1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Oil Filter Question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by RRxing, May 25, 2012.

  1. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2009
    2,518
    1,790
    0
    Location:
    NEPA
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    Limited
    I just passed 40K miles on my car (averaging ~14K/year.) I plan on performing two oil changes a year (using Toyota 0w-20) - one in May, the other in early November. Here's my question - If I use a TRD oil filter in May, would it be okay to skip the filter change in November and just replace the oil? In other words, does anyone see a problem in letting the TRD oil filter go to 14K miles (instead of the recommended 10K interval)?

    Thanks in advance...
     
    #1 RRxing, May 25, 2012
  2. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2007
    4,319
    1,527
    0
    Location:
    Tampa Bay
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    No issues. What is unusual is those that care enough to plan the changes, select the oil, and post the questions are usually those that go through on changing the filter. However, 14k vs 10k on the filter is not risking the engine.
     
    #2 FL_Prius_Driver, May 25, 2012
  3. pjksr02

    pjksr02 Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2009
    532
    225
    2
    Location:
    Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Are you going to just drain your oil via the drain plug, or will you also drain the oil in the filter housing? The little bit of oil in the housing would bother the OCD me.

    The TRD filters are pretty robust (I use them), and would be up to your extended interval, in my opinion, since the Prius isn't "hard" on engine oil. I'm not sure you wouldn't be better off just using plain Toyota filter elements and changing them out each interval, though.
     
    #3 pjksr02, May 25, 2012
  4. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2010
    3,326
    1,512
    38
    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I don't see a major problem, 14K miles in a Gen III is comparable in engine wear to 10K miles in a Corolla. On the other hand, it is worth the piece of mind for me to change the filter every time I change the oil.
     
    #4 seilerts, May 25, 2012
  5. tv4fish

    tv4fish Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2011
    202
    46
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Gotta agree with seilerts (again :)) Why risk the possibility of dislodging some crap that might have been caught in the filter -- plus "contaminating" the new oil with the old oil?
     
    #5 tv4fish, May 25, 2012
  6. DonVentura

    DonVentura SoCal Prius Driver

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2011
    78
    10
    0
    Location:
    Ventura, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I agree that it wont hurt it one little bit, but the used oil in the filter housing would bug me. Since I would need to pull it off I would look at the filter (have another one hand) and decide for myself depending on what it looks like.
     
    #6 DonVentura, May 25, 2012
  7. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2009
    5,131
    1,338
    0
    Location:
    Wilmington, NC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    My mechanical engineering brother-in-law's opinion on this subject is that if, in a hypothetical situation, he had to choose between changing the oil or the filter, he would change the filter since this is what traps the particles in the oil. Of course his first choice would be to always change the filter with the oil change.
     
    #7 jdcollins5, May 25, 2012
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,703
    38,241
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Honda maintenance schedules indicate to only change the oil filter at alternate oil changes. Try getting the dealerships to stick to that is another story... Anyway,

    One have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too method: at an oil change without a filter change, remove the filter anyway, drain and re-install it. That way you get the cup or so of used oil that otherwise remain in the filter.
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, May 25, 2012
  9. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2009
    2,518
    1,790
    0
    Location:
    NEPA
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    Limited
    Thanks to all who responded so far - good points, all...

    I didn't think about the residual oil in the filter, but now that it's been mentioned, it's gonna bug me as well, so I'll do the oil and filter swaps each time.

    Thanks again.
     
    #9 RRxing, May 26, 2012
  10. LTZR1

    LTZR1 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2012
    134
    30
    0
    Location:
    Midwest
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three

    SMART MOVE ! When you consider the very small cost, even for the quality TRD synthetic filter, it's really not very smart, in fact STUPID
    to not change the filter at the same time s changing the oil.

    Most of the cheapskates who don't piss away more money on their
    booze !
     
    #10 LTZR1, May 26, 2012
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)