Looking for some closeure

[jpstiles02]

Finally
New subscriber but have been reading forums for months. 18 years ago, I saved enough money to buy my first vehicle. It was a 1985 Ford Bronco w/ the 4.9L Straight 6. I didn't even have a liscence yet, so I asked my mother to drive me to pepboys to get some detailing products. It was in the middle of a New Orleans summer. On the way back from Pepboys (after 7 miles), the truck started running rough and just killed. Motor would not turn over with several attempts. When the tow truck pulled up to the house, there in the brand new driveway was 6 quarts of oil and the housing to a FL-1A filter. I was devastated, so after painting a neighbors garage, was able to let NAPA do a shortblock. The machinist said somehow the check valve in the oil pump sent all the pressure to the filter causing the casing to blow off. Can someone help me make some sense of this? It was like a nightmare to me at the time. I wish my father would have helped me hold someone accountable as well.

 

[bepperb]

The oil goes through the pump, and after that there is a pressure relief valve before the oil goes through the filter and into the engine block.

The highest oil pressures are when oil is cold. So I imagine at startup more pressure got to the filter than it could handle. Being that 18 years ago is 1994, making the Bronco 9 at the time I doubt the manufacturer warranty still applied. In WI if you purchased from the dealer you would have had 3 days where they would have footed the bill (unless the car came with some warranty).

 

[bullwinkle]

The FL-1A should have had an internal bypass valve-perhaps there was so much sludge in the oil that it jammed shut and blew off. Did your machinist say anything else about how crudded-up the inside of the engine was? The 300 6 cylinder Ford is considered one of the toughest gas light truck engines ever made And,

 

[rob6773]

I have heard stories of fords doing this. Sort of urban legend. Story usually had to do with the FE v-8 truck motors, 360 or 390.

 

[Pablo]

Seems like your oil light would be on? You didn't notice?

Filters do blow - it could have been somehow a very weak filter can.

 

[NHGUY]

I have noticed certain filters having crimp problems lately.Either they arent crimped enough and they leak,or they are crimped too tight and it fractures the outer shell and creates a leak thru the crack.I blame it on poor tooling/worn tooling/un calibrated tooling.In this bad economy,everybody is cutting costs,and not doing needed work on machinery.I notice a lot of cardboard and plastic peg hook "knock outs" not getting fully punched,due to worn stamping tooling now.

 

[CLeming]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
I have noticed certain filters having crimp problems lately......SNIP


Which ones have you noticed this in? I had heard of this maybe 10 years ago on a few M1 filters, but I'm sure they have that problem fixed by now.

 

[JHZR2]

Are you sure it was correctly tightened? I can't believe the oil light wouldn't have been seen.

Ive heard lots on when the gasket doesn't come off with the old filter and then blows off when restarted.

 

[rob6773]

Some filters are so light that that I wonder about their ability to clean. Other filters are really heavy, so those I know have more media and a stronger case. Feel the weight of a K&N, they are heavy filters. I bet you could rub a rock with one and it would still hold.

 

[mva]

Could have been a jammed or faulty bypass valve in the filter. Or the wrong model filter was installed with no bypass. This would result in very high pressure in the filter can during a cold start.

 

[rob6773]

With the engine being replaced you need to make sure your oil light is working.