In theory, your oil filter has a simple job: capture wear-causing contaminants and hold them in the filter media so they don’t run amok throughout your engine.
But lots of factors can throw a wrench into this plan, which can raise questions about oil filters and filtration. Here are some of the most common.
The oil filter is designed to capture contaminants and hold them within the filter media. Over time, the media fills with dirt particles, agglomerated soot, metal particles and other junk. If the filter plugs, the pressure differential will open the bypass valve, which allows oil to bypass the filter, preventing oil starvation. Sure, dirty oil is preferable to no oil, but it’s not a long-term plan you can trust.
A new oil filter is far less expensive than a new engine. Don’t cheap-out – replace the filter with every oil change.
It depends on filter quality and your driving conditions.
A low-quality, cheap conventional filter doesn’t offer the capacity of a filter using synthetic media, meaning it fills with contaminants faster and requires more frequent changes. Plus, if you drive in dusty, dirty conditions, your engine is exposed to increased levels of airborne dirt particles that can enter the engine, especially if you haven’t changed the air filter in awhile or there’s a leak in the intake system.
Some modern direct-fuel-injection vehicles experience elevated fuel dilution, which also takes a toll on the oil filtration system. In diesel engines, soot particles can agglomerate into larger contaminants and lodge in the filter. This all adds up to more contaminants and more stress on the filter.
Follow the filter manufacturer’s service guidelines. If none are given, go with what’s recommended in your vehicle owner’s manual.
No. Just change the filter as normal. After the new filter is installed, run the engine for a couple minutes, then shut it off and allow several minutes for the oil to settle in the sump. Check the oil level and top-off as needed to make-up for the oil removed with the old filter.
The Internet is full of pre-fillers and anti-pre-fillers, all of whom seem able to reference a high-mileage conversion van or pickup they’ve serviced for decades either pre-filling or never pre-filling the filter.
Some filter manufacturers say pre-filling the filter isn’t necessary. But remember – they make filters, not engines. There’s a reason engine manufacturers recommend 0W-XX or 5W-XX motor oils, and it’s so the oil flows readily at startup when it’s cold and the engine doesn’t go without vital lubrication while it builds oil pressure.
To help ensure the engine doesn’t start dry, we recommend you pre-fill the oil filter if you can. Horizontally oriented filters can pose a problem, but even they can be pre-filled with some oil. I typically pour a little oil into the filter and tip it sideways and check the oil inside. If there’s room for more before it begins to spill out of the opening in the filter, I add a little more oil before installing the filter.
Use a filter made with synthetic media for best protection. Synthetic oil filters offer the following benefits:
Most spin-on oil filters contain the following:
For a more detailed view of an oil filter, check out this post.
Yes, it’s perfectly safe to use either type of filter with either type of oil. However, if you practice extended drain intervals using synthetic oil, a conventional oil filter may not offer the required service life, meaning you’ll have to change it in the middle of the oil drain interval, which is inconvenient. That’s why AMSOIL Ea Oil Filters are constructed to last 25,000 miles between changes, coinciding with the 25,000-mile drain interval of Signature Series Synthetic Motor Oil. AMSOIL Ea15K Oil Filters offer 15,000-mile change intervals.
Purefine contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.
The problem I have with the oil filters reviewers is “it really doesn’t matter.” As long as the filter meets or exceeds the manufacturers specs - it’s good. Based on several past reviews I should never have been able to run a vehicle to well over 400k miles on Fram Orange filter. I don’t know of any brand name filter that doesn’t meet or exceed all manufacturing specs. I personally buy Wix because the local parts store sells me a case at a discount.
Just because Engine Masters features an item doesn’t mean they will say there is much if any difference between the choices. They showed little change when using mandrel vs crunch bent exhaust. As part of the same show they found that the straight through muffler provided no improvement over their favorite S-flow muffler. The conclusion was that for the engine in question, there was no difference, but they also suggested that for larger engines there might be a difference. Conclusion: gotta test to be certain.
OH BOY ANOTHER DISCUSSION ABOUT OIL & OIL FILTERS!!!
For myself the only oil for me is the hand crafted, small batch, limited release, pot stilled, 12 year old “Old Slippery”, appropriatly served with the Werner Von Braun German engineered “Moon Shot” oil filter or failing that, the NASA/NSA Mil. Spec “Black Box” oil filter.
Simply putting these products near your vehicle will eliminate any wear, double your gas mileage and give your exhaust the aroma of leather, blackberries, Mom’s Home Cooking and fill in your bald spot!
But seriously, it’s simple. Read your owners manual, follow your vehicle manufacturers specifications and change recomendations and take 15 minutes a month to actually take a look at your vehicle/fluid levels/air pressure and your car will easily pass 100,000 miles.
And BTW, I’ve run Fram, Purolater, WIX, Bosch, Mobile 1 and OEM filters in my cars, changing the oil at the manufacture’s recommendations, and after 200,000 miles noticed no difference except for the price…
I don’t really understand why people hate on the OEM filters. They are usually pretty inexpensive, especially if you buy in bulk and have a great relationship with the guy at the parts counter (hint: be nice). They are specifically designed for your car’s engine and it makes arguing about warranty work a snap.
In my Mazdas with the SkyActiv engines the OEM filters are designed with specific flow rates and no drainback valves (since they all sit facing upward) to ensure proper lubrication. Switching to any other brand seems foolish to me. My dealer hands my filters and oil plug crush rings to me for free since they offer “free oil changes” to all their customers. If I had to buy them they are about six bucks each. Bonus: I never have to sweat through all the oil filter discussions online.
#1 - OEM filters are made by one of the large filter companies. For most asian vehicles it seems to be Denso. Each car manufacturer has their own choice of filter manufactueres.
#2 - Maybe it’s cheap where you live…but not here. I can get a Wix or Denso (OEM manufacturer) filters for literally half the price of the OEM filter from the dealer. I can buy in bulk from my local parts store.
#3 - I don’t know of anyone in the past 40+ years who’s had any issues what-so-ever with their engines while under warranty. Do you?
#4 - Wix, Fram, Purolator makes filters that are specifically designed for your vehicle.
Wix makes an OEM compatible filter for the SkyactivG (non-turbo) 2.0 and 2.5 liter engines, but it is more expensive than the OEM filter. While you can get an aftermarket filter that fits a SkyactivT (turbo) 2.5 liter, none of them are specifically engineered for that engine. And, more importantly, none of them are cheaper except for lesser quality filters.
My understanding of the Mazda engines is that they have very specifically engineered needs for oil filtration (flow rates and bypass valve pressures). While I agree that I have NEVER had an engine failure under warranty, I have heard from several Mazda engineers that have strongly recommended not using non-OEM filters. Since I can get the OEM filters for nothing (and they would still be cheap if I had to buy them), I am going to stick to OEM.
My son drives my old Mazda6 with 179,000 miles. 7,500 mile synthetic oil changes with OEM filters since brand new. It consumes less than a half a quart of oil between changes and runs like new.
I only had one bad oil filter experience and it was on an MTD yard tractor. The yard tractor had a hydrostatic transmission which also supplied power to a hydraulic lift for the attachments. The owner’s manual specified a particular model Fram filter for the hydrostatic transmission. When I changed the fluid and filter in the transmission, the specified Fram filter was not on the shelf at Rural King. I went to the cross reference manual and substituted the house brand filter.
Everything seemed to work and then suddenly the yard tractor wouldn’t move. The house brand filter was slightly longer than the Fram filter. Every time I raised the mower deck, a support arm for the deck hit the oil filter and eventually knocked a hole in the filter. I bought the correct Fram filter, replenished the transmission fluid and was back in business.
The only other oil filter problem I had was on my Oldsmobile Cutlass with the 260.V,8 engine. The engine was equipped with an AC45 oil.filter. There wasn’t room to use a strap wrench, so I had to purchase an end wench for my 3/8" socket set. Unfortunately, that end wrench would only fit the indentation on the AC filter. I only used AC filters on that car.
In my experiences, it was the physical size of the filter rather than the filtration and flow rate that made the difference.
Want more information on car oil filter manufacturers? Feel free to contact us.