[Firebob]

So I swear the last motor blew from a filter disintegrating and clogging my pump pick up. My issue didn't seem to be how much filtering it did as much as it dissolving but I see that some are listed by the microns size they will filter. Yeah, I know everybody said don't use those cheap fram and Bosch filters but I learn the hard way. Anyway I've seen Napa Gold and Wix recommended. There are quite a few different Wix that Summit lists.

What micron size would offer adequate protection? 21 microns sound ok? I know there are other issues like by-pass and drain back to consider too.

[68 Firebird]

Baldwin B9. Very good quality

[David Jones]

Baldwin.

[Gary H]

I use either a Napa Gold filter 1258 or Wix 51258. Both are made by Wix.

[mechanickeith]

I have been using the Napa Gold 1049 for over 20 years. Never any issues.

[redhawk44]

Wix is very good, so is Bosch & Mobil 1. The included article is specifically for motorcycle oil filters but it talks about what makes a good filter.

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Fil...tml#OilFilters

[Sirrotica]

The micron rating in a full flow filter means almost nothing because as soon as the oil system is restricted it goes into bypass and you get unfiltered oil the the internal engine parts.

Now a by pass oil filter filter system is a whole different animal, and will actually keep the oil clean to 1 micron. The full flow filter system that the engineers designed is just a little better than no filter at all because it allows the 5-10 micron dirt (the size that does the most wear to engine parts) to recirculate hundreds of times wearing internally lubricated engine parts every time it passes between the wear surfaces it abrades bit by bit until the parts are worn out.

My own 6.5 diesel had the oil changed in 2011 and I ran it 25,000 miles only changing the by pass filter and topping off the oil when I changed the by pass filters. This summer an oil cooler line came loose and I ended up refilling the crankcase because it just about emptied the oil pan. I know of no full flow oil filter system that can run oil in a diesel for over 4 years and 25,000 miles without harming the engine. If the oil line hadn't come off I would be still running the 25,000 mile oil and just changing filters regularly. There is no full flow filter made that will allow safely extending oil changes to that extent and keep the oil analytically clean.

I also run one on my 2005 LS2 GTO and have over 10,000 miles on the Pennzoil Platinum oil and it is still a dark amber color just a bit darker than when I changed it. No full flow filter will keep the oil clear at that many miles in a gas engine.

Blackstone Labs (one of the top oil analysis labs in the USA) has written an excellent article telling the virtues of by pass oil filter systems over the inferior full flow system. They don't sell oil or filters so they have nothing to gain by suggesting a by pass system over a full flow system:

We receive many oil samples from clients who don't understand what is required to run unusually long oil use intervals in their engines. The accumulation of wear metals, blow-by materials, and oil oxidation products in their oils is alarming. It has been our experience that one cannot simply add oil of a particular brand or base stock and expect it will be useful for an extended period of time, lubricating, cleaning, and cooling as required. Oil that becomes contaminated needs to be changed promptly. In our opinion, there are no magic oils or additives.

There are, however, auxiliary systems you can add to your engine's lubricating system that will keep the oil clean enough to use over an extended period of time. By-pass filtration units are the most common system used for this purpose.

In-line oil filtration, which comes installed on your engine from the factory, filters oil entering the engine down to roughly 30-40 microns (millionths of a meter). This is about as finely as in-line filtration can filter, because when the oil is cold or the filter is partially plugged, a finer filter would cause too great a pressure drop, forcing open the filter by-pass valve and allowing unfiltered oil to circulate through the engine.

By-pass filtration works differently. When this type of auxiliary system is installed, some of the sump oil by-passes the in-line filter system, passing continually though a by-pass filter and then returning to the oil sump. Using this method, sump oil is constantly being cleaned any time the engine is running, and it can be filtered down to a very fine size. All you have to do to maintain the system is occasionally change the by-pass filter.

Not only do the by-pass filtration units cleanse the sump oil of blow-by and oxidation products, they also reduce wear metals and silicon accumulations, both of which are abrasive. Oil does not wear out. Its usefulness is limited by contamination. By-pass filtration removes most of the contaminants.

How long can an oil fill be run using by-pass filtration? We've heard claims of large (Class 8) diesels going 1,000,000 miles on the same fill of oil with no harm done to the engines. We have analyzed oils which have been in service 240,000 miles and found nothing unusual in the analysis, other than higher than average iron and lead (from steel parts and bearings), and these wear accumulations were not intolerably high.

After having run many tens of thousands of diesel engine oil samples, it is our opinion that a by-pass oil filtration system is one of the most important factors in extending oil drains. If you are interested in extended oil drains, we suggest you investigate adding this type of system to your engine.

Please don't take my word for it, educate yourself of all the benefits of a by pass filter system over the compromised factory full flow system. There is lots of information on the web about the subject.

Comparing a full flow filter system to a by pass filtration system is like trying to keep insects out of your house with nothing but chicken wire for screens. The finer the holes the smaller the insects it will keep outside the house.

Wix and Napa along with Baldwin are good quality filters as far as not coming apart and clogging the system up. They all leave a lot on the table as far as actually removing and keeping the fine abrasive from re-circulating and wearing out the internal engine parts prematurely.

When your spending $5-10 a quart on premium oil it's nice to not have to dump it out every few thousand miles and replace it just because the filter isn't doing what it's name says it's supposed to be doing. Filtering all the oil contaminants, not just the larger abrasives out.

[flyingn]

ac delco or fram ultra. Both excellent filters

[TedRamAirII]

Originally Posted by Firebob

So I swear the last motor blew from a filter disintegrating and clogging my pump pick up. My issue didn't seem to be how much filtering it did as much as it dissolving but I see that some are listed by the microns size they will filter. Yeah, I know everybody said don't use those cheap fram and Bosch filters but I learn the hard way. Anyway I've seen Napa Gold and Wix recommended. There are quite a few different Wix that Summit lists.

What micron size would offer adequate protection? 21 microns sound ok? I know there are other issues like by-pass and drain back to consider too.

I'm no filter expert, but all filter companies will pay for damages done by their filters. If a filter was bad, I think it would plug passages and take out main bearings before it ever made its way back to the pan into the pick up screen. I would take Sirrotica's advice and put in a bypass system. NO..... I dont have one, but it's a good idea and I may plumb one in as hidden as I can make it. JMO just my opinion. ; )

[Jim Moshier]

Baldwin B9. Very good quality!

[SMW]

I guess I have to be the bad guy, back in the late 1980's I had a Wix filter come apart and clog the oil pickup screen. I got lucky and caught the oil pressure drop before any damage happened.

[TedRamAirII]

Originally Posted by SMW

I guess I have to be the bad guy, back in the late 1980's I had a Wix filter come apart and clog the oil pickup screen. I got lucky and caught the oil pressure drop before any damage happened.

How does the filter media make it past the bearings into the oil pan? I just wonder how that is possible? I just thought of it. Maybe the bypass valve in the oil filter housing?

[REEDRACER]

I use AC delco in all of my Pontiac's. Nothing else!

[vidguy]

Wix or K&N in my Daily Driver Formula 455/TH400

[tom s]

baldwin

[Firebob]

Well maybe it doesn't. That was the only thing I could come up with as to how so much stuff was on the screen. Maybe it came from somewhere else. I don't know how that much crap gets inside a closed system unless it was in the oil already. Not likely, I wouldn't have think.

[cnhorn63]

Baldwin B-39

[pugslyx234]

Toyota has good filters.

[Steve C.]

One popular WIX filter states it has the ability of removing particles down to about 21 microns in size. One micron equals a millionth of a meter or 0.000039 inch. By comparison, a human hair is about 60 microns in diameter !

Rhetorical question.... how often do we change our filters. At that point is there is a danger that the oil filter might become plugged with particles under 21 microns.


.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

One popular WIX filter states it has the ability of removing particles down to about 21 microns in size. One micron equals a millionth of a meter or 0.000039 inch. By comparison, a human hair is about 60 microns in diameter !

Rhetorical question.... how often do we change our filters. At that point is there is a danger that the oil filter might become plugged with particles under 21 microns.


.

If that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside then good for you. The absolute truth is that the 5-10 micron abrasives do the most damage to the internally lubricated parts inside of your engine, 21 microns is twice the size of the 5-10 micron most damaging size particles.

No you can't see them with your eye, but it doesn't change the fact that they wear the parts inside of your engine, "out of sight out of mind" isn't helping your engine live a longer life. If you want to believe that the small stuff isn't doing damage then that's your choice. Industry experts state otherwise and if you have any doubts then do some reading on the subject.

Filtering oil to a very fine degree is not going to harm anything, not filtering it is definitely going to harm parts. Believe what you want, evidence says otherwise.

I've educated myself on the merits of filtering the oil to a like new condition and I wish I had done it long ago. I could have saved myself money and work rebuilding or replacing engines and parts that wore out prematurely.

If you spend thousands of dollars on a street strip engine updating all the weak factory points and parts, why is it you neglect one of the most vital parts of the engine and cheapen out with the much inferior factory designed oil filtering system. It makes very little sense to me to rationalize that this one thing that keeps the engine lifeblood clean and able to do the best job under punishing circumstances is left up to a stock oil filter that in reality is just a sieve, not a filter at all.

BTW, most stock oil filter filter 60-80 microns efficiently, under that size the filtering efficiency goes way down, so yes it may collect some 21 micron particulate, but much of it keeps circulating unhindered by the inefficient factory designed filter. If by pass filtering isn't as efficient and extending engine life, why is it that all high mileage OTR trucks have by pass filtering systems to save down time money and extend engine life?

These engines regularly see a million miles with no engine failures or rebuilding. When was the last time you saw any passenger car engine run a million miles with no internal engine work? Never.

Years ago OTR trucks were lucky to get 500,000 miles without a major OH. With better filtration they now go twice as far all the time.

Your kidding yourself if you don't think the oil filtration as engineered by Detroit in the late 50s is adequate as it is. DON'T take my word for it, educate yourself and you'll find out that your stock style oil filtering system is woefully inadequate, especially in an engine that is run hard or raced. There is plenty of information on by pass filtering available and it's discussed by industry experts, not people hanging out on a forum rationalizing why their 65 year old oil filter technology is alright for their HP Pontiac engine or their daily drivers, and fills the bill just fine.

FYI even though I am a dealer for Frantz oil filters I have never sold a filter to anyone on this board and I don't expect to. Lots of curiosity but no buyers ever. The information I pass along is not to sell anyone anything, purely to get others on here to look into by pass filtering no matter whose product you decide to buy if you decide to buy anyone's product. It will save you money and extend your engines life in the long run. If you choose to retain the old technology on your cars and trucks then fine, please don't trivialize the facts I've presented as minuscule and dismiss them as BS.