To filter or not to filter?

[Tommy]

I have a new Toyota Echo with an automatic transmission and am pondering the installation of an inline transmission filter. I have been told by a two transmission shops to not do this as there is potential to damage the transmission should the filter restrict the flow in the cooler/lubrication circuit.

Is it perhaps better to forget the filter and just change the oil more frequently? I have also thought about a bypass filter, but would I not just be dumping oil from the lubrication circuit?

 

[Bio-T]

tommy,

Take a look at the Magnefine in-line transmission filter. It has a regular filter, a magnet and also a bypass valve. The Magnefine is also specked in a Ford TSB on some of their transmissions when doing a rebuild or replacement. So this is not a fly by-night filter. I am using one on my 2000 Mazda and my 2001 Ford PSD. Go here: http://www.emergingent.com/

 

[phordguy]

I found one on ebay for you, at $20 plus $3 shipping it sounds like a deal. This guy is always selling them, check the size of your line (mine was 3/8) and check his stuff out. I've not dealt with him directly but he has really good feedback and I wouldn't hesitate to order from him.

[ September 17, 2004, 12:04 AM: Message edited by: 59 Vetteman ]

 

[Tommy]

I did look at the Magnefine filter but would prefer something with a little more capacity - not alot of filter area there. I just wonder how long it would really take before it restricts & goes into bypass - if it did run in bypass, you would never know.

 

[Bio-T]

Tommy,

I have had a Magnefine apart. No problem on the capacity. If it can handle a Ford F250 E40D/4R100 it should be no problem.

 

[sifan]

I am driving a 2003 Echo with two Frantz bypass filters installed (one for motor oil and the other for ATF). Currently the car has about 17k on odo. I installed the ATF bypass filter around 16k on odo, replaced the first roll of toilet paper, and added 1 quart of fresh ATF after 1k miles of driving. Now the ATF in my AT looks clear red. The old TP looked kind of dark red. The AT is working very smoothly now. I will drive for another 5k miles before next TP change. I wish I had installed both my Frantz bypass filters when my Echo was brand new.

If you are willing to re-allocate the car battery to the trunk to make room in the engine bay, I think the bypass filter is the best filtering device for ATF because you can see the condition of filtering element with your own eyes. What year is your Echo? I thought Toyota was going to phase out Echo after 2004 model year in the U.S.

The Magnefine filter is relatively cheap and painless to install. You will probably need to buy an extra oil cooler hose from Toyota part# 90445-15046 around US$12+Tax (or a foot of 5/16" ATF hose from NAPA which is cheaper) plus two hose clamps. I do not know how heavy this thing is. Maybe you also need to tie it to somewhere instead of just let it hang there. As you said, there is no way to know when it goes into bypass mode. I doubt its filtering capability can match to that of a TP.

Either way it is better than no filter on ATF. If you concern the filtering potential of Magnefine filter , Echo is equipped with an ATF drain plug, so you can drain the ATF every 15k miles of driving just for the peace of mind.

 

[Tommy]

Sifan,
My Echo is a 2005. I plan to install an engine oil bypass filter (Amsoil Dual Remote) also. There is plenty of room ahead of the radiator which is where I will mount the filters. There is a channel beam behind the bumper which I will install threaded inserts into - there is even enough room to have the filter heads off to either side of the rad. I will post pictures when I am done.

Where did you dump the flow of your transmission bypass filter?

 

[sifan]

I have seen another Echo owner installed his dual Amsoil bypass filter the way you describe. However, Amsoil filters are expensive, and you can not see the filtering elements inside the cans as in the case of Magnefine filter. They are smaller than a roll of toilet paper. Well, I guess it is better than no bypass filter at all.

There is a transmission oil cooler embedded in the bottom of radiator with two hoses leading to the transaxle. The one on the passenger side is the outlet hose from cooler to transaxle, which is probably the one you are interested in installing a filter on.

 

[Tommy]

So you tee-ed into this cooler line to send oil to the transmission bypass filter - where did you dump this oil back into the transmission?

I personally like Amsoil's bypass filters....I am just not into the toilet paper thing. Their Dual Remote makes a nice clean installation.

 

[sifan]

Frantz sells an universal adaptor specifically for its transmission bypass filter. There are 4 ports on it: two for regular flow, and the other two for bypass flow.

 

[Tommy]

Sifan,

Please tell me more about this adapter. I looked on their web-site and could not find anything on it. How does it work? How is it connected?

 

[sifan]

Frantz does not advertize the universal adaptor on the web. I did not know the existence of such an adaptor until I talked to Frantz while ordering the transmission bypass filter.

Here is how I set it up. I bought two 3-foot 5/16" transmission hoses from NAPA. I removed the stock passenger side oil cooler hose, and attached one 3-foot hose to the oil cooler and the port on the adaptor where oil flowed in. The other 3-foot hose connect to the port on the adaptor where oil flowed out and the transaxle. The remain two ports on the adaptor were for the bypass filter: one flowed oil to the bypass filter, the other returned oil to the adaptor.

 

[Mykro]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tommy:
Sifan,

Please tell me more about this adapter. I looked on their web-site and could not find anything on it. How does it work? How is it connected?

---

Check out the installation of my Frantz Trans
adaptor. I have photos that show how it is connected..


http://community.webshots.com/album/114815318vlzHVh

 

[sifan]

A picture worths a thousand words.

I have read the discussion on the possible drawback of this particular adaptor on this forum (you can do a searh yourself). Due to the restriction of flow to transaxle in the adaptor in order to create bypass flow, it might cause insufficient oil flow to the transaxle if the bypass filtering element is saturated (i.e. no bypass flow allowed). I do not know what kind of transmission bypass filter you are planning to use. Hopefully not the expensive cartridge type like Amsoil's that you can not tell if the bypass filtering element is clogged up. For TP based bypass filter you can periodically replace the cheap TP to prevent such a problem if it does exist. So far I have not encounter it with my Frantz filter.

 

[Tommy]

Thanks for the picture Myrko - I see now....basically this unit has a restrictor orifice to create a pressure drop, which allows flow through the bypass filter.

Sifan - the only way that flow could be decreased here is if the bypass filter became restricted, as the cooler flow is just being divided into two paths. If there was enough debris in your tranny to clog a high-capacity filter, then you likely had a problem anyway.

 

[Mykro]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tommy:
Thanks for the picture Myrko - I see now....basically this unit has a restrictor orifice to create a pressure drop, which allows flow through the bypass filter.

Sifan - the only way that flow could be decreased here is if the bypass filter became restricted, as the cooler flow is just being divided into two paths. If there was enough debris in your tranny to clog a high-capacity filter, then you likely had a problem anyway.

---

If the element became totally restricted, Flow would continue through to the transmission uninterrupted.. Hence bypass...

 

[Tommy]

What I am thinking Mykro is that there must be a restrictor orifice in the transmission adapter to create a pressure differential across the two bypass filter ports - if the bypass filter became plugged, then the cooler flow would have to decrease.

 

[4.8 Silverado]

There is another way to install a easy bypass filter for your trans.I installed a permacool remote filter adapter plumbed in after my trans cooler and installed a Trasco spin on bypass filter.Easy to service and you can check the filter media easily.Only drawback is the cost of the Filter media,around 11 dollars.