Oil Filter Interchageability

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I knew a guy at work that commuted about 120 miles each day. He bought an AMC Gremlin (when they were selling Gremlins long ago) and drove it for about 200,000 miles. Never changed the oil. Just added a quart when it needed it. Only changed the oil filter once because it rusted out and started to leak. True story.

Soo...does this mean that all engines could do this?? No. If you ran 100 Gremlins like this 95 would have probably blown the engine onto the road. What made the other 5 (or this particular one) make it....?? Who knows. Luck mainly. Certainly isn't any proof that the dirty oil helped.....LOL.

The problem with a lot of the oil and oil filter discussions is that it is hard to predict exactly how any given engine will react. Oil and filters are like insurance policies. You could probably run some engines on lard and they would run for quite awhile. But you wouldn't want to bet on it. Run good oil and good filters and the odds are definitely in your favor.

Don't ever assume because one engine ran OK with a certain oil or whatever that yours will. All engines are different and require different lubrication requirements. Oil that met "specs" years ago is basically trash today. Todays oil is probably in better shape after 7500 miles than some of the oils "years ago" were in the can.

Lots of the house brand products are pretty good. With the GF4 specs on oils (for gasoline engines) and the SL performance requirements if the oils are labeled to meet those specs then it is liable to be pretty good. No guarantee, though. Just because a filter is made by the same company that makes an excellent filter does not mean that the no-name filter is any good. The companies that make filters will make them to the specs provided. It is not their reputation on the line...it is the company marketing the filter. So they will make the fitler out of toilet paper if you pay them to. So, don't assume the actual manufacturer of the filter is any guarantee of a good part. Champion Labs builds filters for many people. Some of their filters are junk and others are very good. Even some OEM branded filters are made by Champion Labs...to the OEM specs, so they are essentially the same as the OEM parts.

Just don't take any single example of oil or filter performance as gospel for all applications.

 
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