Replacing your Oil Filter. When is the right time?

When do I change my oil filter?

As a rule of thumb most oil filters should be replaced any time you change your engine oil or every 8,000 to 15,000 kilometres as per your scheduled servicing and owner’s manual, however, if you drive down dusty roads or use your vehicle for a little bit of 4x4 adventure than you should have your oil filter replaced at least every 10,000km. If you use your vehicle for towing heavy payloads, in stop start traffic every day or in extreme temperatures you should look to replace your oil filter on a more regular basis. This is because the harder your engine works and the hotter the oil gets the quicker your engine components wear. Keeping your oil and lubrication system clean not only protects the life of the engine, but actually saves you money in fuel. If you see a Service Engine icon or your Oil Pressure light comes on you should stop driving your car and have those engine codes checked by a mechanic. You may find that it's just the oil level is low, the oil filter is no longer working to its optimum efficiency or worst case scenario your engine is losing oil pressure from wear and tear.

How do I check or replace my oil filter?

Access to the oil filter is very vehicle dependant. It’s usually screwed into the engine block or close-by in a remote location in the engine bay but usually within arm’s reach. You never really need to check you oil filter, it's best to just replace it and be safe rather than sorry. Oil filters are well priced and can be as easy as a 5 minute job to replace.

When replacing your oil filter we recommend doing an engine oil change at the same time. Shop the full range of Penrite, Castrol, Repco, Shell, Nulon, among other industry leading engine oil brands online today. While you're changing your oil filter inspect your air filter and spark plugs at the same time. Keep your engine well lubricated at all times to keep it performing at its best. With a few simple tools and about 30 minutes you can replace your oil filter and engine oil. You'll need a car jack or some car ramps, an oil drain pan, a funnel, a socket set, some rags and an oil filter wrench.

What does my car gain by changing the oil filter?

By replacing your oil and oil filter at the correct intervals you're ensuring that your engine can run on a reliable constant supply of fresh, clean and correct amounts of oil to lubricate and best look after your engine's valve train, resulting in better fuel efficiency and restoring the engines original power. When replacing your oil filter its best to finish the service and change out your oil, fuel filter, air filter and inspect your spark plugs. Your engine only runs as good as it's looked after, so keep your other filters clean and filtering out the harmful grit and contaminants from your air and fuel system much like your oil filter.

What Type of oil filter should I choose?

Oil filters are completely dependent on your vehicle. Whether its diesel, petrol, European or Japanese, your oil filter can be dependent on a number of things. Most modern oil filters are a spin on metal cartridge type of filter, the other type of oil filter, often fitted to European vehicles is a paper cartridge oil filter that fits into the vehicles oil filter remote reservoir this is a simple pull out the old one, put in the new seals (oil filter comes with all seals) and place in the new oil filter. Close it up and you're ready to go. To see which oil filter is correct for you, use the REGO Search function at the top of the page to select your vehicle and our catalogue will give you an option of every oil that fits your vehicle. With a huge range of Filters from some of the biggest brands such as Ryco, Repco, K&N Donaldson and Silverline there should be an option to suit your vehicle. All Repco Filters are designed to meet or outperform the original manufacturers filter while maintaining your existing vehicle warranty.