A spring inside the oil filter?

[kreativ]

I have a few Champion Labs (Bosch Premium brand) oil filters for Toyota V8 engine. While they're of the same part #, one of them (Made '05 in USA) has a spring on the threaded end of the filter. The rest (Made '04 in Mexico) don't have a spring, and have a different looking end-cap (Not sure if that's the right term. It's the metal piece at the other end of the filter when you peer through the center hole).

Which design is better?

 

[Tones]

The spring on the threaded end is the bypass valve, which is also the function of the "end-cap" difference you noticed in the other filter.

In theory, the bypass valve on the threaded end is better because the oil does not have to travel to the back of the filter across the dirty element to reach the bypass, possibly picking up contamination along the way. In practice, I am not sure that it really matters.

 

[kreativ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tones:
The spring on the threaded end is the bypass valve, which is also the function of the "end-cap" difference you noticed in the other filter.

In theory, the bypass valve on the threaded end is better because the oil does not have to travel to the back of the filter across the dirty element to reach the bypass, possibly picking up contamination along the way. In practice, I am not sure that it really matters.

---

Thanks for the explanation. I see no spring at all in the Mexico-made version of the Champion Lab filter (the one with the different-looking endplate) - does this mean it has no bypass function?

 

[Tones]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kreativ:
does this mean it has no bypass function?

---

No, it probably still has a bypass valve. If the bypass valve is the type that uses a spring, it may be on the other side of the endcap. Champion labs also makes the "clicker" type bypass valve. You can identify this type by a ring of small holes in the endcap. Do your own due diligence on this type of bypass valve. Personally, I am an engineer. When I look at that thing, I cannot explain how it works, so I don't trust it to function properly. I personally use Toyota OEM filters on my V8 Tundra.

 

[kreativ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tones:
Champion labs also makes the "clicker" type bypass valve. You can identify this type by a ring of small holes in the endcap. Do your own due diligence on this type of bypass valve. Personally, I am an engineer. When I look at that thing, I cannot explain how it works, so I don't trust it to function properly. I personally use Toyota OEM filters on my V8 Tundra.

---

I do see a ring of circular indentations (not holes though?) in the endcap of the Mexico-made Champion Labs filters. Sounds like the clicker-type bypass may be a little iffy.

My favorite oil filter for the Toyota V8, the made in Japan 90915-20004, is now impossible for me to find locally. The Bosch Premium #3422 is actually an inch and a half longer than OEM, so I thought I'd give an oversized filter a try for a change.