Note: This article was recovered from an earlier version of Technilube.com and republished to preserve useful information and site history. Some details, links, product information, terminology, and availability may reflect the original publication date
Amsoil has released an announcement for anyone using their EaO9 and EaO10 Absolute Efficiency Oil Filter or planning to use one. The most common applications are in the 1.8 liter Toyota built engine found in Toyota, Lexus, and the Pontiac Vibe. Apparently these filters are getting clogged quickly with sludge produced by these engines. Toyota has yet to explain the cause of the sludge development, but because these filters are of such high quality and filtering capacity, they are catching the formations and prematurely filling the filter before the rated 25,000 or one year lifespan is up. For this reason Amsoil has released a warning, and there are now labels being adhered to the boxes, recommending this filter for the standard OEM recommended drain for these vehicles.
Other brand filters are not effected, since they do not offer these extended intervals, and in many cases, since the quality of the filter is less, it won’t capture this sludge which will continue to circulate within the engine. If you are planning an Amsoil purchase in the near future, unless you want the higher quality of the Amsoil Filter, cost effectiveness might warrant the purchase of the Wix filter counterpart also available through Amsoil. This is still a good quality filter which will go the standard interval. If you already have the Amsoil Oil Filter, there is nothing wrong with this filter, in fact it is doing it’s job only too well. If you are still looking for the best engine protection, then this filter is still for you. If your reason for purchasing this filter was to save money in the long run by only needing one filter for the standard Amsoil recommended drain, then consider the Wix as a better cost effective choice.
There is still nothing wrong with using the Amsoil motor oil at the recommended extended drain interval, just change the filter. The question comes to mind, if this is the findings of using a high quality synthetic in these engines, just imagine what the standard oil others are using must be doing.
This gives flashbacks to the early 2000s when Toyotas had problems with their V6 engines. At that time there was an oil circulation issue that didn’t permit the oil to flow as freely and was literaly baking petroleum oils in 300+ degree temperatures. Even some synthetics were having problems. Because of this, Amsoil considered these engines Severe Duty and only recommended drains of 15,000 miles or one year. I believe later Toyota acknoledged the design problem and may have had a recall, or at least a TSB. This effected many V6s in both Toyota and Lexus brands. If you have one of these, and weren’t aware of this issue, you might wish to look into it more. Your engine may not be protected as well as it could be.
