Well.. quit honk honkin @ timmie ho ho'* and lookin for BK delight bra.. get your hands dirty.. :P

:

Once every 3000 miles, 29 beans at the dealer...meh

Sorry to disappoint boys but I've used mostly Frams in my '92 since new. Now going on 205K. Uses no oil between changes. Inspected cylinder walls recently when I dropped oil pan to install new oil pan seal. No scuffs; bearing surface bores!

Inside of valve covers still shiney down in there. Top end very clean. Bottom end has no sludge whatsoever. Oil? Just 10w-40; garden variety that meets GM specs for this car. Oil changes every 3k. Filters every 6k.

Guess I just go lucky huh?!

Nah. Just as I posted before, It all comes down to what your comfortable with. Even if the design of the Fram can allow oil to bypass or drain back doesn't mean it will. The most important thing, which I think that we can all agree, is to change it.

I prefer to lessen my chance of failure, as I have seen oil filters mechanically fail. It was not a Fram. I don't care how quick you are, if your oil filter can fails, and your going down the road at 70mph, your going to do damage. I'm not saying that this is even likely with a Fram, just that is WHY I chose to buck up a bit.

250K on the 3.8? Don't you have any better proof for the Fram? a 3.8 will do 200K with no filter changes at all! (Really, just kidding)

If the Fram works for you, good. I was just giving my reasoning for my filter selection, and by giving the data I used.

No problem Freddie!

I always appreciate hearing input regarding our beloved Bonne'*.

From the time i bought my 94 SE i've always used Mobile 1 synthetic it now has 300,000 km on it the hubby changes it about every 5000k. I bought my 2001 SLE this time last year and have used synthetic oil, with the oil indicator light i find i can go about 6400 to 6500 and the light reads about 28%. Never gave much thought to the oil filter but i will now.

Well, I do the usual 3000 miles, even though I know today'* oil is much better than it used to be. Just habit, I guess. A warning to all drivers who change their own oil I also drive a '00 Dakota. I was changing the oil one time (good filter, PureOne Plus) and the new filter literally exploded when I cranked it back up. Luckily I was looking, so I was able to shut it off immediately before all its life blood drained out. So that'* my two cents': NEVER crank it back up without looking under the car for a few minutes. I don't think it matters how cheap or expensive your parts are, it can happen at any time !

By the way, I am a convert coming out of a Honda Accord (admittedly 10 years older, 200k miles) into this '00 Bonny, which I picked up half a year ago for $ 5700 (not a typo, a buddy of mine is a wholesaler). This car runs smoother and has more power than any import I've been in with 0 or 100k miles, including Mercedes (and it'* only the SE model !) When I am idling at a stop light, I literally can't tell that the engine is running. Try THAT with any Honda! It has 130,000 miles on it, runs and looks showroom new, and there'* not an errant drop of oil or grime anywhere on the engine or drivetrain. On top of that it avoids several costly items over the Honda (new timing belt and water pump every 90k-not necessary here because the Bonny has a timing CHAIN good for the life of the engine; Woo-hooo!! Also, Hondas need new CV joints at least every 50k, because you can't tell the dang boots are shot until the damage has been done, i.e. click-click-click !! The people who've had them will know what I mean !) So basically, I'm sold ! The only thing I will do is replace the ergonomically horrible front seats and put a decent sound system in it. (I'm also flirting with the idea of a chameleon paint job.....only problem is it would cost more than half the price of the entire car !!) I'll post again soon, and I'll try to figure out how to get a picture of my baby on here. Peace !

Funny you should mention your procedure, Mexigerm. I fill the new filter with oil before I spin it on the engine. Then I "bump" the ignition a couple times before I start the car so I get the filter completely full and I don't have a "dry start" situation. Like you, after I start the engine, I look underneath the car for leaks. But in all the years I've been changing my own oil, using almost every manufactures filter in the book, I have never experienced a catastrophic oil filter failure such as what you went through. But, like you said, it could happen, to anyone of us, at anytime. I just hope we never see that day.

always every 3000 miles or 3 months which ever comes first

I have been working on different engines for 25 years and changing oil every 3000 miles is just wasting money. I have gotten 150K+ out of 4 different vehicles changing oil on average of 9000 miles. This was on a Mazda RX-7, Chevy El Camino, Chevy *-10 (4.3L with 210K and still going, changed every 12K), and Honda Civic. I have a 2000 Bonneville SSEi, bought it a year ago with 30K on it and already have 55K. I use Castrol Syntec Blend 5W-40 or 20W-50. The older motors don't like pure synthetic because it causes the seals to swell differently than regular motor oil premature wear or leakage (I read this in several magazines and from oil mfg. info). I use the blend to get the best of both worlds by the extra protection of synthetic and normal seal life from the normal oil. Just my opinion but all these miles with different makes seems like it is working.

2000 Silver SSEi, no mods yet, just driving the wheels off it.