The Anatomy of an Oil Filter

From the outside, you can’t tell anything about how good an oil filter is on the inside. All you can see is whatever paint or label is on it. But what’s on the inside is critical to your engine and so it should be to you as well.

On my old car, the one I used to get through college, I went to one of those quick oil change places that were cheap and supposed to be fast. I had no idea what kind of filter they put on my car, I think it was white. I had idea what oil went into the car either.

But after graduation when I began to make some real income I bought my first new car, an Infiniti G35. I love that car. When it came time for its first service at 3750 miles I didn’t even think about returning to that fast oil change place, I took the car to my local Infiniti Express Service dealer. I learned about this service when I bought my car— Infiniti certified technicians work on the car and use only genuine Infiniti parts to service it. And that means a lot to me.

You see, after I bought my new car I spent a lot of time Googling all kinds of things about cars—topics I’d never cared about before because I’d never had a great car like my new Infiniti. One night I learned a lot about oil filters, turns out they’re not all the same and the differences are very important.

Inside an oil filter, there is a pleated material that is the actual filter. This filter "media" allows oil to flow through but catches particles above a certain size. What this material is made of and how many pleats it has is very important. Some filters have media that is basically paper, others use advanced synthetic materials. Some media doesn’t let the oil flow very well and at the same time doesn’t even filter very well! Good media doesn’t impede the oil flow and it catches particles well—you can have your cake and eat it too.

The filter media is sealed at both ends with endplates, some filters use cheap cardboard for this and others use metal. Every oil filter should have a bypass valve (some don’t though) which in case the filter gets clogged opens and allows oil to continue to flow to your engine. Some bypass valves are made from nitrile rubber which doesn’t work well when cold, some are made from silicone which is much more durable than nitrile and some are made from metal which is obviously very durable. Lastly, filters should have an anti-drain back valve, and these can vary in quality just as the bypass valves do.

I know that Infiniti put a filter on my car that was made to work with the recommended oil in my car, and that lives up to the high quality standards that Infiniti sets for its vehicles. I’m not willing to gamble my new car’s engine on the unknown quality of the oil filters at the corner quick oil change place. I’ll trust my Infiniti Express Service dealer to put genuine Infiniti parts like oil and air filters into my car, and have them put there by certified technicians that know what they’re doing.

And guess what I discovered? Infiniti Express Service is just as fast (if not faster!) then that quick oil change place I used to go to. Infiniti Express Service is about the same price too. Plus, at Express Service they give me car a complimentary multi-point safety inspection, test my battery, and wash my car before they return it to me! You can bet I’ll bring my car back to my Infiniti Express Service dealer for my 5000, 7500, and 15000 mile service too.