Best time for an oversized filter .

[JIM361]

Hi All Happy Holidays. I just did an oil inspection at 300 miles and found some "HUGE" break in shavings and chips.I'm pissed because i can't fit on an oversized filter to capture and prevent any of these GREMLINS from recirculating during cold oil bypass. Im going to get a K&N filter ( higher flow rating ) and a magnetic drain plug. Does this sound like a OK plan at least to get through the cold weather break in
with a warm and fuzzy feeling ?

 

[Greaser]

What type of vehicle are we talking about here.Where did you find the metal chips..in the oil pan after a change?My advice to any new vehicle owner is do an oil change with-in the first couple of months then go by the extreme driving schedule in the owners manual.An oversized oil filter and a magnetic drain plug doesn't hurt either..I use both

 

[quadrun1]

Your plan sounds good... K&N and a magnetic drain plug. But if you don't want to splurge on the K&N, I've found that most, if not all, OE oil filters work great too. What kind of car?

Don't worry too much about metal chips in the oil filter, here's what the factory-mounted filter looked like on mine after 5,000 miles (first oil change based on the severe service schedule).

My car is doing great at 15,000 miles--my steel gray sedan can outaccelerate an Infiniti G35 coupe on the highway, and will return 35 miles per gallon at 70 mph!

Yep, oil filters really filter.

 

[JIM361]

Thanks for the reply guys. The car is a brand new 04 GT Cruiser with the high output 220 HP turbo engine with 300 miles. I only inspected the oil as an after thought to removing the filter to see if an oversized one would fit( it will not ) and after I had removed the drain plug to install a magnetic one that I now can't find and had to put the factory drain plug back on. Anyway in doing this I let all the oil drain into one clean new plastic bucket so I dont know exactly where the chips originated from . Some were steel and some were aluminum.
Thanks for showing me that filter with the chips.
Im a lot calmer about this but will stick with my
plan to install a K&N for the remainder of my breakin time . I also will let the car idle a few extra minutes during cold starts.
Thank again JIM

 

[mangusta1969]

Jim,

If I were you, I would put a new original Mopar filter back on the GT Cruiser and then pull it and inspect for more shavings at 600 miles. That seems like a lot of metal in your filter, even for a new motor. If you get more shavings, take both cut up filters and the pictures to the dealer.

When the dealer tells you that this condition is normal for a new motor (not reasonable to me, but somewhat likely for them to say this), then make sure that you inform Chrysler in writing and send them both sets of pictures. I would use certified mail for this, just to let them know that you are serious about reporting your concerns.

I have a 2003 GT Cruiser, which I bought in early October 2002. It now has 12.9K miles on it with no problems, other than sort of poor gas mileage for the amount of power it makes.

When my 03 Cruiser was new, I did an oil change at 350 miles, pulled the oil filter and cut it open for inspection purposes. I did the same thing at 800 miles and 1800 miles. Again, no particles in the Mopar filters. At 1800 miles, I switched over to Mobil 1 synthetic and a Mobil 1 filter. Due to the high heat of the turbo bearings, I would strongly suggest synthetic oil for your GT Cruiser.

I put a magnetic plug on my Cruiser at the first oil change. It was a Napa P/N 704-1370. It cost about $4. You can get much stronger magnetic plugs for the Cruiser at:
www.superplugs.com
www.magneticdrainplugs.com

So far, nothing metallic on the magnetic drain plug. I am going to get one of the stronger magnetic drain plugs from one of the above sources.

Good luck with your GT Cruiser and keep up with your filter analysis!

Steve

 

[mangusta1969]

Correct url above is:

www.superplug.com

Sorry about that.

 

[JIM361]

Thanks Steve. Sounds like a much better plan to keep things within warranty guidlines and to report my results if I continue to get Chips.
I contacted superplugs for info .( nice beefy design ) I plan to switch to Mobil 1 at 3K and maby do a little mod to fit an oversized filter.
Glad to hear your GT has had few problems. Just how low has your gas mileage been. Could you have switched to Mobil 1 a little too early at 1800 ?
Thanks Again Safe Cruisin JIM

 

[Rick in PA]

Interesting you mention 1800 miles on the Cruiser. If you search the various PT Cruiser forums, you may find reference to them getting a "wake-up call" at around 3000 miles. I know I experienced this on my 2001 Cruiser. The engine seemed stiff, tight, then at around 3000 miles it just seemed to loosen-up. I know it's subjective, but it might be an issue with the break-in and Mobil 1.

 

[mangusta1969]

Gas mileage on my automatic GT Cruiser has been pretty steady: 20-21 mpg on long freeway trips and 16-18 mpg around town. Mileage has been about the same with both the synthetic and the break-in oil. I used 5W-30 Valvoline for break-in between 350 and 1800 miles.

My Cruiser only uses about 1/4-1/2 quart of oil in 3000 miles, with fairly mild driving, so I don't think there have been any break-in problems. It just doesn't get very good gas mileage in my opinion.

I complain about the PT's gas mileage because I have an automatic 91 Corvette that gets 25 mpg in freeway driving and another 92 Corvette (525 dynoed HP/6speed) that gets about 20 mpg in freeway driving. Both of these cars are driven much harder than the GT Cruiser. Both of these cars are also on a Mobil 1 (10W-30) diet.

Anyway, let us know if you still see debris on the 04 Cruiser's filter at 600-800 miles or so. I hope that clears up for you.

I think I am going to install a bypass oil filter on my Cruiser, but I haven't looked at the available space yet. It's going to be tight, though.

 

[JIM361]

Nice Wheels there Steve . My first tank of gas on the cruiser was 18.2 mpg ( 5spd ) , mostly around town and one hour(6 mile)traffic jam .
Well if I also get low mileage with no " major " problems I'll be happy .
When I said that an oversized filter ( M1-301 big brother to M1-209 )would not fit , it didn't miss by much . My idea is to add a flat spacer with a second gasket under the oil cooler adapter just enough to allow the bigger filter to thread on. It hits the oil pan now .
There is a pipe plug just to the right of the oil cooler heat exchanger that looks like an easy place to tap into for a bypass installation without relocating the original filter.
Thanks again for your time and effort . I wish I got this kind of positive input at work.
Jim

 

[mangusta1969]

Jim,

Thanks for the pipe plug tip on the bypass filter installation.

To wedge in the biggest filter possible on your GT Cruiser, you might look at the Mann filter site http://www.mann-hummel.com/mf_prodkata_usa/index.html

This is the only site that I have seen in which you can enter the thread size and critical dimensions to get a list of appropriate filters.

Like you, I think Chrysler should use a bigger filter on these turbo motors. Clean oil is really critical for the high speed/high heat turbo shaft bearing. At least Chrysler almost doubled the factory filter size over the non-turbo Cruisers.

Let us know if you are successful in getting a bigger filter mounted at the stock location. Because the Cruiser uses a horizontal-mounted filter, I would only consider other filters with silicone anti-drainback valves. Based on my experiences and those of others on this forum, that type of valve seems to work a lot better in preventing engine bearing noises/knocks at start up.

Steve