On 26 Jan 2004 09:11:06 +0700, Lee Knoper
wrote:

We often take for granted that various consumer commodities are indeed
worthy of their intended application (and our purchase). One such
item of possible interest to conferees here is the lowly engine oil
filter.

Last week on the Military Vehicles mailing list, in a discussion of
petroleum and synthetic lubricants for vehicular appplications, one of
the participants offered the following URL:

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

Russ Knize, the author of that site, has begun an informal comparison
of 20 different oil filters used on Ford 5.0 liter and Chrysler 2.2
and 2.5 liter engines. He meticulously disassembles the filters and
examines the contents. This examination includes measuring the
baseplate and case thicknesses; noting the type of filter element
media, counting the pleats and measuring the surface area; and
categorizing the type of bypass and anti-drainback valves, and the
materials used in them.

Although the focus of the review is limited to one type of filter
(Fram PH8A and equivalents), some of the discoveries no doubt also
apply to other types of filters from those same manufacturers. The
observations are interesting, evidencing differences in construction,
quality and probably performance as well. For example, valve train
noise at engine startup might be attributed to poor seating of the
anti-drainback valve in certain products.

The study also hints at the significance of oil filter location and
orientation in engine design. Probably the best situation is with the
filter mounted inverted (i.e., with the threaded baseplate up and the
domed end down) at a low point on the engine. This orientation would
seem to minimize problems with drainback and sediment layout on pleats
when the engine is shut down. These considerations might factor into
vehicle acquisition, engine swaps or oil system modification (e.g.,
installing a remote dual filter assembly).

Automotive and lubrication experts, feel free to jump in.

The Military Vehicles mailing list information page is at URL
http://www.mil-veh.org. Traffic currently runs about 20 messages
per day.

Lee_K

"As physicists now know, there is some nonzero probability that any object will,
through quantum effects, tunnel from the workbench in your shop to Floyds Knobs,
Indiana (unless your shop is already in Indiana, in which case the object will
tunnel to Trotters, North Dakota).
The smaller mass of the object, the higher the probability.
Therefore, disassembled parts, particularly small ones,
of machines disappear much faster than assembled machines."
Greg Dermer: rec.crafts.metalworking