Need an opinion on an opinion...

[alexiskai]

I saw this on a Toyota board and I'm wondering what you folks think of it:

>At 700 miles I changed the oil to Castrol GTX
>5w30 conventional oil with a Mobil 1 filter.
>
>At 3,000 miles I will change the oil again using
>Castrol but then switch to Toyota brand filter
>for the remaining life of the car.
>
>I’m driving very easily while the Mobil 1 filter
>is on the car. The Mobil filter filters very
>well, but it does not flow as well because of its
>filtering efficiency. I have seen some oil
>analysis reports which show wear numbers can
>actually be reduced by using filters that flow
>more while not necessarily filtering as well.
>
>The reason is because during high RPM or heavy
>loads sometimes oil filters go into by pass mode
>to ensure the engine has all the oil it needs.
>This happens because filters are a restriction
>and if the engine is demanding more oil than the
>filter can provide (maintaining the correct oil
>pressure) the filter is bypassed to ensure proper
>pressure. While this is good, it’s also bad
>because while in bypass mode the oil is not being
>filtered. I chose to use the Mobil 1 filter while
>the engine is breaking in because it filters
>better and I am driving it VERY nice to avoid any
>bypass situations.

My question is, is the poster's concern warranted? What if he switched to something like a K&N filter to give better flow and nearly-as-good filtering?

 

[Al]

I think that there is a lot of speculation here. I don't think anyone here has equated bypass with higher wear numbers-it's a reach. The K&N probably flows better because that's its forte'. It filters at I think 90% at 20 microns whereas the Mobil is 98% (I think) at 15 microns. The Mobil 1 though has synthetic fiber with the paper media. That gives good flow charater istics.

He could go with a larger filter (oversize) The relatively large filter for the 2L Focus will fit some Toyotas. So in short-the K&N is probably a better choice but with the conventional oil he will change every 3K anyway (probably). He's probably a little paranoid. But then again-so am I. I use K&N.

 

[Ken2]

Champion Labs told me that the Mobil 1 M1-102 filter which fits many Toyotas has the following specs:
-traps 75% of 10 micron particles
-traps 98.5% (called "absolute") of 20 micron particles
-has a differential pressure of 2.5 psid @ 3 gpm with 180°F SAE 30 oil
-internal bypass valve setting of 11-14 psid.

I do not know how much of the time this filter will be bypassing, if any, with warm oil in normal driving. In any even, even if the internal bypass valve does open, as much oil as will flow is still being forced through the filter media by the 11+ psi differential pressure (difference between the inlet side of the filtering media and the outlet side). The filter is not out of the picture when bypassing.

I do not know the specs on the OE Toyota filter. On some Toyota models the filter installed from the factory has a bypass valve and some Toyota filters that the parts counters sell, correctly listed for these engines, do not have a bypass valve. (If in doubt, email me...I'll send you photos.)


Ken

 

[satterfi]

"-has a differential pressure of 2.5 psid @ 3 gpm with 180°F SAE 30 oil"

Now that's the type of flow data we need.

The gpm data by itself is useless.

I agree with Al and Ken. I wouldn't worry about the M1 unless you install a high flow oil pump.

[ January 25, 2003, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: satterfi ]

 

[RalphPWood]

I don't worry much about my full flow filter. There is very little for it to do. I change it every couple of years., maybe. I always cut it open and it's always clean.
I drove 20 miles into town to pick up some furniture with my Ford diesel. I put my hand on the bypass filter and it was still cold. After about 30 minutes around town it started to warm up. It got hot on the way home. My Camry is a different story. I have it set up with an element bypass and PermaCool adapter. It heats up fast.
If you want clean oul and a non restrictive filter forget it. They are the same as air filters.

Ralph