Filter efficiency and diminishing returns

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Is there a point where fitting to smaller and smaller microns has no benefit for engine longevity? Is there any data on this??
 
Google 'wear vs particle size'.

This one was kind of interesting:
http://bakkenoilbiz.com/trucking/50000-hour-off-highway-diesel-engine-rebuilds-they-are-possible/

Even though it's talking about big diesel engines, the wear vs particle size information should still hold true for "Avg Joe's" car on the road.

Of course, on engines like this they tend to use high efficiency bypass filtering, etc to filter way down to 5 microns or less because they claim that most wear is done by particles that are 10 microns of less (see Figure 1 and the text in the article).
 
A bypass filter typically lets you run the oil longer but does not help with having the engine last longer.

The filter needs to be a balance between clogging up too soon and filtering small micron particles.
 
There's probably a point where you're filtering fine enough that the engine is unlikely to wear out from oil related causes before something else happens to it, but it would be tough to actually determine what that threshold is.
 
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Does filter efficiency have anything to do with engine longevity?

No.


According to the article I linked to above, it does.
 
Originally Posted By: ToadU
Is there a point where fitting to smaller and smaller microns has no benefit for engine longevity? Is there any data on this??


The only practical way of achieving filtering efficiency much better than +/-95% of the 20 micron sized particles is a bypass setup.
You don't see these as factory equipment on any car or light truck, even cost no object high end ones.
Do smaller particle sizes contribute to engine wear?
Sure, as per the link provided above in this thread as well as links in a number of other threads on this very topic.
Does this actually matter in practice?
Probably not.
Ask yourself when you last retired an engine due to internal wear.
If we expected at least half a million miles out of an engine and maybe double that and the engines themselves were very expensive to buy or to rebuild, then we might be looking seriously at bypass filtration.
This is why bypass oil filtration is common on OTR trucks and virtually unheard of on light passenger vehicles, like the ones that almost everyone here operates.
We just don't put enough hours on our engines over the lives of the vehicles we operate to make better oil filtration a practical advantage.
 
Does a trucking company want to keep changing oil every 3-5K on their entire fleet?
And I imagine OTR trucks have more of an issue with soot removal. It does make me wonder of other differences between OTR and passenger engines. It seems like there are a lot of differences.

Smaller micron filtering can lead to flow restriction, hence the need for a bypass.

I know of some engines running strong today WITHOUT an oil filter.

And then there is additive depletion. A lot of those additives protect from engine wear. So maybe a high quality oil can last forever, but the additives don't. I'd also be careful comparing heavy duty oils to passenger vehicles (different additives), and same with racing and marine oils.
 
The most important factor on engine long life is proper maintenance and the time it is operated when the engine is at operating temps. Most wear occurs during the time the engine starts and reaches stabilized operating temps.
 
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Does filter efficiency have anything to do with engine longevity?

No.


According to the article I linked to above, it does.


This article is an extreme case scenario and applies to very few folks here on BITOG.

Oil filter efficiency and longevity (in terms of passenger cars) still has no case IMO.
 
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Does filter efficiency have anything to do with engine longevity?

No.


According to the article I linked to above, it does.


This article is an extreme case scenario and applies to very few folks here on BITOG.

Oil filter efficiency and longevity (in terms of passenger cars) still has no case IMO.


Could be ... but where are all the papers showing that better efficiency doesn't matter on a passenger car? I see many papers that say better efficiency means less wear. If it make any "difference" to a passenger car or not can't be proved I guess. But as always stated, using a high efficiency oil filter can't hurt anything but maybe take a couple more buck out of you wallet.
 
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