I want to change my oil filter only (w/o changing the oil) and have never done this.

Will any oil other than whatever is in the filter spill out?
Would jacking up either side of the car help prevent spillage?
Also, if my oil level was full to the highest "X" before the change, how much oil do you generally have to add after changing only the filter?

Thanks

 

Best thing to do is to leave the car level and put a drain pan under the oil filter. You will lose what's around the filter connector. Loosen the filter with a wrench till you can spin it by hand strength, then turn it by hand quickly till the oil begins to fall out. Stop unscrewing at that point and let it drain for a couple of minutes till it stops. Then you can carefully spin it off and tilt it to virtical asap to minimize more spillage. You'll have to go down with a rag and wipe up any splashes. You won't help it by jacking the car up. Oil comes from both the filter and the engine side.
When you've got the new filter on, don't guess how much more oil to put back in. If it was full before you started, you won't have lost more than about 1/2 qt (probably less). Just drive the car and check the level the next morning and top up then.

 

I just changed the filter, and I apparently had the wrong Honda OEM filter on the car for the past 3k miles. I frequently checked the oil and it never dropped below the low mark on the dipstick (although I did have to add oil frequently). There was oil in the filter that I removed.

Other than a slight leak, could using the wrong filter have caused any damage? Should I change the oil that is in there now?

Thank you.

 

You said you have driven around for about 3K miles w/the wrong filter... do you change your oil periodically at 3K miles? IMO, you should've just changed your oil and oil filter at the same time.

 

I use Mobil 1 synthetic and travel mostly highway miles. Therefore, I figured I would change the filter every 3k and do the oil/filter change every 6k. I think the Honda recommended maintenance schedule is a change every 7.5k. Obviously I am not an expert (I used the wrong filter ) so if anyone thinks I should change more frequently I would listen to the reasons why.

 

Okay, makes more sense to me now.

 

In my opinion, since you're using Synthetic oil and drive mostly highway miles, you're probably most likely to fall under the category of "Normal" maintenance schedule.

And under the "Normal" Schedule you should change both the Oil and Filter at 7500 miles.

 

You'd really better change that filter. The filtering modules that circulate through the engine are a different size than the ones in the proper PCX filter and they could have gotten caught in the small passageways of the phase modulator.



Dude, just leave the other Honda filter on there till the next oil change or change the oil and filter together. The proper PCX filter is a better grade of filter than the standard one used on Hondas (PLM IIRC) but it really won't hurt anything to be on there for a few thousand miles.

That is assuming that you just used the wrong Honda filter. If you used some other filter, what did you use?

I think you are being obsessive or someone else is being obsessive for you.

 

Or you can be anal like me and run synthetic and change the oil and filter at 5K. Makes for a nice easy to remember interval.

 

That is just silly. 7500 for filter and oil is fine in your case. 5K if you want to get anal about it.