🚀 go-pugleaf

>  I always cringe when I hear people say that you should follow the 
> manufacturer's guidlines for when to change the oil and filter.  First,
> whenever you change the oil, you *must* change the filter too, even if it
> isn't plugged solid.  The oil filter will hold about a quart of dirty oil,
> which will defeat the whole purpose of changing the oil.  It will only
> contaminate the old oil.  The old myth about "it's ok to change the filter
> every other time" is just that, a myth.
>  Second, you should *NEVER*, yes, *NEVER*, follow the manufacturer's 
> recommendations on the amout of mileage between oil changes.  Many car

What you say here USED to be true. Todays engines and SF rated oils are far superior
to what was around just 15 years ago. If anything, the recent articles I have read,
indicate that the car manufacturers are CONSERVATIVE in their change intervals.
Mobil publishes an excellent book on lubricants. Its 200-300 pages and sells for
around $30.00. As far as oil filters holding a quart of oil, thats no longer true
in MOST cases either. Most of todays cars have downsized filters that hold maybe a 
pint and several are mounted horozontally so the oil drains back into the engine
when shutoff. You can credit the EPA (for requiring unleaded gas) for a great deal
of the increase in change intervals. Lead was great for some things, but contaminated
oil quickly. 

I change my oil and filter every 12,000 miles and have driven every car I own (all GM) 
to >110,000 miles with no internal engine failures. I do use Mobil 1 synthetic oil,
but thats another story. ( 2 mpg boost w/Mobil 1 )

One other note, for an oil filter to say it meets manufacturers specifications, it
MUST contain a pressure relief valve and filter all particles over x microns. Buying
a manufacturers filter will not buy you anything over a good name brand 
(Fram, Purolator, Hastings, etc.) filter.

For the average person who plans on keeping their car <125,000 miles, does'nt tow 
anything and does'nt spend most of their time in city traffic and uses conventional
name brand oil, I would reccommend changes at the manufacturers intervals with the
oil filter replaced, chassis greased and tires rotated at each interval. This is the 
regiment that was followed on my wife's 76 Nova with 133,000 miles thats still going
strong today.                         

Just another mans opinions............................