Wix Filters says its new EcoLast line of heavy-duty spin-on oil filters can double oil life by trapping damaging acids, saving fleets $100 to $200 a year.

Keith Wilson, president of Wix parent company Affinia Global Filtration Group, called the innovation the most significant since the company invented the spin-on oil filter in 1955, in making the announcement at the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in Las Vegas.

Wix says the EcoLast does not add anything to the oil, unlike other filters that try to extend oil drain intervals by using slow-release additive extenders, which oil suppliers frown upon. Instead, it uses a proprietary media as well as a durable filter housing designed to last the entire extended drain.

The EcoLAST oil filters capture dirt and soot like a traditional filter, while using a new proprietary media to sequester the acids in the oil. "Current extended drain technologies, such as time release additives, sacrificial elements, on-board refining and bypass filtration, are all limited by build up of acidity levels," the company said in a release.

Acid is a key element in how long an oil will protect an engine. There has been some concern that some of the new CJ-4 lubricants, because the additive package had to change to protect the diesel particulate filter, may not be as good at controlling oil in extended drain situations.

Wix officials would not share much information about the proprietary filter media. They did say it includes both cellulosic and synthetic media. It's a very thick, wire-reinforced media. It appears to have less pleat count than thinner media filters, "but it's what's between those two pieces of wire that counts," said Edward Covington, the engineer who led the development of the filter.

As with any time truck owners extend oil drain intervals, oil analysis is necessary when using the new filter. However, no changes in oil formulation or engine are required.

The EcoLast filter was field-tested with 15 large fleets, using the Southwest Research Institute to analyze oil samples. In one fleet, 17 Cummins ISX engines ran for 1.7 million total miles with the new filter over 13 months. The oil drain interval was extended on average from 22,853 miles to 54,185 miles.

The first ecoLAST oil filters will become available between February and April for the Cummins ISX, Cummins M11, Mack MP8, Detroit DD60, Caterpillar C13 and Caterpillar C15.