I have been a fan for many years and I finally came up with a good question for an expert like you on oil filters. I first accidentally used my 2000 Nissan 4 cal truck filter on my 97 Camry and had no problems and continued to use the same filter for both cars with no noticeable problems. I also used a 14 tacoma 6 filter on my 97 Camry with no problems which still runs well today. I thought the larger filter was doing a better job than the small filter that came on the Camry which I still have today. Both are 6 cylinders and all I have read from experts is that you must use the correct filter because of various reasons. How many more hundred thousand miles must I go before my Camry engine fails because I used the incorrect filter?
As far as I know Ray does not ever answer questions here. Even Ray as knowledgeable as he is can’t predict how many more miles an unseen and un tested vehicle will run before it dies.
So far you may have been lucky. Aside from mechanical fit, oil filters are built to a variety of flow rate, bypass pressure, filtering efficiency, particulate capacity, and other specifications. Some engines require filters with anti-back flow valves but will operate, and wear out sooner, with those that lack them. The requirements vary from engine to engine so best to use a quality filter that meets the engine manufacturer’s specs.
That will probably work ok, but no way to know for sure. There’s various aspects to oil filter design, including physical fit in the engine compartment, compatible mating where it fits to the engine, anti-drain back, bypass, flow rate, pressure capability, and micron particle size it filters to. Toyota’s engineers specified the filter they did after considering all of those design goals. If you choose to use a different filter than they recommend, your are doing an experiment using your car as the test vehicle. You may get better, the same, or worse results.
All I read from experts is that I should stop smoking for various reasons. I am 48 years old and have smoked since I was 15. How many more years must I go before my heart/lungs/arteries fail because I did not stop smoking?
There is no answer to your question. If it benefits you in some way by using the same filter for several different cars then do so.
The Toyota short filter (90915-YZZD1) has been used mistakenly in exchange for the long filter (90915-YZZD3) without any side affects. In general the short filter is for front wheel drive V-6 engines and the long filter for rear wheel drive cars and trucks.
i picked up a honda filter at dealer and counter person said they have only 1 filter. for all motors now. so the same filter for 1.8 civic and 3.5 odyssey?
For the 6 years I owned my 84 GMC pickup GM changed the filter specs 3 times. And at one point they listed two different filters for the same engine. Said you could use either one. One was double the size of the other.
Anyone remember Ford oil filters back in the 70’s. One filter for any vehicle. From the Ford Pinto to the 351 V8 truck filter and everything in between…all used the same filter.
In conclusion…I’m not sure using a larger filter is going to make a difference. It may. Kind of a gamble though.