I'm disappointed that Mazda would design a system with a cartridge filter. I thought it was kinda unanimous that spin-on filters were much easier to deal with. I have several ******- and Kaiser-era jeeps that originally came with cartridge filters, and I was lucky enough to find some aftermarket NOS spin-on conversion kits to make oil changing easier.

I do all my own maintenance work on my vehicles, which includes oil changes. I'm from the school that the SAE "SJ" rating is evidence enough that it is a quality oil, so I use WalMart oil and filters, partly because of the cost, and partly because of the convenience. I'm disappointed to hear that the Mazda filter is $8 (or even $5 that I've seen at online sites) and is difficult to procure. I got very comfortable with my previous disposable sedan doing an oil change in 10 minutes, spending $4.68 for the oil, and $2.07 for the filter. I changed it religiously at 4k miles, and traded it at 119k in less than 4 years with absolutely no oil-related issues (or any issues for that matter)

Does anyone have any evidence that Mazda's cartridge design is far superior and one shouldn't do the spin-on conversion?

Mark in MA

 

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What is a cartridge design? How is it harder? And what is the main difference? I have honestly never heard of it before. I just bought my 6 maybe a 1,000 miles ago. Thank you!

 

People, please go here...

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...?ubb=forum;f=6

There those of us who speculate as to which filter is better. Then there are those oil nerds who can't sleep without knowing which is better by testing.

Lets leave it to them to do the hard work and make our decision based on their findings.

Sam

 

what is the difference between mazda's cartridge filter and the normal screw on ones?

 

I always change my own oil.

My previous Kia disposable sedan:
Oil Supertech 10w-30, $4.68 at WalMart
Filter Supertech 6607 $2.07 at Walmart

Lie on creeper, reach under car (too low to actually roll under car), loosen drain plug, drain into pan.
Get up. With left hand, reach behind engine, loosen filter.
Pull filter out from top of engine, verify rubber gasket still on filter (see my previous posts on why I need to verify).
Coat new filter gasket with oil, screw it on.
Replace drain plug, fill engine with oil.
Run engine to check for leaks and fill oil filter.
Top off oil

10 minutes, tops.


My Mazda6 2.3l oil change this past weekend:

Buy filter $5.68 at Robbins Auto Parts (4th place I tried)
Oil Castrol 5w-30 $9.97 at Walmart (couldn't find 5w-20).

Jack left front wheel.
Insert Jack stand under left front.
Jack right front wheel.
Insert jack stand under right front.
Lie on creeper, roll under car, remove 7 bolts and one trim fastener from plastic shield covering entire undercarriage.
Remove plastic shield.
Remove drain plug, drain oil into pan.
Get 2nd pan, because drain plug is too far away from filter to drain both at same time.
Remove filter drain.
Remove filter housing.
Prepare clean surface on bench to remove/replace two o-rings from filter drain and filter housing.
Replace cartridge filter element
reinstall filterhousing and filter drain
reinstall oil drain plug.
Fill engine with oil.
Run engine to check for leaks and fill oil filter with oil.
Top off oil.
reinstall plastic shield
Jack right front, remove jackstand
jack left front, remove jackstand.

I probably spent an hour on this. Mazda made this process painfully complex.

To solve this problem, last night I ordered the spin-on conversion kit ($46 shipped, including filter). Once I convert it, I will also cut two holes in the shield...one large one under the filter, one smaller one under the drain plug.

It's a shame I need to do this to an '06.

Here's the link for the conversion:
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...tegoryID=73739


Mark in MA

 

Hey MrSpike,
read the whole thread and your questions will be answered...

 

hay sorry but when i towed cars the only oil filters ive ever seen birst are fram fram sucks in my experince ! i buy factorey filters for what ever i drive . you want to save 5.00 bucks or buy a motor a 8.00 buck dealer filter is worth every penny, hay this is a great topic to decus , more talk the better we all can reason out what is better for each of us . as fore me fram stunks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![sm=closed.gif]

 

I've had more than one Mazda factory oil filter leave their rubber gasket on the car. Also, I've noticed that the Mazda filters for the V6 aren't consistent in their size. With some of them, my cap wrench fits on perfectly. On others it is so tight I have to use a small hammer tap the cap wrench on the end. Then it is a bear to get the wrench off. Same exact part number on all of them but the ones that are the smaller of the two have a red 'F02R 02A2' stamped on the side. The ones that are slightly bigger have a black 'F08R08G1' stamped on the end. Made by two different manufacturers I guess. My wrench sure likes the smaller ones better!

 

Hi folks,
I'm new to this site but thought I might post something of interest. After-market parts can be used and not void OEM warranties. Check out the The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (Federal Law).