We\u2019ve long departed from the 3,000-mile oil change; most automakers now suggest\u00a0longer oil change intervals<\/a><\/strong>, usually every 5,000, 7,500 or 10,000 miles. These longer intervals are possible thanks to both tighter engine-manufacturing tolerances and high-tech, low-viscosity engine oils, which make for more efficiency and better performance.<\/p>\n Changing an\u00a0oil filter<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has always been recommended along with the oil change, yet some suggest that changing the filter less often could save money and time. What\u2019s really going on here? Are oil filters just another money-making add-on or a critical part of every oil change?<\/p>\n As suggested, oil filters filter oil. New, clean oil immediately starts to pick up metal flakes and old deposits from oil passageways. Over time, as the oil completes many thousands of circuits through the engine, it starts to oxidize, and other reactions generate particles in the oil.<\/p>\n Given that some passageways in your engine are exceptionally small \u2014 some main bearing clearances are just 0.002,\u201d or slightly thicker than a human hair \u2014 you don\u2019t want stray particles to get lodged in there. The oil filter captures these particulates and metal, preventing them from circulating through the engine and causing damage. But how much debris can the oil filter collect?<\/p>\n Unfortunately, that question isn\u2019t an easy one to answer. Most filter companies express filter efficiency as a percentage of particles of a certain size that the filter is able to capture. However, few filters display this filter debris capacity, and some products don\u2019t display any such information.<\/p>\n All oil filters have limited debris capacity and then become useless. Once an oil filter reaches capacity, excess pressure opens the bypass valve. This allows unfiltered oil into the engine lubrication system, where particles can wreak havoc on bearings, rings and journals, or get stuck in chain tensioners or lifters. Unfortunately, without some sort of mechanical clairvoyance, there\u2019s no practical way to tell if the oil filter is stuffed. Changing an oil filter is the only way to prevent problems from occurring.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a good idea to change an oil filter at the manufacturer\u2019s recommended interval. Check your owner\u2019s manual or maintenance manual for specifics.<\/p>\n In general, it\u2019s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to oil filter capacity.<\/p>\n Check out all the\u00a0ignition parts & filters<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a> Photo Credit:\u00a0Engine oil filter cutaway<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>by Harrikkamies\u00a0<\/strong>(Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)<\/p>\n This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more\u00a0<\/i>automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong>\u00a0from NAPA, or here for more information on\u00a0the next Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":10288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[3056,3475,600,3491,3037,3026,3730,6106,6105,3482,4446],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Engine_oil_filter_cutaway.jpg?fit=4000%2C3000&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2FT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10285"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10287,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10285\/revisions\/10287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How Engine Oil Filters Work<\/strong><\/h5>\n
When Is the Right Time for Changing an Oil Filter?<\/strong><\/h5>\n