Virgin Motorcraft 820 Cut Open

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted by AuthorEditor
The referenced thread is not very convincing evidence. What is the "blown inner seal" referenced? ADBV valve tore? But then we read further and it wasn't the current filter but a previous filter recognized by what the bits and pieces clogging the passages looked like. Really? I have no doubt something happened, but it is hard to tell what from that thread.
Agreed, and given the very limited information provided, a definite maybe. Blown inner seal?

But it fits the narrative, so why quibble over details.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted by AuthorEditor
The referenced thread is not very convincing evidence. What is the "blown inner seal" referenced? ADBV valve tore? But then we read further and it wasn't the current filter but a previous filter recognized by what the bits and pieces clogging the passages looked like. Really? I have no doubt something happened, but it is hard to tell what from that thread.


Way it reads is that it was a failed Motorcraft filter that was on the truck at some point (previous filter run they think). Doesn't sound like it was due to media tearing, but as mentioned many times by many here, just because media tears doesn't mean it can't possibly go downstream into the oiling system. I'm sure every brand of oil filter has had some kind of unexpected failure that probably took out an engine at some point.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Quote
I'm sure every brand of oil filter has had some kind of unexpected failure that probably took out an engine at some point.

Maybe so, but it seems to me like a unicorn event scenario. Think about it. What failure of the filter could lead to immediate engine failure? If the media tears doesn't that immediately remove any pressure differential? Meaning it is unlikely bits and pieces of filter media will be torn off and go into the oil passages? I have yet to see an image of a cut open filter that indicates anything other than a simple rip in the media or a pleat pulling away near the end cap. Not good, but I can't see how that would be catastrophic since many vehicles lived their entire lives with no engine filter at all. One OCI running on dirty oil should not destroy an engine. I suppose a piece of media could break loose and then lodge in just the right spot to destroy a bearing, but I suspect those events are quite rare. Much more likely is that someone left something in the oil pan during assembly, or possibly there was some junk in the engine block to begin with that moved to a bad spot. The most likely oil filter failure scenario I think would be something breaking and allowing the oil to leak out, which could cause catastrophic failure eventually if the operator didn't notice.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted by AuthorEditor
Quote
I'm sure every brand of oil filter has had some kind of unexpected failure that probably took out an engine at some point.

Maybe so, but it seems to me like a unicorn event scenario. Think about it. What failure of the filter could lead to immediate engine failure? If the media tears doesn't that immediately remove any pressure differential? Meaning it is unlikely bits and pieces of filter media will be torn off and go into the oil passages? I have yet to see an image of a cut open filter that indicates anything other than a simple rip in the media or a pleat pulling away near the end cap. Not good, but I can't see how that would be catastrophic since many vehicles lived their entire lives with no engine filter at all. One OCI running on dirty oil should not destroy an engine. I suppose a piece of media could break loose and then lodge in just the right spot to destroy a bearing, but I suspect those events are quite rare. Much more likely is that someone left something in the oil pan during assembly, or possibly there was some junk in the engine block to begin with that moved to a bad spot. The most likely oil filter failure scenario I think would be something breaking and allowing the oil to leak out, which could cause catastrophic failure eventually if the operator didn't notice.


Even with a tear in the media there will still be some delat-p across the filter. Plus, oil flow always goes for the path of least resistance, so the oil flow through the torn area will increase with could break off some media material as time goes on.

There is no guarantee that torn media is never going to go down stream into the oiling system. Seems logic would say having a tear in the media isn't a good thing, even on the remote chance that the engine doesn't "blow up". Torn media can cause other issues with modern engines as pointed out in this Motorcraft video.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Agreed, media tears are no good. OTOH, catastrophic engine failure due to oil filter failure is rare.

 

[DoubleNickels]

Originally Posted by AuthorEditor
catastrophic engine failure due to oil filter failure is rare.


If it became common, there would be a recall campaign of some sort. Unless, it actually is common, and there is a really good cover-up. Not a conspiracy theory. Every massive recall began with denials. And a lot of the manufacturer defects which resulted in death, the manufacturers simply agree to pay a fine, fix the problem, without admitting fault. Maybe we'll find out later that a lot more engines failed due to the filter, and it was hidden.

But at the moment, there are known filter failures. There are known engine failures associated with those filters. How many? Versus how many cars using those same filters which did not fial? What are the statistics? What do the numbers look like?

Is this simply a 1 batch issue with 1 model? Or is every Motorcraft filter now produced in poor fashion?