I have an 04 Nissan Sentra and I’m using conventional 5w-30 oil in it. Can I or should I use Premium Guard Extended Life oil filters on my car? It seems like a high end oil filter. This oil filter is for synthetic oil up to 10,000 miles but can it be used for conventional oil changes also, or is it a waste of money using it with 5w-30 oil? And I would still stick to 3750 miles oil change intervals.
Premium Guard is a high line fram filter, correct?
I’ll offer an alternative . . . use a Wix filter, not the XD extended drain, just the regular Wix filter. It’s decent, and is just fine for your proposed oil change intervals
Any filter with a real brand name on it will work. You are not using synthetic or going 10000 miles so why pay more for a filter.
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I’m not sure what those bring to the table vs. the higher end name-brand one ( Mobil 1, K&N, Purolator Boss, Fram Ultra. etc.) There doesn’t seem to be a lot out there about them good or bad. There’s probably nothing wrong with using it, But for the same price you can get an oil filter that’s a known quantity.
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As long as the filter meets or exceeds OEM requirements use whatever filter from whatever brand you’d like. Would I personally use an extended life filter on a car I was using dino oil and really low mile intervals? No, I think you’re wasting money
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I forgot to mention it’s at a good price on sale but also thought filters like the Premium Guard Extended Life, filters out particles and dirt a whole lot better than regular Fram or Bosch filters. And it has a silicone drain back valve which I saw in some reviews is an upgrade.
The question is does any of this actually benefit your engine. I’ve yet to see any actual empirical evidence that it does. But it does increase gross revenues and profit margins for the filter manufacturer.
But… if it helps you sleep better, there’s no need to justify it to anybody. That alone may be worth the extra price.
The oil filter you use really doesn’t matter.
That’s because not 100% of the oil passes thru the filter media.
The oil filter or the engine has a bypass valve or an oil pressure relief valve.
These valves are used to allow the oil to bypass the filter media when the oil is too thick as in cold weather to pass thru the filter media, the filter media becomes too restricted from particulate matter, or when driving at high speeds where the filter media isn’t capable of allowing enough oil to pass thru the filter media.
This is done to prevent the engine from oil starvation under these conditions.
Tester
Can’t speak for that particular application, but I’d guess that filter or most any brand name filter would work fine on most cars. The more interesting question is: if you could afford to change the oil and filter more frequently if you purchased the less expensive version of the same brand’s filter, would you be better off going that route? I’m thinking your car’s engine would be better off with more frequent changes using the less expensive filter vs less frequent changes using the more expensive filter.
Another point to consider in addition to to what @the_same_mountainbike and @Tester said, if it’s the same price for the XL filter as it is for the regular one, why not? Out of curiosity why do you change your oil so often?
Where would you find these requirements. Manufacturers routinely site the required specs for the oil, (viscosity, service class, etc.) but for the filter only say use “xyz or equivalent”. Where xyz is the manufacturers part number. You go to the parts store and get the name brand equivalent of xyz, yet there are no specs to compare to xyz especially since niether xyz or the name brand ever gave any specs.
You’ve made an interesting point. At some level you have to accept what the filter manufacturers are telling you. Oils have a recognized third-party credentialing system (more than one, actually) with testing protocols against which they test their oils for approvals. In the U.S., it’s the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and API (American Petroleum Institute) that are generally used. Filters have no such generally-recognized third-party credentialing that I’m aware of.
IMHO you can trust any brand name filter, and trust the one(s) that the manufacturer has posted at the parts place as being appropriate for your vehicle. As with all parts, if it doesn’t look right when you go to install it, replace the one you removed and get one that does look right.
And never use a Jiffy-Lube joint. They probably use Chinese filters purchased by the crate, and I doubt that they take the time to see if the replacement looks right.
It’s all relative, in my opinion
We have no idea what kind of driving OP does, and we also have no idea how much time has elapsed between those 3750 miles he mentioned. What if he only does stop-and-go city driving, or what if he doesn’t drive a lot, and it takes him a year to accumulate 3750 miles?
While this is true, I’ve been changing my own oil for over 10 years in many cars (yeah I know I’m a young’in), and I have not yet had problems using the book in an auto parts store and comparing equivalencies for brand vs equivalent. I think this is one of those things that we’ll have to trust the hidden data we can’t see…
An excellent point. Just seemed oddly specific for such a low (to me) number of miles. Just commuting highways in and out of work I put on minimum 10,400 miles a year…I’ll stick with 5,000-7,000 in the Focus using full synthetic (no not trying to start the great debate of Dino vs Synthetic lol 
)
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I looked on some Nissan dealer websites, and one of the intervals is 3750 miles or 3 months. Might be a severe service schedule?
It’s a partial guess, as I was only able to access the 2004 Altima owner’s manual online, not the official maintenance schedule
I hope it’s the severe schedule…I wouldn’t want to see the sever if that’s regular! He could also be following advice from the original dealership, who probably wanted to bring him in as often as they could. I mean, he’s definitely not going to hurt anything outside of his wallet changing that often.
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A good question, but I am with the majority here. The car is now going on 14 years old. You made it this far and are changing the oil frequently, it is unlikely oil contaminants are going to lead to its demise. Personally, I prefer OEM oil filters while under warranty, and then whatever “generic” my trusted shop opts for.