Does the bypass relief valve pressure matter much?

[AJB0009]

On my 2006 Toyota Tacoma, 2.7L, I run a longer oil filter than stock, just to get a bit more filter area.
It calls for a MC FL910-S, Fram Ultra XG3614, or Wix 51348; just a few examples.
I run MC FL400-S, Ultra XG3600, Wix 51516; again, just for a few examples.
According to Fram's website, the bypass pressure for both filters listed above is 12 P.S.I.
The Wix website lists 8-11 P.S.I. for the 51348, but 16 P.S.I. for the 51516.
Does that matter? Is it significant in any way?
If a person lives in NC (versus Barrow Alaska), runs quality oil, and replaces the filter at 10k miles or less; the bypass should never open, correct?
I have never really given this any thought before; when it comes to selecting an oil filter to install.

 

[MRC01]

If you search you'll find this question extensively discussed here at BITOG.
The short answer is that the bypass valve opens when the filter is clogged (which should never happen), and may also open on cold starts when the oil is thick. If the latter happens it's only for a moment and should be no big deal.

 

[thastinger]

The bypass valve only opens if the filter becomes clogged or the oil pump delivers more oil than the filter can process (like maybe during wide open throttle). Not much difference in the filters you listed.

 

[wpod]

The bypass valve only opens if the filter becomes clogged or the oil pump delivers more oil than the filter can process (like maybe during wide open throttle). Not much difference in the filters you listed.

That is every time the engine starts. There was a time it was trendy to block off the oil bypass valve on the blocks oil filter adaptor on hotrodded Chevrolet engines and there were lots of damaged hot rod engined for filter failures due to blocking off the bypass valve.

 

[ZeeOSix]

A filter's bypass valve setting is not only based on what engine it is used on for expected max oil pump flow rate and cold oil thickness, but also based on the filter's delta-p vs flow performance. In other words, if a filter has high dP vs flow, then the bypass valve would need to be set higher to ensure the bypass valve doesn't open too soon and too often. And the higher the bypass valve is set, the more stress the media and center tube needs to be able to withstand. Lots of factors to look at.

All you can do is trust that the oil filter designers have designed the right bypass valve setting into the filter that they specify for your engine. If you look at 10 different filters specified for the same engine, their bypass valve setting will not all be the same. Nobody here could determine if that was done right without conducting some controlled testing of the filter. The only other thing you can do to help keep the filter from bypassing when the oil is cold and thick is to keep the engine revs down until the oil warms-up.

 

[ZeeOSix]

That is every time the engine starts. There was a time it was trendy to block off the oil bypass valve on the blocks oil filter adaptor on hotrodded Chevrolet engines and there were lots of damaged hot rod engined for filter failures due to blocking off the bypass valve.

Learning from experimentation is sometimes dangerous, lol.

 

[nomas]

Does it matter ? This is BITOG . How can you ask a question like that ? There are people here that lose sleep over those kinds of things .

 

[oil pan 4]

Hopefully bypass numbers don't matter and it never gets used but cold oil and dirty filters it probably gets used every day.
It looks like new oil filters only develop like 3psid cold starting on a mild day.
When the oil filter has say 5,000miles and 200hrs and it's below freezing, it probably makes a little more.

 

[oil pan 4]

The bypass valve only opens if the filter becomes clogged or the oil pump delivers more oil than the filter can process (like maybe during wide open throttle). Not much difference in the filters you listed.

The oil pump pressure relief dumps excess oil before it gets to the filter.
On old small block Chevy engines with high performance 90psi oil pump relief springs it was believed the most oil the engine would ever use was around 10gpm but the oil pumps would normally be trying to pump 18 to 22gpm at 6,000 crank RPMs.

 

[Kira]

Sis got her Mazda3 in 2012. I'm pretty sure it was the first year for "Skyactiv".
Filter catalogs acknowledged the difference between the existing 2.0l engine and the new 1998cc Skyactiv engine.
Since the baseplate was the same, filter companies crossed the older 2.0 filter to the new 1998cc engine.
However, there was a by-pass setting difference these filter companies decided to ignore.
I can't recall the numbers exactly but I think the newer filter was lower bypass pressure.
Hastings (RIP) and Wix required ~6 months to include the newer spec filter in their catalogs.
It was a 'feel good' revelation.

Now imagine how I feel.....always a Hastings loyalist who found comfort in Wix filters too.
Wix has been branded an "average" filter and Hastings was simply curtailed.
It is a drag when bedrocks of one's belief system vanish.

 

[oil pan 4]

That is every time the engine starts. There was a time it was trendy to block off the oil bypass valve on the blocks oil filter adaptor on hotrodded Chevrolet engines and there were lots of damaged hot rod engined for filter failures due to blocking off the bypass valve.

Yeah there's guys who reuse cam bearings, and throw sets of rod and main bearings in engines and don't check the clearances with Plasti gauge. I'm sure a lot of these engines were quite loose fitting and the oil flowed through them rather freely. The same guys were probably running high flow oil pumps and 70 to 90psi pump reliefs.

 

[fantastic]

As noted by others the media construction & Holding capacity is two of the primary determinants of what bypass PSI will be.

 

[twX]

Assuming the larger filter has less restriction, the bypass setting can be lower without increasing the tendency of the filter to bypass. I'd be hesitant to use a filter with a higher bypass setting than OEM. The higher bypass setting may delay the pressure rise downstream of the filter on a cold start.

Some temporary bypassing of oil around the filter is not a big deal. There's a study that shows that engines that bypass 90% of oil flow only experience around a doubling of wear rates. If an oil filter is only bypassing 20% of oil flow, and bypassing only occasionally, the effect on engine wear will be negligible. Quickly building oil pressure is much more important than having slightly cleaner oil on a cold start, though in your climate it's not much to worry about. With a high efficiency filter like the FRAM Ultra, the oil in the sump will be so clean that bypassing is even less of a concern.

 

[thastinger]

That is every time the engine starts. There was a time it was trendy to block off the oil bypass valve on the blocks oil filter adaptor on hotrodded Chevrolet engines and there were lots of damaged hot rod engined for filter failures due to blocking off the bypass valve.

I can 100% say that the filter bypass valve won't make a difference. I bought a pair of Kawasaki 1200cc 4 stroke jet skies a few years back. One had some moisture intrusion, once I got it started, it would blow the o-ring out of the filter at any RPM above 1500. Had to pull the engine to replace the rusted closed/inop internal oil pressure relief valve. 33 dollar part but no way to get to it without pulling the motor. She runs great now, 8 years later.

 

[thastinger]

The oil pump pressure relief dumps excess oil before it gets to the filter.
On old small block Chevy engines with high performance 90psi oil pump relief springs it was believed the most oil the engine would ever use was around 10gpm but the oil pumps would normally be trying to pump 18 to 22gpm at 6,000 crank RPMs.

See my other post in this thread, had to pull a jet ski motor because the inter relief was rusted shut, it would blow the filter O-ring at anything above 1500 RPMs.

 

[ZeeOSix]

The oil pump pressure relief dumps excess oil before it gets to the filter.

Even in that case, it still depends on what the oil volume and viscosity is going through the oil filter (and how loaded the filter is) if those conditions put the filter in bypass or not. The filter's bypass operation, and the oil pump pressure relief operation are caused by independent factors ... they are not connected.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I'd be hesitant to use a filter with a higher bypass setting than OEM. The higher bypass setting may delay the pressure rise downstream of the filter on a cold start.

That would only happen if the oil pump was in pressure relief. If the pump is not in pressure relief, then all of the oil leaving the pump has to go through the filter, even if the filter is in bypass.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I can 100% say that the filter bypass valve won't make a difference. I bought a pair of Kawasaki 1200cc 4 stroke jet skies a few years back. One had some moisture intrusion, once I got it started, it would blow the o-ring out of the filter at any RPM above 1500. Had to pull the engine to replace the rusted closed/inop internal oil pressure relief valve. 33 dollar part but no way to get to it without pulling the motor. She runs great now, 8 years later.

Sounds like what failed was the oil pump pressure relief valve, so the filter gasket would blow because the oil pump had uncontrolled oil pressure output. No oil filter relief valve is going to matter in that case. Two separate functions going on there.

 

[twX]

That would only happen if the oil pump was in pressure relief. If the pump is not in pressure relief, then all of the oil leaving the pump has to go through the filter, even if the filter is in bypass.

True, but oil doesn't need to be all that thick for an oil pump to be in pressure relief at cold idle. On typical engine, the oil pump may be bypassing on cold start with room temperature oil. In any case, I was mostly concerned with colder starts when oil pressure buildup is more critical, at temperatures where any oil pump will be bypassing.

 

[PontiacHO]

Bypassing or not, the oil getting to the main galleys and cam brgs has been through the filter. The rest is being dumped back in the sump. Those backyard high performance engine builds with the hi pressure oil pumps were pumping bypassed oil back to the pan. They just thought that 90 psi was protecting the engine. I guess if you have .0045 bearing clearances it’s a band aid. Then as mentioned earlier, the group that eliminated the bypass especially on Chevys were in danger of blowing an oil filter can. Seen this on a cold winter day with a 1973 455 SD Trans Am.