Motor Week - Goss - filter fumble

Status
Not open for further replies.

dnewton3

Staff member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
11,342
Location
Indianapolis, IN
If you didn't catch this past M/W espisode, Goss helped us all by understanding why a "cheap" filter is a terrible thing. And then he pointed to the spring-loaded bypass valve (on what appeared to be a TG, perhaps?) and called it a "check valve" that is there to hold oil in the engine to reduce drainback ...


In the absence of the ability to speak with him directly, I am only left with two possible conclusions:
1) he was g(r)ossly mistaken (get the pun?)
2) he really is that uninformed

And yet people will take what he states as gospel for others to espouse.

Thanks, Pat.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Eddie
Is it not a spring loaded "check valve"? Terminology difference


Not really. A check valve prevents fluid flow from reversing direction. A bypass valve allows fluid to continue flow around an obstruction, in this case the filter media.
 
I suspect he knows well what the difference is and how it actually works.

I didn't see the spot, but even that sort of TV is dumbed down to laymans terms...

Realistically, If I started a thread everytime that I saw something inaccurate on TV - I would do nothing at all except start threads on inaccuracies on TV.
grin.gif


Watch the Gold Rush episode where they explain why it is a bad thing for a running pump to submerge. If you really understand why it is a bad thing, it will make your head explode...
 
I love motor week.. but I usually take anything Goss says with a grain a salt.

But i can definitely understand as a fellow oil geek that one takes the cake.
 
Yup, saw it and almost fell off my chair! I take some comfort was that his primary message was sound: " don't cheap out on oil filters"

Motor Week is good, even my wife enjoys it. Having said that, they deal in generalities and not much detail ~ the constraints of making a 22 minute show entertaining for almost all.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim_Truett
Originally Posted By: Eddie
Is it not a spring loaded "check valve"? Terminology difference


Not really. A check valve prevents fluid flow from reversing direction. A bypass valve allows fluid to continue flow around an obstruction, in this case the filter media.


So the bypass valve is also a check valve, but according to your quote his further remarks about it were wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: Texan4Life
I love motor week.. but I usually take anything Goss says with a grain a salt....

+1 Though I have difficulty catching it, I too like MotorWeek but also take PG's advice and points with huge grain of salt. I believe he has some indebtedness to sponsors so he doesn't come from an entirely impartial point of view. Not a big fan of PG.

As for the check valve discussion/distinction, the ADBV is a one way 'check valve' ie., designed to allow flow in one direction only.

That is not the function of the bypass. The bypass' other common name is a 'relief' valve ie., designed to relieve pressure at a set psi.
 
I occasionally find him to make a minor mistake during his technical presentations. He tends to recommend excessive maintenance, but then you have to look who sponsors him.

I just saw him say to keep your fuel tank low on fuel to increase fuel economy. Ya gotta be kidding.
 
It's number two...

these guys most of them don't have a clue when there doing presentations like this stuff. People think Mechanics are experts on oil, farthest from the truth.

I've caught old Goss making mistakes many times over the years.
 
Originally Posted By: KGMtech
Yup, saw it and almost fell off my chair! I take some comfort was that his primary message was sound: " don't cheap out on oil filters"


Is that the one where at the end, he ends with recommending using factory brand filters? If so it kind of puts a question into the primary message. Most OEM filters put a premium on flow over all else, and are little more than rock screens when it comes to filtration.
 
I can get past the whole topic of the term "check valve" ... That was the word he chose and used, not mine.

But when he points DIRECTLY at the Bypass valve (they typical spring loaded small nylon-type poppet at the dome end of the media) and then states it's function is to prevent drainback (eg the ADBV), he's just plain wrong.

If he truly knows about filters, that's a heinous error on his part. If he doesn't, then he should have someone else talk for him. Either way, it undermines an already weak sense of credibility. Do we all makes mistakes? Absolutely. But most of us don't have the luxury of a full recording crew and the ability to make several "takes" of the shot. This wasn't a simple goof; this was flat being wrong.

Howver, MOST of the uninformed that watch the show will take him at his word. MOST people are not BITOGers. MOST will believe he's an "expert".

Surprised he didn't mention how evil the fiber end cap was .....
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
...
But when he points DIRECTLY at the Bypass valve (they typical spring loaded small nylon-type poppet at the dome end of the media) and then states it's function is to prevent drainback (e.g. the ADBV), he's just plain wrong...


OH, you are absolutely right, that is wrong...

The episode is online, it is the one with he M3 and M4.
 
Originally Posted By: daman
Think Goss has a BITOG account?
grin2.gif


crackmeup2.gif




Here is the offending segment in all it's glory:
http://www.motorweek.org/features/goss_garage/cheap_oil_filters
His flub is both in the video and written text, for all to see.

I guess we could argue that he was hedging a comment about "sevearl different purposes", but for goodness sake, this guy is supposed to be an ASE certified mechanic, giving out advice to the downtrodden so that we'll bask in the glow of lube-related consciousness.
PUH-LEEZE, SIR .... DON'T POINT TO THE BYPASS VALVE AND TALK ABOUT THE ADBV FUNCTION!!!!!
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top