usually works out to about 10,000 miles. Seriously, new synthetic oils and engine quality is so much better than it was in the past that changing it more often is just a marketing ploy. I may even go to 20,000 mile / one year intervals:

https://mobiloil.com/en


To the OP, if the oil filter is a pain to change, doing it every third time based on your interval shouldn't matter one bit. Personally, I don't agree with the logic. I do agree with the logic of changing the filter more often than the oil, but at 12,000 miles, I'm sure neither the oil or the filter are anywhere beyond their potential service life.

The OP asked for real life experience. I'd ask a simple question too - who knows anyone that had an internal engine failure in a vehicle that was used for basic personal transportation? If it did, I bet it wasn't because of an oil related issue. More likely a manufacturing/product defect.

I would think a weaker link is the air filter. Wouldn't that be where all the dirt is coming from? Next would be the fuel filter. No one seems to focus on those two filters. And transmission filters? Forget about it. Last I heard, they were sealed units and you can't even change the oil/filter on those any more.

 

[Car-Guy]

Over the years I've adjusted my routine(s) depending on the car and engine type. The engine oil and filter are changed once a year in my collectables, 40+ year old cars. I don't put many miles on any of them. I change the oil in my daily drivers every 5k miles and the filter gets change every other time (or 10k miles). The oil and filter in my sports cars/performance engines are changed every 3k miles.

Always buy premium quality oil and filters.

 

[Amethyst]

You tell em. Some people wait to change their underwear till it's time to replace the timing chain, for Pete's sake.

Should be every third oil change; change your underwear.

 

[JPatrick]

I've always changed the filter when the oil was changed. Oil & filters are cheap, engine overhaul/replacement is expensive.

+1

 

[HarveyS]

DW used to work for a major oil company. Synthetic oils have been developed to last longer and longer. And, filter technology has improved along the way as well. While many people specify to use a synthetic when getting an oil change, few specify the filter to use. As a result, you get a cheap filter that can break down or become less effective with time. Thus, if extending the oil drain interval, consider a better filter or changing the filter in between oil changes.