I have been a long time reader and this is my first post. I have an ’07 Toyota 4Runner with a 1GR-FE V6. I went looking for a bigger filter and ended up going down a long road. I wanted to share and get input from some of the experts here. I doubt there’s any other place where people are this “into” filters… Some of the below is a copy/paste from my posts at the Toyota forums and then modified to more general language for here. I am really looking forward to feedback and learning something!
My goal was to come up with some larger filter options that would allow for a slight increased oil capacity AND take advantage of the 1GRFE’s filter position (right behind the fan stream). A larger exterior surface would, IMHO allow for slightly more heat transfer. I think the benefit of a larger filter on my application would be cooler oil, more filtration media and slightly more oil.
The quick, knee-jerk reaction would be to spin-on a PL30001, PH8A, Toyota 15600-41010 or 90915-TD004 (big LC filter), Napa 1515 or similar. If I didn’t want to go that big maybe a PH3600 or PL20195… Easy enough and done, right? Well not so fast. A few quick reads (primarily at the FJCruiser forums, FJC uses the same engine) revealed that due to our super-sweet oil filter location the filters seem to drain out. They seem to drain out overnight (or longer) and there was talk of delays with the oil pressure rising and some noise.
The focus would then seem to be quality of the ADBV but no conclusive answers were found at that forum. Many returned to stock or slightly larger but nothing like the physical room would allow for. I don’t doubt that the ADBV is important but I wasn’t willing to leave it there… (IMHO the smaller volume of the stock sized filter means that if it does drain it refills quickly.)
The next thing that entered into my mind was a 4Runner’s blown engine due, in part (we think) to an Amsoil EOA57 filter. In researching and postulating over his trials and tribulations I concluded the following: 1) Yes, the obvious, why try to go that long on a filter, blah, blah, blah. He was following a non-traditional but reliably sourced alternative program. 2) If the bypass pressure of the EAO57 was lower he might not have blown the engine. Would he have had good filtration and adequate protection? Unlikely, he needed more media (bigger filter). If I got it right Hastings and Amsoil filters are closely related. The EAO57 is probably the Hastings LF494 (which is unfortunate). It has a 20psi bypass and is the filter Hastings “thinks” LF494 replaces the OE 90915-20004 and –YZZD3. The EAO57 is the filter that had issues that caused Amsoil to issue a TSB… By Hastings own catalog when you look up a 1GRFE filter it lists a LF589 which has an 14psi bypass, not a 20psi. Maybe the whole fiasco is a GIGO issue, maybe the 14psi is the correct number. Maybe, if the Toyota OE filters really bypasses at 20psi, Toyota needs to revisit that especially in light of oils getting thinner and the TSB authorizing 5w-20 in many of it’s engines. Either way something doesn’t seem right to me.
I decided I wanted a bigger filter that would have the following attributes:
a) 1st class, reliable name brand.
b) Larger, taller etc.
c) A bypass lower than 20psi. (Most of the 1GRFE filters I looked at had a bypass rating of between 8 & 17psi. I’d like to be on the lower-end of that but that’s my choice.) With lots of media there’s no reason to have a high bypass pressure and it’s very unlikely you’d ever need to bypass.Plz educate me if I am misunderstanding something.
d) No “dry starts” or delays in building oil pressure.
My goal was to come up with some larger filter options that would allow for a slight increased oil capacity AND take advantage of the 1GRFE’s filter position (right behind the fan stream). A larger exterior surface would, IMHO allow for slightly more heat transfer. I think the benefit of a larger filter on my application would be cooler oil, more filtration media and slightly more oil.
The quick, knee-jerk reaction would be to spin-on a PL30001, PH8A, Toyota 15600-41010 or 90915-TD004 (big LC filter), Napa 1515 or similar. If I didn’t want to go that big maybe a PH3600 or PL20195… Easy enough and done, right? Well not so fast. A few quick reads (primarily at the FJCruiser forums, FJC uses the same engine) revealed that due to our super-sweet oil filter location the filters seem to drain out. They seem to drain out overnight (or longer) and there was talk of delays with the oil pressure rising and some noise.
The focus would then seem to be quality of the ADBV but no conclusive answers were found at that forum. Many returned to stock or slightly larger but nothing like the physical room would allow for. I don’t doubt that the ADBV is important but I wasn’t willing to leave it there… (IMHO the smaller volume of the stock sized filter means that if it does drain it refills quickly.)
The next thing that entered into my mind was a 4Runner’s blown engine due, in part (we think) to an Amsoil EOA57 filter. In researching and postulating over his trials and tribulations I concluded the following: 1) Yes, the obvious, why try to go that long on a filter, blah, blah, blah. He was following a non-traditional but reliably sourced alternative program. 2) If the bypass pressure of the EAO57 was lower he might not have blown the engine. Would he have had good filtration and adequate protection? Unlikely, he needed more media (bigger filter). If I got it right Hastings and Amsoil filters are closely related. The EAO57 is probably the Hastings LF494 (which is unfortunate). It has a 20psi bypass and is the filter Hastings “thinks” LF494 replaces the OE 90915-20004 and –YZZD3. The EAO57 is the filter that had issues that caused Amsoil to issue a TSB… By Hastings own catalog when you look up a 1GRFE filter it lists a LF589 which has an 14psi bypass, not a 20psi. Maybe the whole fiasco is a GIGO issue, maybe the 14psi is the correct number. Maybe, if the Toyota OE filters really bypasses at 20psi, Toyota needs to revisit that especially in light of oils getting thinner and the TSB authorizing 5w-20 in many of it’s engines. Either way something doesn’t seem right to me.
I decided I wanted a bigger filter that would have the following attributes:
a) 1st class, reliable name brand.
b) Larger, taller etc.
c) A bypass lower than 20psi. (Most of the 1GRFE filters I looked at had a bypass rating of between 8 & 17psi. I’d like to be on the lower-end of that but that’s my choice.) With lots of media there’s no reason to have a high bypass pressure and it’s very unlikely you’d ever need to bypass.Plz educate me if I am misunderstanding something.
d) No “dry starts” or delays in building oil pressure.
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