LSJr Interviews Containing Oil Filter Efficiency

[garageman402]

LSJr is reiterating his opinion on filter efficiency improving with loading. He says particles that have already been captured are attracting other like particles (iron attracts other iron particles, etc.) & that's what makes the filter more efficient.

This first video is lengthy but gives some insight on his background, the filter remark is at 43:20:



This next video is shorter & a more detailed account of his career after leaving Total Seal. Oil filter remarks are at 7:20 & 8:50:

 

[edyvw]

OMG, he's doubling down because of his thin skin. This filter thing is all over the internet, and I saw on other forums some citing stuff from here. I saw other people invoking ISO. I know people here who answered other people's questions in Facebook groups because they asked about filters and threw assumptions about it (the same happened with his oil test with HPL, Liqui Moly, etc).
And yet, he STILL does not cite one test, methodology to prove what he is saying.

 

[4wd]

OMG, he's doubling down because of his thin skin. This filter thing is all over the internet, and I saw on other forums some citing stuff from here. I saw other people invoking ISO. I know people here who answered other people's questions in Facebook groups because they asked about filters and threw assumptions about it (the same happened with his oil test with HPL, Liqui Moly, etc).
And yet, he STILL does not cite one test, methodology to prove what he is saying.

More OMG - than changing my destiny …

 

[GW.]

Interesting his full time job is now Motor Oil Geek(YouTube) and reading used oil analysis. Puts a different perspective on his vids that feed directly into Speed Diagnostix. Marketing 101.

 

[ZeeOSix]

LSJr is reiterating his opinion on filter efficiency improving with loading. He says particles that have already been captured are attracting other like particles (iron attracts other iron particles, etc.) & that's what makes the filter more efficient.

So now oil filters become more efficient as they load up basically because of the "magnetic" attraction between already captured wear metal particles attracting other metal particles inside the filter ... He should realize that most oil filters won't catch a lot of the ferrous particles from normal wear because they are well below 10u, and a used oil analysis can only see around 5u and less sized particles. Maybe he should have Donaldson do an ISO 4548-12 test with some of the ISO test dust comprised of ferrous particles to a ratio of what it might be in an engine and see the test results. I'd say the filter is still going to lose efficiency as it loads up.

And if oil filters did behave like he claims, then why doesn't he mention the filters affect on the ferrous ppm levels in used oil analysis since per his claim the filter should be skewing that data the longer the filter is ran. Per his claim, all ferrous particles should be caught in the filter due to "magnetic" forces ... like a built in "Filter Mag". If the filter is ran long enough, maybe the Fe ppm would head towards zero, lol. In the second video he even clearly says the filter gets more efficient right from the beginning with use up to the point it clogs and goes into bypass (8:26 and after in the 2nd video). That's totally opposite of the efficiency loss "hockey stick" shaped curve seen in ISO 4548-12, and the study that Purolator/M+H did.

As others have already mentioned, he has zero test data to prove his claim. And now it's due to the attractive forces of the metal particles going on inside the oil filter, where as in the other video his claim was that "cake layer" theory makes air, oil and fuel filters to all get more efficient with loading due to pore blockage, lol.

Note that the 1st video was posted 6 months ago, but the 2nd video was posted just 2 weeks ago, so he hasn't changed his claim on oil filter efficiency vs loading. Why don't these hosts ask him what test date backs up this claims?

 

[4wd]

Interesting his full time job is now Motor Oil Geek(YouTube) and reading used oil analysis. Puts a different perspective on his vids that feed directly into Speed Diagnostix. Marketing 101.

Not with Total Seal anymore?

 

[4wd]

So now oil filters become more efficient as they load up basically because of the "magnetic" attraction of already captured wear metal particles attracting other metal particles inside the filter ... He should realize that most oil filters won't catch a lot of the ferrous wear particles because they are well below 10u, and a used oil analysis can only see around 5u and less sized particles. Maybe he should have Donaldson do an ISO 4548-12 test with ferrous test dust that meets the ISO test dust size requirements (which has a lot of particles below 20u) and see the test results. I'd say the filter is still going to lose efficiency as it loads up.

And if oil filters did behave like he claims, then why doesn't he mention the filters affect on the ferrous ppm levels in used oil analysis since per his claim the filter should be skewing that data the longer the filter is ran. Per his claim, all ferrous particles should be caught in the filter due to "magnetic" forces ... like a built in "Filter Mag". If the filter is ran long enough, maybe the Fe ppm would head towards zero, lol. In the second video he even clearly says the filter gets more efficient right from the beginning with use up to the point it clogs and goes into bypass (8:26 and after in the 2nd video). That's totally opposite of the efficiency loss "hockey stick" shaped curve seen in ISO 4548-12, and the study that Purolator/M+H did.

As others have already mentioned, he has zero test data to prove his claim. And now it's due to the attractive forces of the metal particles going on inside the oil filter, where as in the other video his claim was that "cake layer" theory makes air, oil and fuel filters to all get more efficient with loading due to pore blockage, lol.

Note that the 1st video was posted 6 months ago, but the 2nd video was posted just 2 weeks ago, so he hasn't changed his claim on oil filter efficiency vs loading. Why don't these hosts ask him what test date backs up this claims?

Probably more like cohesive forces where interstitial flow occurs. Not sure where magnetism would come from.

 

[GW.]

Not with Total Seal anymore?

Not according to the second vid. Left for YouTube

 

[ZeeOSix]

I used "magnetic" in quotes for a reason, simply to mean they attract each other. If you filed a bar of ferrous steel into fine dust, it can act magnetic. And I highly doubt that magnetic/cohesive force on particles that small are strong enough to keep the oil flow velocity through the media from not dislodging them down steam. And what about all the other particles in oil that are not ferrous? They won't have any real attraction forces for each other.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Who needs a "Filter Mag" when you have one built into every oil filter.

 

[rstsco]

So now we're

Not according to the second vid. Left for YouTube

Checked out the video and they begin to discuss leaving Total Seal at ~2:40. Lake said SD was growing to the point he had to quit it, or Total Seal, and SD was a family business with his wife, son, and daughter, so quit TS about a year and a half ago.

 

[fantastic]

Starting to think Donaldson may have sold him a bill of goods for marketing knowing that he's got some followers.

So now oil filters become more efficient as they load up basically because of the "magnetic" attraction of already captured wear metal particles attracting other metal particles inside the filter ... He should realize that most oil filters won't catch a lot of the ferrous wear particles because they are well below 10u, and a used oil analysis can only see around 5u and less sized particles. Maybe he should have Donaldson do an ISO 4548-12 test with ferrous test dust that meets the ISO test dust size requirements and see that results in. I'd say the filter is still going to lose efficiency as it loads up.

And if oil filters did behave like he claims, then why doesn't he mention the filters affect on the ferrous ppm levels in used oil analysis since per his claim the filter should be skewing that data the longer the filter is ran. If the filter is ran long enough, maybe the Fe ppm would head towards zero, lol. In the second video he even clearly says the filter gets more efficient with use right up to the point it clogs and goes into bypass (8:53 in the 2nd video). That's totally opposite of the efficiency loss "hockey stick" shaped curve seen in ISO 4548-12. And as others have already mentioned, he has zero test data to prove his claim.

The testing lab that Speed uses can detect particles, wear & additives, up to 10um in size.

 

[ZeeOSix]

The testing lab that Speed uses can detect particles, wear & additives, up to 10um in size.

Only pretty high efficiency oil filters can catch a good percentage of 10u and smaller. And as the ISO test shows, the smaller the particle size, the more efficiency lose with loading for that particle size.

Post in thread 'LSJR on the importance of clean oil'

Dec 23, 2025

We don't know what their motives are. You are assuming.

Honda specs cellulose filters. Cellulose, as @Hohn noted, has massive variance in pore sizes, which means that as the ΔP increases, more contaminants get pushed through the larger pores, which is why the efficiency falls-off. This is an environment and operating conditions that air filters aren't exposed to. As I noted earlier, the only real exception to this behaviour is with certain styles of synthetic media with extremely uniform pore sizes (and these are generally layered media as well, for true depth filtration)...

• OVERKILL

• 
• 

 

[fantastic]

Only pretty high efficiency oil filters can catch a good percentage of 10u and smaller. And as the ISO test shows, the smaller the particle size, the more efficiency lose with loading for that particle size.

Post in thread 'LSJR on the importance of clean oil'

Dec 23, 2025

We don't know what their motives are. You are assuming.

Honda specs cellulose filters. Cellulose, as @Hohn noted, has massive variance in pore sizes, which means that as the ΔP increases, more contaminants get pushed through the larger pores, which is why the efficiency falls-off. This is an environment and operating conditions that air filters aren't exposed to. As I noted earlier, the only real exception to this behaviour is with certain styles of synthetic media with extremely uniform pore sizes (and these are generally layered media as well, for true depth filtration)...

• OVERKILL

• 
• 

You mentioned UOA particle size so I thought I'd mention the higher particle size tested by the lab that Speed uses to test the oil. We're not talking about testing the filter...lol.

 

[ZeeOSix]

You mentioned used oil analysis particle size so I thought I'd mentioned the higher particle size tested by the lab that Speed uses to test the oil. We're not talking about testing the filter...lol.

Yeah, I know what a used oil analysis is checking. I said that because if LSJr claims that a filter becomes more efficient due to the attractive forces of particles going on inside an oil filter, then it would have an impact on the PPM of wear metals seen in used oil analysis depending on what oil filter was used. Why hasn't he ever mentioned the possible impact on used oil analysis data if his claim is that oil filters get more efficient because they are catching all the super small wear metal particles due to them sticking to each other inside the filter? There are some big disconnects going on it seems. When people use a real filter magnet, like a Filter Mag, the ferrous metals PPM in the used oil analysis can go down significantly. And there are more types of particles in the oil besides just Fe particles from normal wear.

 

[rstsco]

This building "controversy" related to oil filter efficiency as the filter loads up is playing directly into LSJR's hands. I suspect if these discussions across the internet were to start dying down, a video would drop sooner than later. If they continue, it only builds, let's call it suspense. When it does drop, will have many more views than it might have otherwise. From his marketing perspective, it's a win for his channel and pocketbook. Can't fault a guy for doing this.

For a while, Lake was hinting at doing a video from Amsoil. I finally sent him an email asking when this was going to happen, to which he replied he'd already done so. Turns out it was a video shot at Amsoil related to motorcycle oils. Nothing like the deep dive video series shot by Gale Banks.

 

[fantastic]

Yeah, I know what a used oil analysis is checking. I said that because if LSJr claims that a filter becomes more efficient due to the attractive forces of particles going on inside an oil filter, then it would have an impact on the PPM of wear metals seen in used oil analysis depending on what oil filter was used. Why hasn't he ever mentioned the possible impact on used oil analysis data if his claim is that oil filters get more efficient because they are catching all the super small wear metal particles due to them sticking to each other inside the filter? There are some big disconnects going on it seems. When people use a real filter magnet, like a Filter Mag, the ferrous metals PPM in the used oil analysis can go down significantly. And there are more types of particles in the oil besides just Fe particles from normal wear.

I wonder where this channel will lead to in the future. I thought it was funny when he said he didn't want to "reset" the performance on the oil filter so didn't change it after dumping the oil. Most OEM's recommend changing them each time.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I thought it was funny when he said he didn't want to "reset" the performance on the oil filter so didn't change it after dumping the oil.

When someone here wants to follow the OM, we can say "Don't do it, you'll reset the oil filter". My viewpoint based on the ISO test data is if you're going to do really long OCIs or keep a filter on for 2 or 3 shorter OCIs but not exceed the max "up to" miles rating, then use a high efficiency filter that doesn't shed as much debris and lose much efficiency over the use period. Look at the ISO efficiency data from Ascent's test ... the 3 top filters didn't lose much efficiency from new to loaded that produced 8 PSI dP over the new dP level.

 

[rstsco]

Most OEM's recommend changing them each time.

Since getting the Pilot, I noticed the MM alternates between A service (oil only) and B service (oil + filter + inspection of brakes and other stuff, technically speaking). Research on Honda's MM system indicates it may suggest an oil filter change each time, depending on driving variables during that oil change cycle.

I'm going to continue taking my chances, changing the oil filter each OCI. I'm a rebel.

 

[JavierH19]

He's even less knowledgeable than I previously thought before. I retract my statement where i said he misunderstanding science, he aggressively misunderstands basic science and testing procedures. What a complete hack, this is no tribologist.