JAMeyers22

I just had an oil change at the dealer and learned that they do not change the filters at 15, 25, 35 or 45K miles. Can anyone verify that?

Seems odd to me - as it is, I bring in my own Mobil 1 when the car is serviced at the dealer. The only reason I knew for certain is that I am extremely **** with my car and change my oil mid-way at 2500 miles (I DON'T really want to hear about it!!) and I use Fram filters - my Fram was still on there when I got the car back.

Knowing this, I will bring in my own filter, along with my oil, at 25, 35, and 45K miles. But I can't believe that Audi is so "frugal" as to not replace the filter too. . .

Ron_C

obviously huh? I think that's common knowledge.

Andy Hedin

heard a few horror stories about Fram filters.

Oil filter isn't changed at every oil change, it's been like this for as long as I've had my '97 A4.

You change Mobil-1 oil every 2,500 miles? Seems like overkill to me. I could see *maybe* changing it that frequently if I was running dino-juice, but Mobil-1 is good stuff and IMHO, you're wasting it. But, on the otherhand you can't really hurt anything by changing too often....just more of a drain on your wallet.

See the link below for some interesting info on oil filters.

Here's a quote on Fram Extra Guard filters:
<i>Years ago Fram was a quality filter manufacturer. Now their standard filter (the radioactive-orange cans) is one of the worst out there. It features cardboard end caps for the filter element that are glued in place. The rubber anti-drainback valve seals against the cardboard and frequently leaks, causing dirty oil to drain back into the pan. The bypass valves are plastic and are sometimes not molded correctly, which allows them to leak all the time. The stamped-metal threaded end is weakly constructed and it has smaller and fewer oil inlet holes, which may restrict flow. I had one of these filters fail in my previous car. The filter element collapsed and bits of filter and glue were circuilating through my system. The oil passage to the head became blocked and the head got so hot from oil starvation that it actually melted the vacuum lines connected to it as well as the wires near it.</i><ul><li><a href="http://members.nbci.com/minimopar/oilfilterstudy-german.html">Oil Filter Study (Filters for German Autos)</a></li></ul>

WClark

It seems that in Europe synthetic oil is use period. This is due to the much higher cost of oil recycling and longer useful life of synthetic which I heard was changed only every 10K from 10k miles on. AoA specs non-synthetic and a 5k change interval, but leaves the filter interval alone.

I know this is *** backwards from oil company recommendations and practices in the trucking industry, partciularly regarding synthetic use where the oil can often go 20k or more but the filters should be changed much more often.


Personally I am considering forgetting the dealer "free" service and taking care of things myself like I always did in the past. This past trip for the 10k service cost me 2 hours off work because of the dealer being the "other" way from work, $15 extra in gas because the free loaner was out of gas (although the cup holder was full of coffee), $14 for the Mobil1 and I got 4 free dents in the rocker panels, oil all over the side of the engine, and a free set of wiper blade refills (they must have noticed the lift dents).

ReyHey

I'll say it again.

You should write a book!
"Audi ownership, made easy"

a veritable wealth of knowledge you are!

Thanks for posting.