Thoughts on Fleetguard

[TallPaul]

I am on my second Fleetguard filter (LF697) and noticed when I pre-fill them the oil easily permeates the filter media. I like that. Means they are not going to be restrictive of flow. Other brands I have pre-filled (Purolator, Motorcraft, Wix) all required pouring oil in and rotating the filter on an angle until it seeped through the media, then pouring more oil in, repeat, etc. So the Fleetguard seems to have great flow.

But then my first one came off (after 4400 miles) with a badly leaking anti-drainback valve. However, was the valve really bad or just some bit of debris caught in it? The Wix I just took of another vehicle also had an anti-drainback leak, though a smaller leak.

I tested the second LF697 by blowing into it and the valve held, so I prefilled it (30 ounces) and thumbing the center hole, turned it over and none leaked out. We'll see what it looks like in a few thousand miles.

 

[Grease is the word]

TP,

It is not your imagination. The FG in the upcoming study shows the pore size to be nearly 3 times the size (and also the top flowing filter) as the filter with the smallest pore size.

I had hoped to get this published this last weekend but it is going to be a couple of days. I want a few individuals to do some proofing on it before I release it.

coming soon.... www.oilfilterstudy.com

 

[TallPaul]

Thanks Grease. The only thing I want significantly resisting oil flow in my engine is the bearings and other mechanical stuff. I bet the Fleetguard does a better overall job than the tight pored filter because the bypass would not open nearly as often on the FG

 

[leanintoit]

quote:

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TallPaul
I bet the Fleetguard does a better overall job than the tight pored filter because the bypass would not open nearly as often on the FG

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I don’t understand all the worry about the bypass valve opening. Maybe I’m missing something? To me the bypass valve is probably always going to open at startup when the oil is cold and possibly when the engine rpm is high causing the oil pump output to exceed the filter medias capacity to flow. But here is why I don’t see a problem. The oil that goes through the bypass valve during these times is filtered clean oil from the previous pass through the filter prior to either event. The oil was filtered while the engine ran normally prior to startup and also filtered prior to any high rpm action. In either instance the filter is bypassing oil that it has already cleaned on the oil’s previous pass through the filter. So unless you’re racing, a high flow filter just increases the maximum particle size floating around in your engine day to day.

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

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Originally posted by leanintoit:
The oil that goes through the bypass valve during these times is filtered clean oil from the previous pass through the filter prior to either event. .... a high flow filter just increases the maximum particle size floating around in your engine day to day.

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But there likely is some crud in the bottom of the pan that occasionally gets sucked up the pump regardless whether the oil going with it was just filtered. The particle size passing throught a high flow filter should not be a problem unless you're running a very thin oil (5w20 users beware). But if what you are saying is true, then a bypass system would be better than a full flow system. Maybe so. I really don't know.

[ May 24, 2004, 11:31 AM: Message edited by: TallPaul ]

 

[TallPaul]

Maybe 6 of one and 1/2 dozen of the other. Best may be both full flow and bypass, but probably overkill. Anyway, I'm going to try the freer flowing FGs for now with 15w40. The third opinion is no filter (see 11th post by Spector):
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=001543

 

[leanintoit]

http://oilguard.com/side_menu/bypass_filtration/extend_engine.php

I know this is for a bypass system but I would think that it also applies to any oil filter. High flow filters are from what I have seen not capable of removing particles smaller than 40 microns on average.

Any crud in the bottom of the pan is likely to stay in the bottom of the pan or it would be filtered out during normal operation.

The down side to not going into bypass with a high flow filter for short periods is to allow larger particles up to around 40 micron at all times. I think larger particles for a short time while in bypass would be better than larger particles all the time.

 

[TallPaul]

As a followup. I ran a Fleetguard Lf697 on my motorhome for nearly 4400 miles and got a great used oil analysis.

Remarkable given the specs for this filter (which I obtained from Fleetguard by phone):

Capacity: 33 grams of contaminants
Efficiency of 68% at 30 microns
Flow rate of--Get this--15.85 gpm!
One would think terrible things might happen with the seemingly poor efficiency of 68% at 30 microns, but the used oil analysis seems to say otherwise.