VF SS oil change

[Immortality]

I'm not one for posting about a oil change, however having just completed oil and filter change on the VE V6, and VF 6.0 litre over last 2 days, I was comparing the difference in Ryco filters for VF 6 litre and the older VN 304 V8 which we just upgraded to remote filter.
However filter is same size just different threaded screw, would I thought over the years the filter capacity would of increased

I think filters have gotten smaller over the years

Just look at a Holden 308 filter (Z30) and then 304 filter (Z160).

One argument I heard for smaller filters was that once the engine was shut down and oil drained back from the filter, with a larger filter it would take longer for the filter to fill and therefore longer before you got oil pressure. Personally, I never had issues with building oil pressure on a 308 or old 202 which both had larger filters and with the anti-drain back valve modern filters have this is certainly not a problem.

The problem with LS motors/filters is location. You can't just fit a larger filter as it will hang down lower than the oil pan and the last thing you want is to hit/damage the filter and loose all your oil/pressure instantly.

I am very much a believer in larger oil filters but that is a discussion for a different thread (which I'm sure we've had somewhere).

 

[bjf66]

I think filters have gotten smaller over the years

Just look at a Holden 308 filter (Z30) and then 304 filter (Z160).

One argument I heard for smaller filters was that once the engine was shut down and oil drained back from the filter, with a larger filter it would take longer for the filter to fill and therefore longer before you got oil pressure. Personally, I never had issues with building oil pressure on a 308 or old 202 which both had larger filters and with the anti-drain back valve modern filters have this is certainly not a problem.

The problem with LS motors/filters is location. You can't just fit a larger filter as it will hang down lower than the oil pan and the last thing you want is to hit/damage the filter and loose all your oil/pressure instantly.

I am very much a believer in larger oil filters but that is a discussion for a different thread (which I'm sure we've had somewhere).

Yes a good excuse for remote filter
I was having a look around at parts stash and found another system 1 4”x6” reusable filter or course too large or could go for inline filter as attached

 

[RevNev]

Only planning on changing it once every 1-2 years, depending on how much we actually use the car.

Compared with a V8, the oil gets extremely dirty much faster with the SV6 (LFX) engine and for that reason, I change the oil in mine every 6 months. 9 months and only 3000km's in one LFX engine that had done 45000km's in total, the oil looked like it had been in a V8 for 2 years and 20000km's.

I've never had the oil analysed, but purely in the eyes of 40+ years in the trade, the oil gets too dirty for me in the LFX engine to leave for extended periods.

 

[Skylarking]

I think filters have gotten smaller over the years

Just look at a Holden 308 filter (Z30) and then 304 filter (Z160).

One argument I heard for smaller filters was that once the engine was shut down and oil drained back from the filter, with a larger filter it would take longer for the filter to fill and therefore longer before you got oil pressure. Personally, I never had issues with building oil pressure on a 308 or old 202 which both had larger filters and with the anti-drain back valve modern filters have this is certainly not a problem.

The problem with LS motors/filters is location. You can't just fit a larger filter as it will hang down lower than the oil pan and the last thing you want is to hit/damage the filter and loose all your oil/pressure instantly.

I am very much a believer in larger oil filters but that is a discussion for a different thread (which I'm sure we've had somewhere).

Oil filters have had anti-drain valves for years so filter fill times can't be the reason filters have gotton smaller

I'd guess that filter size if proprtional to the manufacturer's defined service interval which in Holden's case has gone from 12month/20,000km interval in a VH (if memory serves correctly, my VH workshop manuals are packed away) to 9months/15,000kms in my VF.

I'd say less time/kms = less oil goes through the filter = the filter can be smaller to achieve the same filtration capability for the expected fluid volume going through it....

Whatever the reason, vehicle manufactrurers don't require an owner to change oil & filter frequently enough to provide longe vehicle life... That may be part of designed obsolescence or part of fudging a lower service cost for fleets, I don't know but the bottom line is more frequent oil & filter changes - better cleaner engine internals and longer engine life

 

[Immortality]

I don't know when anti-drain back valves became standard but I don't remember seeing them on filters when I first started servicing my own stuff. I'm not saying that was the reason but it's one reason I've heard about. Smaller filters are cheaper to manufacture which sounds like a much more plausible reason (cost of servicing). Maybe it's a packaging issue (less room in the engine bay)? I know of an inlaws Nissan the filter was tiny and on the back of the block (fwd) and a right pain to get too.

I happen to have a Gregories VH manual here and it says 6 months/10,000km.

 

[losh1971]

Yet Fords well into the late 90s were still using the Z9 and that thing is huge.

 

[Immortality]

The Ryco Z9 is identical to the Z30 except the thread where it screws onto the oil pump. Z9 being 3/4" and the Z30 being 13/16". the 3/4" thread is more common and some of my remote oil filter mounts use that filter (Z9).

 

[vc commodore]

Oil filters have had anti-drain valves for years so filter fill times can't be the reason filters have gotton smaller

I'd guess that filter size if proprtional to the manufacturer's defined service interval which in Holden's case has gone from 12month/20,000km interval in a VH (if memory serves correctly, my VH workshop manuals are packed away) to 9months/15,000kms in my VF.

I'd say less time/kms = less oil goes through the filter = the filter can be smaller to achieve the same filtration capability for the expected fluid volume going through it....

Whatever the reason, vehicle manufactrurers don't require an owner to change oil & filter frequently enough to provide longe vehicle life... That may be part of designed obsolescence or part of fudging a lower service cost for fleets, I don't know but the bottom line is more frequent oil & filter changes - better cleaner engine internals and longer engine life

Oil intervals have increased over time, with the filter size decreasing..

VH interval was 10,000K.....VF interval 15,000K

 

[losh1971]

What uses the Z30 now, is the old 308 filter? I remember the filter on my V6 being about the same size as my LS.

 

[vc commodore]

I don't know when anti-drain back valves became standard but I don't remember seeing them on filters when I first started servicing my own stuff. I'm not saying that was the reason but it's one reason I've heard about. Smaller filters are cheaper to manufacture which sounds like a much more plausible reason (cost of servicing). Maybe it's a packaging issue (less room in the engine bay)? I know of an inlaws Nissan the filter was tiny and on the back of the block (fwd) and a right pain to get too.

I happen to have a Gregories VH manual here and it says 6 months/10,000km.

Made a mistake with my post