is a bypass filter worth it for me?

[cryptokid]

i have a car which i use just for labor related things like driving to work etc. i put like 15K a year on it. its got 66K now and the engine is in perfect shape. i plan on keeping the car untill i wreck it. i figure the only way ill get rid of it is if i wreck it, otherwise its staying with me forever. theres nothing special about the car, its just a daily beater that i use for work. considering the fact that i will eventually be putting hundreds of thousands of miles on it, should i invest in a bypass filter now while the engine is still in pristine shape?

i figure yes. and it would let me get away with 20K oil changes, assuming oil analisis agrees.

and, assuming i do install a bypass, how often should i get the oil analised to establish a basepoint for oil changing? every 5-10K?

 

[Steve S]

Bypass filters are a very fun subject. I don't think they are usually necessary. This is why ,in my opinion, with today's better oils engines last a long time with proper maintenance, the rest of the car will also be worn out . I have done lots of work on and around big trucks . They all seem to have bypass filters on. After changing the bypass element ,letting it drain for a couple of days it is heavy so it must filter out lots of crud.As I posted before I had one on a 1988 camry for three years I once owned . The oil seemed alot cleaner. But the cost of the filter kit,elements ,extra oil and analysis cost a lot . I would rather spend the money on other things. But what the heck bypass filters help more than they can? hurt? and its kinda interesting to think about filtering .

 

[Spector]

Cost of analysis, cost of fitlers, hassle just change the oil at 10,000 miles rather then 20 with a synthetic. Or really paly it safe and use dino every 3000 and the engine will last just as long. I don't htink you put enough yearly miles on to justify. Now, if you go 50,000 a year yea, no doubt about it. At 15,000 year your body and frame will be gone before the engine with just regular changes and filters.

[ February 25, 2003, 07:58 AM: Message edited by: Spector ]

 

[RalphPWood]

A guy asked me once if I thought his 1980 Toyota Corolla had too many miles on it to install a submicronic bypass filter. It was about to reach the 100,000 mile mark. I said not if you plan on keeping it. The last time I talked to him it had over 500,000 miles on it. On that car I installed a Frantz oil filter with a Frantz sandwich adapter. He uses Pennzoil 30 wt.
I started with Frantz in 1963. When Motor Guard came out in 1966 I liked it better and went with them. When Motor Guard dropped the lube oil filters I went back to Frantz. When I found out about the Gulf Coast filter I went with them. I like to use the Perma-Cool.com sandwich adapter. When I was told not to use the sandwich adapter with the Gulf Coast filter I brought back the Motor Guard at my own expense. I had to have three CNC machined parts made to replace the two injection molded parts. Dupont delrin instead of polypropylene. The Motor Guard is the least messy to change of any bypass filter. I think I made the right choice bringing the lube oil filter back. The name Motor Guard didn't come from making the worlds best submicronic compressed air filter. I had the seals made for toilet paper or the special Motor Guard element.
I put 240,000 miles on my 84 Subaru changing a Frantz oil filter every year and adding one qt of Mobil 1 15-50 I had to drain the oil a couple of times because of not changing the bypass filter often enough. One time the lab said the oil looked good for 82,000 but I probably should change the oil every 50,000. With my Camry I'm changing the filter every 4,000 miles. I could probably go to 6,000 miles and still never need to drain the oil again. I drive about 12,000 miles a year. I don't need to have the oil analyzed. If the oil looks like it just came out of the bottle and the viscosity feels like new oil I'm changing the filter often enough. For what oil analysis cost I can change the filter a little more often. Oil analysis is for large expensive engines that the owner neeeds to know what is happening inside the engine at all times. I can change a Motor Guard M-30 in one minute with one hand. Use a good oil and keep the oil clean. Clean oil will pretty much stop the engine wear. I didn't say almost clean. In the old days engines were a lot dirtier. We didn't have synthetic oil. We changed the submicronic filter every 2,000 miles added a qt of oil and kept on trucking. We could tell by the dipstick if we had a problem such as a leaky head gasket.

Ralph

 

[msparks]

quote:

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Originally posted by cryptokid:

i figure yes. and it would let me get away with 20K oil changes, assuming oil analisis agrees.

and, assuming i do install a bypass, how often should i get the oil analised to establish a basepoint for oil changing? every 5-10K?

---

Assuming you have a good running engine, Install the by-pass. Do a basline Analysis prior to installing. Then do another analysis at 6 months. Then 1 year. Then every year thereafter.

Why change the oil at 20K? I would shoot for higher than that. At least double that, but I can't see you changing out the oil for years to come. Say 100,000 miles.

 

[TheLoneRanger]

These bypass filters are very intriguing. my biggest concern with them is that they may clean the oil of solid particles, but what about the acids and water that are in solution? And what about oil shearing? The oil may look clean, after 10K or more miles, but is it still a good lubricant.....?

 

[msparks]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TheLoneRanger:
These bypass filters are very intriguing. my biggest concern with them is that they may clean the oil of solid particles, but what about the acids and water that are in solution? And what about oil shearing? The oil may look clean, after 10K or more miles, but is it still a good lubricant.....?

---

I can't speak for others, but the Amsoil filter can remove Water, Fuel, Glycol, sludge and other particles in your oil.

also note by removing the water and fuel, you will have less acid forming in the first place.

 

[cryptokid]

how does a filter remove water and fuel? wouldnt itget stuck in the media,the same media that the oil passes through? so wouldnt the oil still contact water and fuel?

dont tell me it somehow encapsulates the water and fuel.....?

 

[Malibu]

I think bypass filters are unnecessary since hundreds of owners (of mainly Asian and European cars) have driven 500,000-1,000,000 miles without them. In other words, the factory original filters do a superb job.

Nearly all engines die an early death due to some engine upset condition unrelated to the fine abrasives in oil that get by the factory original filters.
The most common upset condition is the engine runs hotter than normal due to cooling system neglect or improper cooling system service. Most owners are simply unwilling to replace the coolant every year or two using the factory original coolant forumulation. And most owners don't care if the temp gauge reads a bit hotter than normal. They only get excited if the temp gauge gets in the red zone.

Another common engine upset condition is the engine running out of tune. Most owners are unwilling to change all the ignition system parts subject to wear on a preventive basis and are unwilling to tune the engine to factory specs.

Aggressive preventive maintainance of the cooling, ignition and emmission control systems is the key to exceptionally long gasoline engine life, not the use of specialty oils, additives and filters.

 

[Ken2]

Crypto,
The bypass filter media absorbs water out of the oil due to the material...often a cellulose (or just plain TP or paper towels). It can only absorb a limited amount, but unless you have a serious problem, that's all you'll get. I don't think it can separate fuel from oil.

Bypass filters do work; no question. The only question is whether anyone will choose to put the hundreds of thousands of miles on their engine to make the filters pay for themselves, or use the extremely long oil drain intervals (with analysis), again to make the filters pay for themselves. Of course, you can move the filter assembly to your next vehicle. When you trade the vehicle in, you'll get a price according to the mileage, not according to the actual condition, in almost every case.


Ken