Oil change question

[SangerZ28]

Today I made my first oil change on my Tahoe. I purchased it back in early September, but only put 2,500 miles on it since today. I bought oil and filter for the change. After draining the oil, I realized none of my oil wrenches would fit the factory original filter. I couldn't start the truck to drive to the store to buy a fitting for the filter, so I just ended up changing oil (putting in just 5 quarts then measuring to make sure I don't over fill with the oil currently in the filter.) My question is, since this is the first change, will using the same filter a little longer harm the engine?

 

[73shark]

It's toast. jk

Other than adding some dirty oil to your fresh, it probably won't hurt anything but I would go ahead and put a new filter on anyway. These new ones are really small and since this was the original one, it will have all of the early wear particles in it.

 

[metro273]

If the oil filter does what it's supposed to do, then you don't have to worry about those engine particles getting sucked back into the engine.

You should replace it asap though just to be on the safe side...

 

[07SuburbanLTZ]

I would change the oil once again.

 

[Okla-by God-homa]

Honestly, the factory filter is not the greatest and considering that the particles it has trapped are the ones from the engine first being machined you are placing your engine at risk if you keep it on very long. The price of oil vs. possible engine wear or damage on down the line is a no brainer. As I have said in other threads on this subject I will only use one filter and that is a WIX. No, I don't have stock in the company but I'm a Quality Assurance Manager for a Motor Pool and have the opportunity to evaluate every product on the market and the WIX is head and shoulders above all the rest in the filter media, wall thickness and backflow control. As was mentioned earlier the filter is extremely small for these engines so you need every advantage you can get. Also for what it is worth I only use Mobil 1 and change every 8 to 10 thousand miles. I have run the oil removed several times through testing and found that if I really wanted to I could pass the used oil through a 6 micron filter and put it right back into the vehicle. There is absolutely NO change in viscosity nor any breakdown in structure. Now if I could only get a straight answer from Mobil as to why they increase the price on their synthetic oil like they do on the fossil based oil I would be happy.....it's certainly not the cost in getting out of the ground....GRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr.

Boomer Sooner

 

[SangerZ28]

Tomorrow I'll drain the oil into a clean container since it's still new, and replace the filter.

 

[73shark]

Do you need to drain it since the filter is above the crankcase?

 

[Okla-by God-homa]

You don't need to drain unless you are planning on replacing the oil.....just have an extra quart on hand to replace any lost and be careful NOT to overfill.

Boomer Sooner

 

[SangerZ28]

I did not know that I could change the filter without losing my oil. Thanks for telling me. :thumbsup: I have 1 extra quart left since I only added 5 during the change knowing the filter would still have oil in it.