What are the real world reviews of using a reusable oil filter? I’ve got an 04 Maxima and looking to get one for it, as well as Neodymium magnets to place inside the filter so I can retrieve them when I clean out the filter. Any info would be great.
Awful lot of messy, messy work to save $3.
I have to wonder…why?
You’d risk an engine worth thousands to save a few bucks on oil filters? Not me!
Try pulling iron particles through oil using a magnet. I’ll bet you can’t do it. Especially if the oil is flowing by the magnet.
And would you reuse your dishwater? Your cloths washing water? Reusing these is no less logical than reusing an oil filter.
What would you prefer to keep a long time, your oil filter or your engine? Oil filters are cheap, engines are expensive. I know how I’d feel.
In short, it’s a scam. And nobody is going to cry any tears for you when your engine seizes because you were trying to scrimp a few paltry bucks on oil filters.
This is insanity IMO. Any alleged cost savings from a reuseable filter is going to be eaten up by chemicals, compressed air, and aggravation due to the cleaning process.
Magnets may catch microscopic particles from rings, cylinder walls, and cam lobes but will do nothing for crankshaft bearing material.
If a magnet is catching ferrous particles then you have much more serious things to worry about than the filter.
Same here ; a big bother.
I tried K&N air filters and it just is such a pain.
I hope there is no move for reusable tissue paper or other. It makes as much sense. Now, if they some how made the entire filter recyclable with a turn in credit…maybe in the name of conservation. Otherwise, there are too many carcinogens in oil to think of spending more time playing with the cleanup of a dirty filter where the worse substances would be.
I once gave it a passing thought. The reasons weren’t economics but ecology. I reuse. I do about 25K/yr so I send 5 oil filters out. As it is, I’ve stopped buying oil containers at parts houses. I have a 5 gal bucket and get a shop that does bulk oil for their changes to sell me 5gal at a time from the bulk tanks. (That does actually saves me a little money too. $2.85/qt last “fill-up.” They win too since everyplace that will do it for me has a waste oil burner, so they’re happy to get my waste oil for more free heat).
But on the filters I then thought about what ok4450 mentioned - the cleaning - and figured it was a wash in terms of reducing hazards. And I also looked at what they cost - ouch. So between the two I didn’t see it as a good choice. So in short, I don’t think its a good idea either.
Since regular oil filters work great, why give this a second of attention?
I guess this is one of those things that sounds good on paper…but never passes scrutiny in the cold light of day.
rtomlinson:
By switching to a reusable oil filter, what are you hoping to achieve that your current stock oil filter isn’t giving you?
Oberg has been making reusable oil filters for years. Mainly used in auto racing. Not too sure how well they work for every day drivers.
Toyota (and a few others) filters are now just replace the paper element. No more waste of the canister being send to the land fill. Just replace the paper filter (along with a couple of gaskets). Much better system if you ask me.
Toyota (and a few others) filters are now just replace the paper element. No more waste of the canister being send to the land fill
…Send it to the scrapyard instead! Wouldn’t run over just for the filter weight, but throw it on the ferrous pile, and when it reaches critical mass–ship it! (Also helps that same scrapyard pays me for the WMO to run their smelter.)
Anyways, worrying about the ecological impact of 8oz of steel,relative to the ecological impact of damn near everything we do…we’re in “angels dancing on a pinhead” territory here.
Send it to the scrapyard instead!
Most people just throw it out in the trash. My town has a nice recycling center where I take my oil and filters. But most don’t. So they just throw it out.
@MikeInNH likewise here, our landfill has a “toss and go” section just insde the gates. They take used oil, oil filters, antifreeze, paint and other chemicals as well as used microwave ovens and electric/electronic stuff.
The oil, oil filters get recycled by specialized firms. Paint and chemicals are shipped to a hazardous waste plant where they are destroyed in the proper manner. The idea is to keep this out of the landfill and also get some money back from the used oil.
The electronic stuff gets recycled as well in a plant 90 miles up the road.
We also have a “spring cleaning week” event where all the fire stations accept used paint, household chemicals, antfreeze and used oil.
Mike, I’m not sure that’s accurate in NH anymore. I believe that state regulations, modeled to ensure compliance with federal regulations, prohibit the old fashioned dumps. In Allenstown, we’re at the point that the recycling center won’t even accept paint cans unless they’re empty of the paint dried up. The big-box retailers even sell a material to absorb and solidify old paint. To drop off electronic items, we need to get a permit (for a nominal fee, of course) at the town hall. I’ve voiced the concern with these regulations that people will just dump things in the woods, making these regulations counterproductive.
There is a better system. Litchfield has a building designed for true recycling. It’s lined with large tables, labeled with various subject matter. If you have a vacuum, a TV, a bicycle, an exercise machine, or whatever that you don’t want anymore or that needs repair, you can simply put it at the appropriate table. Then someone who wants that item can pick it up for free and fix it up, repair it, whatever is necessary to put it back into use. When I lived in Litchfield I got a lot of stuff there. I even picked up used bicycles, reconditioned them (often using two bikes to make one), and gave them away to kids whose families couldn’t afford bikes.
The biggest problem with reuseable oil filters is in the hands of the d.i.y. home oil change.
Just where do you think the used oil and cleaning solvents are going.
Yep, right down the drain…where us shops are not allowed to put it !
So then, if a shop like ours encounters a customer’s reuseable oil filter and is expected to do the cleaning…how much is an oil change going to cost then ?
ken green, I’d imagine that there are plenty of diy oil changers that do incredibly dumb stuff. But I doubt it’s a very high percentage, and probably all told has less of an impact than shops that find ways around what they’re “supposed” to do. DIY and irresponsible chemical use do not go together, and you’re probably more likely to find it among the FRAM users rather than someone looking at reusables.
The oil, oil filters get recycled by specialized firms.
The used oil we drop off is used by our town DPW to heat several buildings. Great way to save money.
Mike, I'm not sure that's accurate in NH anymore. I believe that state regulations, modeled to ensure compliance with federal regulations, prohibit the old fashioned dumps. In Allenstown, we're at the point that the recycling center won't even accept paint cans unless they're empty of the paint dried up.
We’re the same way. But an oil filter can just be put in a trash bag and put out in the trash. Our town dump pulls out hundreds of filters (and other items prohibited) each year. It may be law…but a lot of people find it to inconvenient to obey it.
Tom and Ray’s home state requires that anyone selling motor oil must also take back used oil. So I doubt that many DIYers are actually dumping it down drain lines.
Of course with reusable oil filters there is all the cleaning solvent needed to clean them. Where does that end up?
If you’ve ever seen the pore size needed to properly filter engine oil, you would be very skeptical about your ability to actually clean out a used filter.
I do know that K&N’s reusable air filters claim a power increase, but that is based on their allowing larger contaminants to pass thru.
Tony, I suspect it’s do more to the creativity of K&N’s marketing team than to anything else…
But yeah, they probably allow larger particulates. however it should be noted that the only important thing is free flowing to the volume required by the engine under heavy load… and the truth is that the average stock filter has plenty of capacity.
I get uncomfortable with K&N’s marketing because I believe they trade heavily on the lack of technical knowledge of the average young car owner by bordering on the very edges of truth. But that’s exactly what many companies seem to pay marketers to do. “Product differentiation” doesn’t seem to be enough anymore.