oil conversion filter kit?

racekar

Member
Are there any negative aspects of using the oil conversion kit ? Why didnt are cars come with a normal filter kit in the first place? I just dont want the dealer to say something or give me a headache is something ever does go wrong blaming it on the kit?
thanks if anyone has any knowledge or experience with the conversion kit
 
there is very little that can go wrong with the kit - its OEM Mazda parts that come with it. if you have a non turbo 2.3, you are basically switching to the setup used on a 2.0. if you are running a turbo 2.3 then you are switching to the setup used on newer 2.3 Tributes.

Mazda6 and Mazda3 owners have been doing
this conversion now since 2003/2004 with no ill effects. It makes changing your oil alot easier in my opinion. Drain the oil, spin off and spin on, refill.

As to why they went with cartridges, no one ever gave me a valid reason so I'll tell you my thoughts - cartridge filters are cheaper to manufacture than spin on filters. Until real recently, few third party companies tackled making any substitutes which allowed dealers to get alot of thier oil change business back from Manny Moe and Jack, etc. You can't tell me its ok for a 2.3 Tribute with an oil cooler to run a spin on but its not ok for a lighter Mazda3 to do so. Mazda still charges about the same for a cartridge refill as they do for a spin on, so to me it comes down to money and not science.
 
there is very little that can go wrong with the kit - its OEM Mazda parts that come with it. if you have a non turbo 2.3, you are basically switching to the setup used on a 2.0. if you are running a turbo 2.3 then you are switching to the setup used on newer 2.3 Tributes.

Mazda6 and Mazda3 owners have been doing
this conversion now since 2003/2004 with no ill effects. It makes changing your oil alot easier in my opinion. Drain the oil, spin off and spin on, refill.

As to why they went with cartridges, no one ever gave me a valid reason so I'll tell you my thoughts - cartridge filters are cheaper to manufacture than spin on filters. Until real recently, few third party companies tackled making any substitutes which allowed dealers to get alot of thier oil change business back from Manny Moe and Jack, etc. You can't tell me its ok for a 2.3 Tribute with an oil cooler to run a spin on but its not ok for a lighter Mazda3 to do so. Mazda still charges about the same for a cartridge refill as they do for a spin on, so to me it comes down to money and not science.

do you ever sleep? (gossip)
 
thanks just wanted to see if anyone was having issues before i buy this kit.
it is def easier to use a filter vs the cartridge style

thanks again
 
I don't really see where it's easier to the point of justifying this expense. I remove my canister in the same manner I remove the standard filter on my truck, and it's replaced in much the same manner, with one small added step of taking 2 seconds to change the old cartridge for a new one.

In either case, oil runs down the filter / canister when you loosen either. I guess I just don't find the cartridge setup to be difficult. It takes me no longer to change the oil on my MS6 than it did on my MZ3 2.0.
 
I have the kit, no issues whatsoever. In fact I just took it to the dealer and had them install it since its an OEM part. They installed it in about 15 minutes for like $30.

The main reason I bought this was b/c I wanted to use a better oil filter on my baby. I'm using amsoil eA oil filters. Far superior to the junk filters that you'll get at jiffy lube or wherever and they last WAY longer.
 
Cartridge filters are way more environmentally friendly. You can drain a much greater percentage of the oil out when you change, and there is much less mass that needs to be thrown away. If you want to really drain a spin-on, you have to punch holes in it, adding to the time for the change and making even more mess. I know a lot of you don't care about this kind of thing, but our children will hate you for it.

It is also easier to see if there are bits of metal in the filter - spin-ons need to be cut open to look inside. Race teams routinely do this and there are special tools to do it.
 
Cartridge filter is definetly more environmentally friendly !
Really didn't notice that much of a difference on my first DIY oil change - most time consuming portion of the job was to re&re the splash shield and attaching hardware on the M3 !
 
i noticed that I get 2 rubber rings one large and 1 small for the middle bolt on the filter housing. Im assuming its to drain the oil from the cartridge so it doesnt spill all over the place. do i really need to remove that bolt though? what does everyone else do?
 
I remove the canister and don't touch the drain bolt. It's exactly like removing a regular oil filter...oil overflows and runs down it into the pan. One less o-ring to deal with.
 
You might replace that smaller O ring every once in a while to make sure it is relatively fresh.

Super duper hot oil and engine oil pressure constantly work on it and may, after a period of time, cause it to fail.

And we all know what that would do....
 
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