BOSCH PREMIUM 3323 CUT OPEN -- PICTURES

[barlowc]

Here are pictures of a Bosch Premium 3323. I took a hacksaw to it earlier today. It came off my mother-in-law's 2002 Honda Civic back in December when I changed its oil. It was the end of a 5,100 mile OCI with Service Pro 5W-20 Synthetic Blend. You can find the UOA here.

All in all, I'd say it looks like a pretty good filter. Nearly identical the PureONE PL14610 that I cut open here. Looking closely, I believe the PureONE has a bit more media, but the Bosch still has some pretty tight pleats compared to a lot of other mid-priced filters out there.

I did, however, find an unpleasant surprise. The bypass was stuck open. Does that constitute a failure of the filter? I may contact Bosch about it and see how they reply. I imagine it could have led to the higher percentage of insolubles in the UOA.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[daman]

I would contact Bosch hard to say how long your engine was fed dirty oil!

 

[ltslimjim]

Media doesn't look super loaded to the 'naked' eye, so bypassed unfiltered oil needlessly due to failed bypass valve = failed filtration/failed FILTER.

That, or the insols were already high and this engine is a near sludger.

 

[toneydoc]

That is another good reason not to run 10,000 oci. The filter may not be working and we would not ever know that. Better to keep a shorter interval and change the oil and filter.

 

[ltslimjim]

^No need to change the oil sooner than necassary over this. Simply use a high-end filter. This is a 7,500 mile file on a clean engine...but then again this can happen to any oil filter honestly.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: ltslimjim
Media doesn't look super loaded to the 'naked' eye, so bypassed unfiltered oil needlessly due to failed bypass valve = failed filtration/failed FILTER.

That, or the insols were already high and this engine is a near sludger.

Is the coil spring type bypass (like in a Wix) more reliable?

 

[Oregoonian]

For this vehicle, and this driver, and this oil.....IMO I would not go further than 5500 OCI...7K is just cutting it to close with a TBN of 1.4.

With that said....PYB or Motorcraft Semi-Syn...IMO...would be the way to go. Both have strong add packages and are quality products.....and might cost less as well.

Switch to a PureOne filter as well.

 

[kender]

Yep, I've never liked this bypass valve design.

 

[Topo]

Originally Posted By: toneydoc
That is another good reason not to run 10,000 oci. The filter may not be working and we would not ever know that. Better to keep a shorter interval and change the oil and filter.


This could happen right from the first time you put on the filter or any cold start where the bypass valve may need to open as the oil is to thick.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: barlowc

I did, however, find an unpleasant surprise. The bypass was stuck open.

Can you tell why it was stuck open?

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Can you tell why it was stuck open?

Seems as if there was enough pressure that the squiggly flat spring (whatever they call that type of spring) bent and thus the bypass stayed open.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
Switch to a PureOne filter as well.

According to the link the OP posted of a PureOne that he cut open, the PureOne uses the same type of bypass valve. I run these on my Kawasaki Brute Force.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: barlowc
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Can you tell why it was stuck open?

Seems as if there was enough pressure that the squiggly flat spring (whatever they call that type of spring) bent and thus the bypass stayed open.


Strange ... I've cut open lots of Purolators that use the same bypass valve design & spring and they have always looked good. Wonder if yours was defective during manufacturing ... I can't see how the oil pressure would make the spring bend permanently.

 

[Donald]

So I guess you are not going to put it back on your MIL's car?

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: Donald
So I guess you are not going to put it back on your MIL's car?

Well, not that exact one, obviously.

But when I changed her oil, another Bosch Premium did go on. And I'm certainly going to cut it open when it comes off at the end of the OCI.

Like ZeeOSix, I've cut open a few PureONE filters that use the same design and they looked fine. But I'm wary now. It'll be interesting to see what kind of response I get when I contact the folks at Bosch. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Sayjac]

Quote:
Strange ... I've cut open lots of Purolators that use the same bypass valve design & spring and they have always looked good. Wonder if yours was defective during manufacturing ... I can't see how the oil pressure would make the spring bend permanently.

+1 Recently finished using and dissecting an AAP Total Grip with the same flat spring design, with no issues. All the smaller Purolator/Bosch filters and Puro 'made fors' like QS, Pz, ProLine, ProMotive and Group7, as well as a few of the larger filter apps, use this design. That's a lot of filters using that design and lots have been posted here with no issues.

Having pushed the flat spring open with the recent AAP TG dissection, the flat spring is stout and takes some effort to open. Difficult for me to imagine that oil pressure could bend/deform that spring. So, perhaps a defective spring?

fwiw, currently running a BD+ 3323 with the same bypass design 2 oci's, ~13k total.

 

[barlowc]

You know... I may give Bosch the benefit of the doubt here. A thought dawned on me earlier. I will usually drill a 1/8" hole in the dome-end of filters when I remove them so as to drain as much oil as possible. Looking things over, it looks like the drill bit may have made contact with the spring and had enough pressure from me pushing down that it bent the spring. That's a more likely explanation of what I found than for there to have been a manufacturing defect or filter failure.

 

[ZeeOSix]

If you hit the spring with the drill bit, there should be some chew marks on it. I couldn't really see anything obvious in your photos, but it sounds like that might have been what happened. Take a close look at the bypass valve and see if there are any marks on it from the drill bit making contact.

 

[barlowc]

No chew marks, but I can see a very small, silver spot where I believe the drill bit may have made contact. In the picture, you'll see it at about the five o'clock position just outside the center rivet.

 

[ltslimjim]

Oh, and by the way I didn't mean to imply this engine has sludge. Insols aren't terrible, just elevated. Sorry. More likely carbon deposits washing away.