I recently finished installing a CM canister filter in bypass configuration on a 2004 4 cylinder Accord. I tapped off of the FF filter mount using a sandwich adapter and returned to the oil filler cap using the Amsoil threaded port. I used a needle valve to control the flow rate.
My main reason for bothering to do this was to help me get comfortable with extended OCIs, for a combination of environmental and convenience reasons. Honda specs call for 10K OCIs and changing the filter every other oil change - with conventional oils. As a long time 3K or 3 month OCI guy, those long intervals were hard to swallow, but I did want to start consuming less oil and fewer filters.
I now have 61K on the car (purchased it with 12K) and started using synthetics (Amsoil or M1) with 5K OCIs around 21K. The used oil looked so clean at 5K that I switched to 10K intervals. I know looks are not the way to judge oil, but I figured that by using synthetics and still staying well within Honda's OCI specs that it could not be too bad. Also, since then I discovered the BITOG UOA forums and saw UOA's posted by others for this engine that seemed to indicate it could go 10K on these oils without problems.
My next step was to consider going all the way to Honda's spec, including changing the FF filter only every other oil change, but felt a little uncomfortable going that far - so decided to add the bypass unit for some extra filtration, and extra peace of mind.
As long as the car is still under warranty (7 years or 100K as a certified used car), I will not exceed Honda's OCI spec, but after that plan to do some UOAs to see how far I can go. Based on other results for this engine, and with the extra filter, I would not be surprised to get up to 15K OCIs - but I will see about that a few years down the road. If you include the cost of the CM filter setup and synthetic oils, I doubt I am saving any money, but I like the idea of using less oil, and I enjoy tinkering with cars.
I called this a "sort of" bypass install because the CM filter unit has a nominal (I think) rating of only about 8 microns, and I know that most bypass units take out even smaller particles. I chose the CM due to size and installation configuration. I probably could have shoehorned a bigger filter that took out smaller particles in somewhere, but did not want to interfere with any routine maintenance on the car, nor did I want long hose runs. The CM unit fits nicely into a location on the firewall that is out of the way, uses short hose runs, and is easy to remove if needed.
I am not presenting this as in any way the "best" setup for all purposes, just another example of what can be done.
My main reason for bothering to do this was to help me get comfortable with extended OCIs, for a combination of environmental and convenience reasons. Honda specs call for 10K OCIs and changing the filter every other oil change - with conventional oils. As a long time 3K or 3 month OCI guy, those long intervals were hard to swallow, but I did want to start consuming less oil and fewer filters.
I now have 61K on the car (purchased it with 12K) and started using synthetics (Amsoil or M1) with 5K OCIs around 21K. The used oil looked so clean at 5K that I switched to 10K intervals. I know looks are not the way to judge oil, but I figured that by using synthetics and still staying well within Honda's OCI specs that it could not be too bad. Also, since then I discovered the BITOG UOA forums and saw UOA's posted by others for this engine that seemed to indicate it could go 10K on these oils without problems.
My next step was to consider going all the way to Honda's spec, including changing the FF filter only every other oil change, but felt a little uncomfortable going that far - so decided to add the bypass unit for some extra filtration, and extra peace of mind.
As long as the car is still under warranty (7 years or 100K as a certified used car), I will not exceed Honda's OCI spec, but after that plan to do some UOAs to see how far I can go. Based on other results for this engine, and with the extra filter, I would not be surprised to get up to 15K OCIs - but I will see about that a few years down the road. If you include the cost of the CM filter setup and synthetic oils, I doubt I am saving any money, but I like the idea of using less oil, and I enjoy tinkering with cars.
I called this a "sort of" bypass install because the CM filter unit has a nominal (I think) rating of only about 8 microns, and I know that most bypass units take out even smaller particles. I chose the CM due to size and installation configuration. I probably could have shoehorned a bigger filter that took out smaller particles in somewhere, but did not want to interfere with any routine maintenance on the car, nor did I want long hose runs. The CM unit fits nicely into a location on the firewall that is out of the way, uses short hose runs, and is easy to remove if needed.
I am not presenting this as in any way the "best" setup for all purposes, just another example of what can be done.
