Mobil1 and bypass filters not recommended?

[Fillherup]

Do you beleive this MOBIL1 FAQ? Seems off base to me. 06/17/2002 Bypass Oil Filtering I read through the archive but could find nothing on "bypass oil filtering." I'd like to add the Oilguard System to my 1995 Ford F-150 with 50,000 miles. The literature and reports of performance of this type of system are quite positive. I've been using Mobil 1 in all my vehicles for 20 years and plan to continue that use. Has Mobil done any tests or does it have any recommendation regarding bypass filtering? -- Paul Edstrom, Stanchfield The average conventional spin-on filter for an automobile typically has a 40-50 micron absolute rating. That means particles larger than this size will be caught by the filter element. The Mobil 1 oil filter has a 15 micron absolute rating. Some bypass systems are rated at 1-3 microns absolute. We have not done any performance testing with the bypass oil filtering system you have suggested. Although a good filter is vital to the health of an engine, bypass oil filtering systems are capable of extremely fine filtration. It is usually not necessary to filter an engine oil down to cleanliness levels below the 10-15 micron range. We do not recommend filtering an engine oil down to below 1 micron particle size. Below this size, a filter may begin to capture vital components of the additive package.

 

[Al]

It is true that below 1 micron that additives can be captured (at least I was told this by a Parker filter representative.) However I suppose you can't really expect Mobil 1 to endorse a concept that they do not actively make big bucks from. Let's face it- bypass oil oil filters are probably used by one person in 10,000. Their number of 40-50 icrons absolute is bogus. Filters do lots better than this. People that use the bypass system seem to be successful with it.

 

[MolaKule]

"We do not recommend filtering an engine oil down to below 1 micron particle size. Below this size, a filter may begin to capture vital components of the additive package. " Huh? What vital components? Not any vital components from a modern additive package! Even moly and ZDDP are simply molecules in solution and below 0.1 um across. [ March 16, 2003, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: MolaKule ]

 

[buster]

After speaking and emailing several Mobil guys, I can tell you that some of them just have no clue as to what they are saying. Amsoil's tech support is excellent. I always get great responses from Ed. Nice guy.

 

[Fillherup]

Molakule, A one micron particle at the MolaKule level is really quite large- right? Sorry, just could not resist this.