Oil filter change

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by glang

Theres actually a risk every time a filter (or any component) is changed that its done incorrectly or that the replacement is faulty. OK its a small risk but something taken very seriously in industry so that maintenance is always a balance between the risk (and cost of course) of changing something and the potential damage caused by not doing it. Suzuki calculates the filter change intervals (usually with a margin to allow for worst case senarios like hard engine use or highly dusty environments) to give the optimum balance of these factors.

What happens if the existing filter is faulty and you are doing a good thing by changing it for a new on that is not faulty ? I have always replaced filter at every oil change on any bike or car I have owned, and never had a problem. If you change it every time there is also less chance of the filter getting so stuck you have to destroy it to remove it. Also as a earlier poster said, the older the filter the more chance it is more blocked and will go into by-pass mode earlier in the rev range.

[glang]

Well theres a 'bath tub' curve that represents the failure of manufactured items where initially theres a high failure rate (statistically) then a period with less and finally more failures at the end of its life. So when installing a new filter its more likely to have a problem at the beginning (can leakage, collapsed internals etc) and then that likelyhood reduces until the end of its life when again the risk goes up (this latter period will be designed to be beyond the recommended filter change point).
For possible blockage the filter manufacturer will have taken into account the worst senario and again the change point is calculated to be well before any chance of blockage through particle accumulation. As for the filter sticking dont forget that the recommended change point is fixed not just by mileage but also time so this shouldnt be a problem.....

[Sir Trev]

Did I somehow drop into The Twilight Zone there or is this a resurrected 10 year old thread?

[glang]

Ha yes sv650blue is the guilty one but Im sure the OP is still interested....

[Craig380]

A guy on another forum I used to frequent was running a Honda VFR400 ratbike that he'd bought cheap from a breaker. As an experiment he was deliberately not changing the oil or filter (he was checking that the level was correct, but it wasn't burning oil anyway so he wasn't topping it up regularly).

Last time I saw an update, he'd done over 15,000 miles since the last oil / filter change and it was still running sweetly ...