When changing your oil filter use the filter made for a 4.3L Chevy. I used the one for my 98 Blazer but anything newer will work. This filter is the same diameter and the same thread but is 1″ longer than a stock 3.8L filter. This gives you longer life and better oil filtration performance.
A warning from one of our readers:
In the tech articles on your website (good reading, by
the way), you list running an oversize, longer oil
filter. Many people do, and in the past, I did as
well. I don’t anymore as a problem occurred, and I
thought I would bring it to your attention so that
maybe you could add a word of warning to your tech
article.
Not too long ago, while I was running the larger oil
filter, my lower motor mount failed (possibly the
tranny mount as well…I have not checked it). I did
not notice it until my real problem occurred. The
failed motor mount caused the engine to drop just
enough so that the oil filter was actually resting on
the cradle. One day when I pulled into work, after
hitting a not so major bump in the road, I parked my
car. When I came out of work later on, my oil was
everywhere. There was a trail from the entrance to the
parking lot to the spot I had parked in, and the
puddle of oil under my car was huge. That last bump
before pulling into work was enough to crack the oil
filter. I had to hacksaw the filter off as I had no
other way to remove it.
I just thought I would bring this to your attention
so that maybe you could advise people to check their
lower motor mounts before upgrading to the larger oil
filter. The combination of bad mounts and larger
filter could have been quite a catastrophe for me had
it occurred when on the highway and I may not have
noticed what had happened immediately. I don’t know if
this info matters to you at all or not, but I thought
that it was worth sharing.
-Matt
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