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How do you change just the oil filter?


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I've heard some people say they change the filter every 7500 or whatever miles but the oil every 15,000mi (using amsoil or m1 or whatnot).

 

Well wouldn't all the oil come out when you change the filter or is the oil lower down in the pan?

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The latter, almost all the oil is in the oil pan and the oil filter is mounted above the drain plug. Prime the new oil filter before installing, and your owner's manual should give a volume for oil+filter change and oil change. You would add the difference of these volumes including the oil used to prime the new filter. Take care.

I don't know if I would push the drain interval to 15,000 miles even though it's probably fine, but I would feel more comfortable with changes at 10K-mile intervals and filter changes at 5K-miles. Take care.

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The factory intervals, at least for the EA82s, is 7500 miles for the oil and 15,000 miles for the oil and filter, except on the Turbo models, which is 7500 miles both oil and filter. I change mine every 3,000, the few extra dollars I spend on oil and filter every 3k miles, is cheaper than a new engine. And regardless of what the oil says about lasting 7500 miles, 10,000 miles, etc.. yeah the additives may last that long, but $1.25 a quart wal-mart oil gets dirty just as fast as that $8 a quart "20,000 mile" synthetic.... Although Amsoil is good stuff, my old boss from last summer had two dodge ram diesel pickups, and three hay balers, all ran Amsoil 20W50 Synthetic. One truck had 260,000 on the ticker, and the other had 180,000 and both ran like tops, as did all three balers.

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By the way, very clever username - I lol everytime I see it in bold capital letters. Regarding oil change intervals, though, I don't know if it's really an issue of oil getting dirty, unless you often drive on dirt roads, as much as thermal oxidation and acidity of the oil -- a high quality synthetic will hold up better than a conventional oil on both counts. But, to each his/her own -- I've seen good results with both.

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Those seem like some long intervals. I also do 3k conventional oil/filter changes, 4k on the Ford wihch runs synthetic oil. I can see some synthetic oils lasting the long intervals, but if I was doing that I would still change the filters more often. They are inexpensive enough. I don't know if I trust leaving a piece of paper in there that long protecting my engine. Then again I am a strong believer in preventative maintenance.

 

-Heikki

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The 1.6L VW beetle air cooled engine, which is known to go over 1 million miles in some cases, has no oil filter AT ALL. The Subaru engines are direct decendants of this engine - with water cooling and some other added bits. The worst quality oil you could find (used, from a junk yard for example), and no filter at all would probably not hurt a Subaru engine appreciably as long as it was full, and changed once a year.

 

GD

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Agreed. 3k-mile intervals are overkill. It's really just a waste of resources, but we are Americans after all. Oil companies and service people benefit from more frequent oil changes, but Subaru even recommends 3,750-mile intervals for severe service and other car manufacturers recommned 5K-intervals for this category of service. I don't think that car manufacturers would jepoardize their repuations for quailty, therefore, if 3k-mile change intervals were necessary, they would certainly change their maintenance protocol and help their dealers make more money.

 

I think folks, including me, are obsessive about engine oil changes because they're easy to do and oil gets appreciably darker from thermal oxidation - turns black after 1K miles of service.

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Yeah...I get lazy and went like 7k without an oil change in my Legacy...didn't lose any oil in that time.

 

 

At work in my work truck i've gone like 5k...and I need to get one done this coming week...it'll prob. explode soon...its one of those Triton V10 Fords.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Trucks have more comprehensive filtration systems, but also have heavier loads. WalMart wants the trucks they buy or lease to go 100,000 miles on an oil change, but according to the oil analysis place, they're only up to 40,000.....

 

Back when we had less sophisticated oil, lead in the gas, carbs that were often off-ratio, and distributors that went off-tune in a few thousand miles, the recommendation was to change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles. Now that engines are fuel injected, have electronic ignitions, and there's no more lead in the gas, the recommendation is still.... 3,000 miles?

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I belive in the 3,000 mile interval +or- a little. I work on a verry large fleet and one thing we do correctly is change oil at 3,000. we dont have many motors go bad no matter how badly they get abused. cooling systems and tune ups? well we could use some inprovement on those items.

 

GD -VW AIR COOLED 1,000,000 miles? I started out working on Vdubs over 10 years ago. I love them but that kind of mileage?

how many overhauls/rebuilds would that be?

 

as for only changing the filter thats just sillyness. the aditives in the oil do all the hard work holding the contaminants and protecting the motor. the only time a oil filter plugs up is when the motor is on its last wheeze of life.

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as for only changing the filter thats just sillyness. the aditives in the oil do all the hard work holding the contaminants and protecting the motor. the only time a oil filter plugs up is when the motor is on its last wheeze of life.
Right, filters rarely, if ever, plug up, but I think that changing them allows you to put some new oil into the engine, thereby replenishing the buffers that neutralize acids in the oil. According to one long term study, this really extends the life of an oil: http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html.

 

BTW, great lookin' dog. American bulldog or Pit Bull?

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I think that changing them allows you to put some new oil into the engine,

I know people with leaky oil burners that just add oil. and they just keep on runing. amazing what some cars can put up with.

 

BTW, great lookin' dog. American bulldog or Pit Bull?
he is a pit. verry good dog indeed.
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I am a constant oil changer, can't help it, it was beaten into my head throughout my childhood working on 75' Chevy's and Dodge trucks. I do mine around 3500, and since my outback's filter is only $2.67 at walmart, I include it everytime, gets all the old oil out that is possible without engine dissembly, and gives me a little peace of mind. Which I need pushing 200k.

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Just for giggles, I should tell you that engine wear is higher with new oil and filter than with used oil and filter. If you like I can post links. Not to mention the fact that the period of low oil pressure following an oil change is probably one of the most pronounced periods of startup wear in an engine's life.

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I switched to Amsoil 5W30 in my '00 OB with 60K on it. I plan to go 25,000 miles or one year with the oil and change the filter at 12,500 or 6 months per Amsoil recommendations. So far at at 5,000 miles or so the oil is only slighty darker than at the start, my mileage is up nearly 10%.

 

We'll see how it goes. I'll probably do oil analysis when I change the filter.

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  • 3 months later...

I too am using AMSOIL right now. I've got the 0w30 racing oil which quotes a 35000mile/1year drain interval. I've put 8000 miles on walmart house brand synthetic and the oil/disassembled filter looked OK at the end. The AMSOIL has fantastic cold starts and the engine sounds smoother at startup. I'd love to know how your oil analysis works out!!!

 

Has anyone found a "higher" profile filter that fits an '02+ 2.5liter engine. I'd like to do the filter-only change every 8000miles instead of 4000.

 

I switched to Amsoil 5W30 in my '00 OB with 60K on it. I plan to go 25,000 miles or one year with the oil and change the filter at 12,500 or 6 months per Amsoil recommendations. So far at at 5,000 miles or so the oil is only slighty darker than at the start, my mileage is up nearly 10%.

 

We'll see how it goes. I'll probably do oil analysis when I change the filter.

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I change my oil at 3k, and here's why:

 

I work at a Toyota dealership, and some of you may remember the problems we were having with the 3.0 V6 sludging up. Everything from Highlanders to Avalons were getting new shortblocks under warranty. Siennas in particular were being towed in with engines completely seized with 13k (one case, 8k!!!) miles on them and the original oil and filter. Upon removal of the valve covers, I could easily have scraped off a quarter-inch thick layer of pure sludge.

 

I do understand that it's been discussed that these engines might be running a bit too hot, but nevertheless, this shows what happens to oil when you don't change it often enough. I have NEVER seen a 3.0 V6 Toyota come in sludged up if the oil was changed at 3-5k.

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