I read somewhere that you need to ALWAYS change an oil filter every time you change your oil, because you dont want to run clean oil through a dirty filter.

Can someone here give me an explaination why?

I'm just trying to understand the logic.

So anyway, my car has 1000 miles on it since the last oil change, I want to put a different type of oil in, without doing the filter change part, is this non-advisable or stupid even?

Any thoughts are very much appreciated.

 

You said it! "you dont want to run clean oil through a dirty filter."

 

Do whatever you want. If the car takes 5 quarts and you get 4 quarts out, then 20% of the new mix will be dirty (as in not new). Do that again, and the 20% left over is even "dirtier" making the new mix dirtier ... etc. etc. etc. Eventually, the filter wont be able to "filter" much of anything

I've read its perfectly fine to change the oil filter every other oil change depending upon how often you do it (a general recommendation, not specific to MINI).

However, whats the point? What do you save, a few bucks?

 

I just want to avoid changing the filter if it's unnessacary, thats all. Mainly because a) it's more work and b) there is a possiblity that the filter won't be done right - it's happened twice before where the dealership didnt put the seal in properly or something, and I nearly lost my engine when the car dropped all of it's oil because the filter/filter seal was not put back properly.

I might as well just face my fear , and change the effing filter. May attempt it today actually.

 

I don't see where changing the filter is that much more work. The filter cover spins right off (unless the technician at the dealer over-torqued it). If you lube the gasket on the filter with clean engine oil and prefit the filter to the filter housing, you will be able to spin on the cover and filter with minimal fuss. If you lubricate the large o-ring with clean engine oil prior to fitting the o-ring to the cover, it will smoothly engage the housing to seal. Just be sure to torque the filter cover (and the drain plug) properly.

Oh, and not replacing the filter is a false economy. Do you really want to save the $5 on the filter and roll the dice on blowing your engine (with a consequential replacement bill of ~$4,000)? There is ~.8 quart of old oil that remains in the filter and filter cover that would contaminate the new oil. As chows4us posts, with only 4 quarts of new oil, you are starting out with ~20% contaminated oil.

 

Here is another way to look at it. Say you keep to the (overly long) oil change interval of 15,000 miles. Would you want an oil filter hanging around for 30,000 miles or more?

An oil filter can only trap so much in the way of contaminants before it begins to impede the flow of oil. Once this happens, the filter will tend to break down due to the pressure differential. This usually results in filter material (with the trapped contaminants) breaking loose and circulating throughout the engine. THis has the potential to clog tiny passages in the lash adjusters and piston cooling nozzles in addition to causing bearing wear.

 

Got it. Well in the day, I had an oil change done at Jiffy Lube years ago and after driving for a day (not in the MINI), the entire filter just plopped off. Oil leaking out all over the road. They said "bad filter" I think "bad mechanics"

 

Well, if you are concerned about an incompetent service technician (dealer or non-dealer) not doing the job right, and the engine gets fried as a result, then you just got yourself a new engine in the bargain. If you are doing the filter replacement yourself, the process of replacing the filter in my experience is not rocket science - you just have to be careful.

 

Actually, I think if the car really did need a new engine, then having the oil filter pop off would come under "gross negligence" of the garage doing the work (including a dealer) and one would have a pretty good case for going after them to replace the engine.

 

Negligence or incompetence; either way, if they did the job and the oil filter popped off, they just earned the right to buy you a new engine. (Or, worst case, they deduct for the miles already driven.)

 

I actually had a bit of an issue when I changed my oil before the dragon. I lubed the O-Ring up like you're supposed to but when I was threading the housing back on it got caught op and broke. Sometimes things like that happen. Good thing I bought 2 filters at the time so I had a spare (new) O-Ring to put on and it went on without issue.

Moral of the story, sometimes things happen even if you're following instructions. There's nothing you can really do about it, just one of those things.

I, personally, don't think I'll ever change my oil without the filter, the addition risk just isn't worth the $6-9 it would cost for a new filter (in my case my last change cost me $16 in filters, but it's still better than reusing a dirty filter).

 

Are you under the impression that "...a different type of oil..." will make any difference whatsoever in anything?

 

fyi, the filter is only 1000 miles old, if that. ANd so was the old oil.

Anyway.... none of us had a 36mm socket, so we ended up just changing the oil (from castrol to Mobil 1)... and we put 5 full quarts in the engine, and it was right at the max on the dipstick, so there is no way in hell that ~.8 quarts of old oil was still in the oil canister and filter.

So... being more specific..... do I need to replace my almost new filter if I want to put new Mobil 1 oil in the car? (Assuming I had a 36mm socket, and a choice).

 

it's like asking yourself... after you shower, do you put on the same
underwear you were wearing before?

usually no, but if you know it's clean i guess you might.

 

But after 1,000 miles, the underwear is definitely dirty (filter has metal particles from break-in process).

If it were mine, I would definitely replace the filter. I certainly did with my 2005 MCSa - I even ordered a special 36mm socket from an eBay store so that I would be able to access the filter cover in its tight-fitting location.

 

It is your call. If you are telling us that your car has 1,000 miles on the clock, it is going through a break-in process and little metal particles are being thrown off. The general consensus about break-in that I am aware of is to remove the metal particles as quickly as possible. That usually means replacing the filter along with the oil.

 

I believe the initial oil change is the most critical, since the filter (and the oil) will undoubtedly have metal fragments, dust, assembly lubes and solvents trapped within it. That being said, I saved my original filter after changing it at about 1500 miles. I did see a couple small visible chips, but othewise the filter was quite clean (as viewed by the naked eye at least).

 

The car has 29,000 miles on the clock.

The filter has 1000 miles on it's paper clock.

Anyway, I made the call, and changed the oil without the filter. I will change the filter in 3000 miles, when by then it will be 4000 miles old. I will let you all know if my car breaks before then.

 

Well it seems to me with just 1000 miles on that filter it sure wouldn't be too very dirty. If you were going longer than 1000 miles then heck yes change that filter. What you've done is no problem at all.

 

CALL ME ON THE CELL-805-558-7739

 

If the MINI filter is anything like BMW, it will crumble and float into your engine after certain number of miles.

Example -> http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...=lawyer+filter