Model 3 Oil Filter

[Xenoilphobe]

That's fine as long as you driving them 5,000 miles or less a year....

That’s actually not true. I used to run the motor pool for our military vehicles. We rarely changed the oil but would send samples off to a lab for analysis to determine the life of the oil and the contamination level. Synthetic oils can go Much longer before replacement after the initial break in oil change. There are many other factors than just mileage that determine the life of lubricants.

Army's Oil Analysis Program Saves Money, Protects Personnel

 

[BikerPeaBody]

That’s actually not true. I used to run the motor pool for our military vehicles. We rarely changed the oil but would send samples off to a lab for analysis to determine the life of the oil and the contamination level. Synthetic oils can go Much longer before replacement after the initial break in oil change. There are many other factors than just mileage that determine the life of lubricants.

I'm pretty sure people who regular drive their ICE cars (average 15,000 miles or so) changing the oil once per year may not be "bad", but definitely isn't "good". Miles wise and time wise

 

[Xenoilphobe]

It’s worked well for me for over 35 years. My top mileage car went to 380,000 miles before I cracked the block. (79 Diesel VW Rabbit). I haven’t kept a car that long since. My Tesla has -100k and the oil is still going. . Also our military vehicles were beat to hell, overloaded with armor, run through sewer like water, inhaled sand and dust, driven in high temps, and they didn’t need an annual change based on the oil analysis. Few civilians ever push their vehicles that hard, maybe guys that tow. Also I got the original advice from a petroleum engineer who worked on the Mobil One development team, he did the same thing with his cars.

 

[BikerPeaBody]

It’s worked well for me for over 35 years. My top mileage car went to 380,000 miles before I cracked the block. (79 Diesel VW Rabbit). I haven’t kept a car that long since. My Tesla has -100k and the oil is still going. . Also our military vehicles were beat to hell, overloaded with armor, run through sewer like water, inhaled sand and dust, driven in high temps, and they didn’t need an annual change based on the oil analysis. Few civilians ever push their vehicles that hard, maybe guys that tow. Also I got the original advice from a petroleum engineer who worked on the Mobil One development team, he did the same thing with his cars.

ah okay, so 1 oil change per year is all modern day cars need?

 

[Knightshade]

ah okay, so 1 oil change per year is all modern day cars need?

Depends on the car, the miles, the type of driving, the oil, and the filter.

Using a good synthetic and a good synthetic medium filter, it's typically no issue at all to get 15-25k miles out of an annual oil change... (or you might need a 6 month filter change if they don't make really good ones for your particular car and you're on the higher end of that mileage)


Usually you can find a thread or two for whatever specific car you're curious about on the forums for that car- where folks post the results of UOA (used oil analysis) to get a solid idea what that specific car is good with and the type of driving involved...

For example the Lexus IS350 I used to have- MFG recommendation was oil and filter change every 5k.

UOA showed even using conventional oil you could comfortably go 10-12k before the oil was getting noticeably worn out even for people doing severe duty driving (lots of stop and go, idling, short trips, etc).... people doing light duty (long highway drives) were getting 15k... and synthetic could easily go 15-25k (depending on the synthetic used and type of driving)

 

[Tessaract]

I'm pretty sure people who regular drive their ICE cars (average 15,000 miles or so) changing the oil once per year may not be "bad", but definitely isn't "good". Miles wise and time wise

May not be bad for the car. Even a little good for the car. But definitely great for the oil and lube companies and car dealers.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Not unusual for leased vehicles to be returned with their original oil.

Problem for most people is that it is cheaper to just change the oil than to send a sample to the lab.
Not that easy to take a sample unless you have some sort of vacuum device to suck some out of the filler tube. Otherwise, by the time you take the filter off to get a sample, you might as well just change the oil.

Some cars have on board computers to measure conditions the oil is exposed to. Can significantly extend the intervals. BMW has a system. They usually offer free maintenance on their pricy cars. Will only change oil when the computer flashes an alert.

High mileage and high performance cars tend to do well with synthetic oils while low mileage economy cars often do better with standard oil, but changed on a calendar basis.

 

[Knightshade]

Not unusual for leased vehicles to be returned with their original oil.

Problem for most people is that it is cheaper to just change the oil than to send a sample to the lab.

Yeah if you're only keeping the car for 3 years- who cares about how hard you are on the engine?

(good reason to avoid turned in leases of course )

But if you're keeping a car ten years, one or two used oil analysis can save you a BUNCH of future oil changes.

As I say though- it's usually easy enough to find others who've already done them on the same car under various conditions to get a pretty decent idea what to do for yours without sending things off to blackstone.

 

[Zanderwarrior]

Can anyone tell me if there is a cross-compatible oil filter for a Model 3? They use the same part front and back and to my eyes it looks very similar to a Subaru EJ25 item. Surely Tesla are just rebranding something off the shelf here. Any clues?

It is available over the counter at Tesla for $15. Picked one up at the Service center in Tempe, AZ yesterday. Was able to find what looks to be comparable filter at O'reilly's.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Haha, that'd be funny if you peeled off that MicroGard sticker to find the Tesla silkscreen underneath!

Note that although the housing is clearly identical there is a possibility that the Tesla version uses a different element. The Microgard is intended for engine oil on a Mitsubishi whereas the Tesla version is filtering much thicker/cooler gear oil. Considering that it only needs to be replaced once every never, it's probably wise to stick with the original.

 

[leonar40]

This thread got way off topic, talking about ICE cars and debating about oil change interval. What I want to know from this thread is whether or not this is something I actually need to care about and do periodically. I would assume not since it's never mentioned in the owner's manual and if I haven't read this forum I would have never known that filter even existed. That was supposed to be one of the big benefits of an EV car! LOL But I'll be going out of warranty before too long, so repairs will be on me from then on... Thanks.

 

[el-guapin]

It is available over the counter at Tesla for $15. Picked one up at the Service center in Tempe, AZ yesterday. Was able to find what looks to be comparable filter at O'reilly's.

Cut it open and compare!

 

[pnwadventures]

He has NEVER had a single oil change on any vehicle he has owned and said he has never had single problem related to it. Says it is just a money grab and never once fell for it. Said he has had many cars go over 100K with original oil/filter.

Clearly never owned an Audi turbo, at least not for very long.

 

[Dolemite]

Clearly never owned an Audi turbo, at least not for very long.

I think he means tranny/diff fluids. Otherwise, the guy is a ****ing imbecile.

 

[Frank99]

What I want to know from this thread is whether or not this is something I actually need to care about and do periodically.

Short answer: No, this isn’t something you should worry about. Personally, I’ll put it on my list to replace the Drive Unit fluid and this filter at my 200,000 mile tune-up.

 

[mattack4000]

I have the oil to black stone for analysis this week

 

[Motion122]

I have the oil to black stone for analysis this week

Did you get your Blackstone test results? Thanks!

 

[mattack4000]

Yeah apparently the tesla oil is really good. It can go a while, problem is that we can’t buy the replacement to change it

 

[roblab]

Many don’t buy the lifetime, aka sealed for life, interval. I sure don’t. Car companies are under a lot of pressure to increase maintenance intervals and they only make more money when parts fail from extended drain intervals.

It shouldn’t be long before the aftermarket starts listing filters compatible with the Model 3 given how many of the cars are being sold.

Having bought four Teslas now, two of which had over 100,000 miles on them, I never heard of an oil filter, never installed one, even. There is nothing to dirty the oil, and a filter would do the job for the life of the car.

However, that being said, there are enough people who cannot leave well enough alone and HAVE to replace an oil filter, needed or not. To them I say, Tesla appreciates you. I won't be replacing mine, thanks.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Having bought four Teslas now, two of which had over 100,000 miles on them, I never heard of an oil filter, never installed one, even. There is nothing to dirty the oil, and a filter would do the job for the life of the car.

However, that being said, there are enough people who cannot leave well enough alone and HAVE to replace an oil filter, needed or not. To them I say, Tesla appreciates you. I won't be replacing mine, thanks.

LOL! So what you are saying is that you know absolutely nothing about cars or mechanical things in general??

Do you don't think gears rubbing together could cause debris that needs to be filtered? And you don't think the stress oil undergoes providing a protective layer between the gears under incredible shearing forces heats up and breaks down oils?

Go ahead, don't change your gear oils, but also, remind me to never buy a used car from you.