didn't change the oil filter
 

i know how to properly change properly oil but this time was a little different. my friend has a new Freelander and since it wasn't in the book of oil filters, the dude at autozone gave us one which turned out to be wrong. we found this out a little too late because we had drained the oil pan and the old oil in the filter. since we were kind of stuck with no new filter(the dealer which was closed) we installed the old filter(factory filter) with the new oil(mobil 1 which is the factory oil). how long can she run on the old filter and what are the possible ramifications of using an old filter? thanks

if I were you or her, I would change the oil filter immediately. Thats not good, although some ghetto shops may reuse the used oil filter.

The old oil inside the old oil filter will contaminate the new oil, but I don't think any harm would be done to the engine. I guess she can drive around for a while, but I would get the new oil filter and change out the oil again soon just to be safe.

My dad has a 96 Plymouth Voyager and the manual recommends changing the filter every 2 oil changes. So I guess your friend's situation can't be that bad.

Unless the filter is extremely clogged, it should be fine. As long as you emptied out the old oil, then you shouldn't hurt the car. Don't worry about it.

New oil + new filter = CLEAN oil

New oil + used filter = DIRTY oil

well when you change your oil, there is always some oil left in the car that is still dirty. and he drained the oil filter, so he's really not contaminating it.

however, I'd be more concerned about the seal not seating properly anymore on the used oil filter. IMO, change the oil filter ASAP. You can do that without changing the oil. Just leave it on level surface, and take it out (assuming it's not some stupid design where the filter is on the bottom of the car) and then simply top off the oil once you have the new filter on.

and what is a freelander? and i doubt they use mobil 1 from the factory....

A Freelander is the new Land Rover small SUV. I'm curious - precisely what oil does LR spec for the Freelander? I wouldn't be shocked if it were 5w20, the Ford grade of choice.

hey man that's how my filter is mounted...heheheheh :hgrin: :giggle:

yeah the filter is mounted on the bottom so that's lame. and, they specify different oils for each brand. i only remember mobil1 was 0w40. They listed like 5 other brands (valvoline, castrol, havoline and some other stuff i can't remember) and they were all 5w40 i think and one was 5w50. thanks for your opinions also

you'll be fine man, just dont do it again.

when i bought the civic with 5 miles, i didnt change the filter til the 3rd oil change (8k) after the "break-in" period with honda oil. then as i soon went with mobil 1 motor oil, i changed the factory filter only once after 3 oil changes. no problems on my civic and same goes to my father 4runner which is still running like new (2001, 120k miles) and probably only changes his filter once every 6 months

hehe. stupid subarus. :rofl:

they recommend different viscosities based upon brand? that doesn't sound right....

i hope you didnt do your first oil change for about 5000 miles......

yeah but the cool thing is that it's right in the open and eay to get to. Just have to take off the rock guard.

Oil changes on WRXs are stupid easy. Getting to the oil filter on my now even lower to the ground car kind of sucks.

That oil spec on the Freelander is interesting, I agree with S2Kman there. At least it specifies good oil across the board!

ran the oil til 2000, changed with honda oil and ran that til 5-6k, then switched over to mobil 1. (keep in mind, still using same oil filter the came with the car :_ontome: )

if you intend on babying the car just get another oil filter. stock up on a couple of extras for next time.