Today was quarterly oil filter shopping day at Wal-Mart and I decided to try the new Fram HM (High Mileage) type oil filter, which, according to the package, releases synthetic additives into your engine oil to help prolong the life of the oil. Up to 10,000 miles according to Fram. Does anyone know what these additives may be and whether or not they make a difference to a guy who’s pretty faithful about oil and filter changes anyway?
Given how well oil works without added help, I’d just stick to the recommended change intervals. I wouldn’t trust the oil filter to extend the life.
No thanks! Even if it did prolong oil life, its not going to make the engine produce less particles or impurities. The filter still has to hold the same “junk”. Oil and filter changes by manufacturer intervals are cheap insurance
This is a new one on me. Not being an “early adopter”, I’d avoid it until it develops some real-world empirical data. Thanks for the “heads-up”. I’m due to change my own oil within the next week or so.
I will say that I’ve never been comfortable with 10,000 mile oil changes even on cars wherein the manufacturer recommends them. We’ve had long debates about this issue, but it’s just too long for comfort to me. If the manufacturer recommends more frequent oil changes than 10,000 miles, I truly think it’s foolhearty to go to 10,000 miles between changes, even of the filter claims to have magical ingredients.
I should add also that even oil’s typical additives, like those to enhance viscosity at higher temperatures, are known to not lubricat as well as the base oil, which is why it’s never recommended to use a multiviscosity oil with a range beyond 30. 5W30 is okay, 5W40 is considered risky due to the higher volume of the coiled polymers that make the oil multiviscosity. The polymers replace the base oil. Too much polymer replaces too much oil.
Additives are detergents, antioxidants, corrosion inhibitors, and so on.
If you do a lot of city driving and if the environmental conditions there involve humidity and/or dust then my suggestion would be to change the oil far more often than 10k miles and not worry about the type of filter.
Driving habits and conditions have effects on the oil that no amount of additives will cure and the HM filter will really not make one whit of difference in the longevity of the engine.
From the Fram site:
•FRAM High Mileage filter contains a cartridge of proprietary detergents and compounds that maintain viscosity, reduce corrosive wear, neutralize acids and keep engine component cleaner
That’s all technical that I can find about it. I’ll stick with a standard filter. And keep changing my oil & filter every 5K. I plan this car to be the last I’ll ever have to buy.
The oil manufacturers go through a lot of trouble to come up with a proprietary additive pack, with everything in balance and there for a reason.
Then you put in a filter, with “extra” (unnamed) one-size-fits-all additives? I’ll take a pass–I doubt that the guys at Fram can outthink the manufacturer, esp when they don’t know for sure whose oil it is. That goes for “magic in a can” oil additives, too. (Though an argument can be made for a bit more ZDDP in an older car.)