2001 Lumina Oil Filter Question

Hey guy's, its me again. I have read somewhere that sometimes you can get away with putting a bigger oil filter on a vehicle to flow a higher volume of oil. Right now, i only use an AC Delco PF47, and was wondering if anyone knows of one that could be used in its place, slightly oversized? Anyone ever experimented with this? Comments?

Yes, in many cases you can use a larger oil filter if there is sufficient clearance for it to fit. I started doing this back in the mid to late '80s while working in an auto parts store. A bunch of us were looking in the back of a Fram catalog and they had listed all the sizes of their filters on a chart. You could take the dimensions and as long as it had the same thread, and circumference it should work. Also you need to make sure if your OEM filter has an anti drain back valve, the new one you want to try out also has it. For AC Delcos I think the PF 51 or 52 can replace the PF 47 but to make sure you should compare them side by side to make sure,(it has been a few years since I had used that particular size, so make sure my recommendation is correct before going ahead and using it.) Also remember to calculate the additional oil you'll need when you do your oil changes. I know of a couple of people who changed their filter size and a few oil changes later had "forgotten" about the bigger size filter they were using and couldn't figure out why their dipstick was reading low after changing their oil.The Fram catalogs you find in places like WalMart don't have the charts in the back, and I don't know if the parts counter versions that auto parts counterman use have them anymore either, but I would hope that information might be available on the web for those interested in looking up other sizes for their vehicles.

The AC-Delco PF52 will replace the PF47, but there is no point. There is only a 4oz difference in oil capacity. On the negative side, the longer length can cause oil cavitaion issues at start up (due to the extra weight of the oil escaping past the check valve if the filter is mounted on an angle), and ground/frame clearance issues (because it hangs further down).

thanks guy's for both sides of the arguement