Restrictive oil filters...?

[geeeman]

Is ANY filter (with a built in bypass) really restrictive, given the fact that the bypass is typically set so low ( 8 - 17 psi)? It seems that in any situation where restriction might be a problem...IE cold starts, high rpms, clogged filter etc, the bypass valve will always (hopefully!) open, allowing minimal restriction and max flow...

I did see a filter with a 30 psi bypass... that seems more likely to cause flow problems...!?

PS - Patman, you said you had some oil pressure issues at high rpm, any comments...?

 

[Patman]

I've found with certain oil filters, I'll see a quick 5-10psi spike in my oil pressure when I get close to the redline on a full throttle run. But with the K&N oil filter the oil pressure stays steady. I also notice with other filters that as they get more miles on them, the spike gets higher. So this tells me that these filters are more restrictive to flow. Perhaps it's because my GM engine has the bypass in the block and maybe it's not set to kick in so easily, so during those pressure spikes, the bypass isn't coming on, so the filter is simply not able to handle the flow.

I do know I'm getting good oil analysis results with the K&N oil filter, so I'm sticking to it. Although if the Fleetguard comes out with a Stratapore version of it's LF3679 in the future I may give that a try as it's flow rating is supposedly even better than K&N, and it filters smaller particles too.