Bypass filters.

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From what I read here. Some think bypass filters are a waste of time. I guess if you drive a new car and trade it in every few years. The economy has people keeping cars longer.
I see nothing wrong with trying to keep stuff out of the oil that would cause wear.
I think regular filters are only so good. So the more filtering the better. Unless your lazy or just don't care. I even think filtering fuel wouldn't be a bad idea either. I read up on Dodge Caravans. I have one and people complain about the transmission, a lot. On the Allpar site it has an article about stuff getting in the little filters in the transmission pack.
So who knows what kind of problems could be solved with a little bit better filtering.
 
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Originally Posted By: ron17571
From what I read here. Some think bypass filters are a waste of time. I guess if you drive a new car and trade it in every few years. The economy has people keeping cars longer.
I see nothing wrong with trying to keep stuff out of the oil that would cause wear.
I think regular filters are only so good. So the more filtering the better. Unless your lazy or just don't care. I even think filtering fuel wouldn't be a bad idea either. I read up on Dodge Caravans. I have one and people complain about the transmission, a lot. On the Allpar site it has an article about stuff getting in the little filters in the transmission pack.
So who knows what kind of problems could be solved with a little bit better filtering.


There are thousands of cars with over 250k miles that have never had a bypass filter and are still chugging along. The trading in a car every few years is not a good scapegoat for running a bypass filter, unless you're trying to run extreme extended ocis. If staying at ocis under 15k a good filter like the FU is going to work just fine. At ocis less than 5k almost any filter will have the rest of the car falling apart before the engine goes. Bypass filters are cool but usually not needed unless there's a specifically know issue.
 
For a normal OCI, bypass is likely not doing a whole lot of good, but it will give you cleaner oil. If, however you are planning on extending your oil changes then it's a great idea. There's a guy on here running 40k mile OCIs with Amsoil. Granted, he adds a quart every 34k(I think) but he runs a bypass setup. He also uses an electric pre-oiler to make pressure prior to start.
 
Millions of vehicles on the road doing just fine without bypass. Waste of time and money.

Follow the maintenance procedures outlined in your OM or MM and fix what needs fixing when they need fixing, and someone will most assuredly smash in to you long before you see a return on your bypass investment.
 
I actually don't change my oil any more. The big bypass filter I use gets changed annually, and the makeup oil I add when I put in a new filter refreshes the additives adequately. I send in samples for analysis twice a year and they show very low wear metals, low particulates, and TBN (I only do that once a year) is always sufficient.

Probably worth noting that I also change the full flow filter annually at the same time. That puts the total makeup oil at 7 quarts, with total system capacity of 18 quarts

I only put about 10-12k miles on my truck per year though, so that figures into it as well.
 
You think? LOL!

Originally Posted By: AlaskaMike
I only put about 10-12k miles on my truck per year though, so that figures into it as well.
 
I suppose for the general auto / pickup, bypass is really not needed and just a way to spend money on a problem that doesn't really exist. For other applications, I would not go so far as saying they are a waste of money. Diesels, in general, and especially heavy diesels can benefit greatly from bypass. Soot is the big issue with all of them. And those engines usually are oil changed at something 25,000 miles for a minimum. It all depends on the application.
 
6 qts Auto engine and around 13 gallons + in a semi there is a savings with a bypass.
 
The greatest misconception is that bypass filtration makes the equipment last longer at the exclusion of other methods. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Clean oil makes equipment last longer. Clean oil is achieved by having a clean sump. A clean sump can be had by either
1) filtration
2) fluid exchange

Any sump will have some manner of acceptable contamination where the levels do not affect the wear rates to any discernible degree. Past that amount, then filtration can play a role.

Therefore, if the sump is exchanged frequently enough to keep the contamination below that level, then superior filtration does not add any tangible benefit. I would challenge anyone to post up real concrete data otherwise.

Bypass filters will not make equipment last longer; it will make fluids last longer in the sump.

UOA data shows this time and time again.


P.S. - please don't point toward the infamous GM filter study as "proof", because it only serves to show that you never bought it and read it. That is one of the most grossly misunderstood studies ever quoted in regard to filtration. It has ZERO (zip, zilch, nada) of anything to do with the real world and contributes nothing to the concept in regard to such.
 
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Primarily dirt, soot, and other contaminates. Those, generally, have a larger "footprint" than wear metals which are usually of similar consistency in oil as colloidal minerals are in solution that people take as a dietary supplement. Though indeed, there are larger metal particles that get filtered out by the full flow and bypass filters, as cutting open a used filter will attest. But then, in oil sample testing, these larger particulates are not part of the analysis, so it is a non issue.
 
Exactly, it keeps insolubles very low, depending on brand (and application) removes water from the oil which degrades the oil... But newer engines dont have a big problem with water.

I am currently running a dual remote bypass from amsoil, presently at 10,0000km (6000 miles) i am thinking of doing an oil analysis either at 16,000km (10,000miles) just to be sure, or even 20,000km. Running amsoil signature 5w20... Thinking about moving to their 0w-30 SS after my gallon jug of the 5w-20 is used up, which will be at least a year away, as the 2003 crv consumes a little more than 1/4 qt per 3000 miles.
 
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