Wear vs. oil-filter efficiency: SAE/Amsoil paper

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This is a good summary by Amsoil of a SAE paper (PDF link) on how engine wear correlates with oil-filter efficiency.

Engine wear is especially affected by oil-filter efficiency in diesel engines but the effect is also strong in gasoline engines. The long story short, it's very important to have a high-efficiency oil filter if you want to keep the engine wear as little as possible. Since the engine wear is caused by particles ranging in size mostly from 2 to 25 microns, removing such particles necessitates a premium synthetic or synthetic-blend oil filter with a high-efficiency micron rating.

See the table and graph for the efficiency ratings of the oil filters and the two charts for the engine-wear rates. Note that higher-efficiency oil filters were used for the diesel engine.

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There is concern from some that glass enhanced filter media residue may also
result in increased wear as well since it is very abrasive itself. I believe Fleetguard
does mention this in their literature.
 
What concerns me is that new cars roll off the assembly line with what are essentially lowest bidder OEM oil filters. Those cars then sit on a lot and are short tripped and run hard during test drives until the car is sold.

By the time you get the car, the damage has been done. Wear metals are almost always high during break in.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
What concerns me is that new cars roll off the assembly line with what are essentially lowest bidder OEM oil filters. Those cars then sit on a lot and are short tripped and run hard during test drives until the car is sold.

By the time you get the car, the damage has been done. Wear metals are almost always high during break in.


At least Ford factory installed new car filters are better then you get later on from MC.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
What concerns me is that new cars roll off the assembly line with what are essentially lowest bidder OEM oil filters. Those cars then sit on a lot and are short tripped and run hard during test drives until the car is sold.

By the time you get the car, the damage has been done. Wear metals are almost always high during break in.


In regards to this scenario (and with Honda's especially) I've wondered if one should change the factory filter to a fram ultra or similar as soon as the car makes it home. Honda recommends to leave the factory fill in for the full OCI as indicated by the MM, which is fine. But the Honda A02 filter is basically a rock catcher.
 
The SAE paper proves that larger particles cause more wear than smaller particles. One has to ask if the testing correlates to real world engine operation.

It doesn't.
 
"the threat they pose is diminished since they are still larger than many of the clearances within an engine. Their size will not allow them to enter the contact areas..."

Trying to picture how that would work, and can't.

Lets say a particle is small enough to get into the oil pump, but arrives somewhere where its too big. Anywhere it arrives it seems likely to be a problem, either due to blockage, abrasion, or both.

For example, say it gets to a bearing but is too big to enter. It can be too big only because it is in contact with a rotating shaft jourmal surface, and it is partially blocking the oilway where it enters the bearing. This does not seem a benign situation.
 
Your opening post sounds good, as is often the case with your topics, but when subjected to the reality test it makes no sense.
First off, gasoline engines have been running 200K+ for decades using no more than OEM rocks-catcher filters.
Second, the particle range you suggest is huge and there is no full flow filter whether labeled as having synthetic media or not that is particularly efficient in capturing particles smaller than twenty microns or so.
Multiple pass efficiency is of little importance since each pass exposes the bearings to the particles the oil filter didn't catch on the first pass.
Lots of folks in warm, mostly dry places like the one in which you live have old Toyotas just like yours with as many or more miles.
The difference is that they worry about neither oil nor oil filters.
They just drive their old cars and worry about the many more important things most of us experience in life.
 
Originally Posted By: mitsuman47
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
What concerns me is that new cars roll off the assembly line with what are essentially lowest bidder OEM oil filters. Those cars then sit on a lot and are short tripped and run hard during test drives until the car is sold.

By the time you get the car, the damage has been done. Wear metals are almost always high during break in.


In regards to this scenario (and with Honda's especially) I've wondered if one should change the factory filter to a fram ultra or similar as soon as the car makes it home. Honda recommends to leave the factory fill in for the full OCI as indicated by the MM, which is fine. But the Honda A02 filter is basically a rock catcher.


Actually, Honda recommends a filter change very other oil change, which could be 20,000 miles or more. And of course Hondas are notorious for early engine failure and short life spans...
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Second, the particle range you suggest is huge and there is no full flow filter whether labeled as having synthetic media or not that is particularly efficient in capturing particles smaller than twenty microns or so.

Multiple pass efficiency is of little importance since each pass exposes the bearings to the particles the oil filter didn't catch on the first pass.


Filters rated at 99%+ @ 20 microns are catching quite a pretty decent amount of the particles below 20 microns (ie, FU said to be 80% @ 5 microns). Filters rated at 50% @ 20 microns are letting many more sub 20 micron particles through.

A 99% @ 20 micron filter will stop a much higher amount of particles from making multiple trips around the oiling system, which also helps reduce wear.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
The SAE paper proves that larger particles cause more wear than smaller particles.


The paper said 5 to 25 micron particles create the most wear ... that's not the "larger particles".
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
"the threat they pose is diminished since they are still larger than many of the clearances within an engine. Their size will not allow them to enter the contact areas..."

Trying to picture how that would work, and can't.

Lets say a particle is small enough to get into the oil pump, but arrives somewhere where its too big. Anywhere it arrives it seems likely to be a problem, either due to blockage, abrasion, or both.

For example, say it gets to a bearing but is too big to enter. It can be too big only because it is in contact with a rotating shaft jourmal surface, and it is partially blocking the oilway where it enters the bearing. This does not seem a benign situation.


The particles that are too large to go through a running journal bearing clearance (which is around 5 to 10 microns oil film thickness when the engine is running) probably get spit out the sides of the bearing. Since the particle isn't being "smashed" between two surfaces, then it probably isn't going to cause much if any damage.
 
Originally Posted By: Danh
Originally Posted By: mitsuman47
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
What concerns me is that new cars roll off the assembly line with what are essentially lowest bidder OEM oil filters. Those cars then sit on a lot and are short tripped and run hard during test drives until the car is sold.

By the time you get the car, the damage has been done. Wear metals are almost always high during break in.


In regards to this scenario (and with Honda's especially) I've wondered if one should change the factory filter to a fram ultra or similar as soon as the car makes it home. Honda recommends to leave the factory fill in for the full OCI as indicated by the MM, which is fine. But the Honda A02 filter is basically a rock catcher.


Actually, Honda recommends a filter change very other oil change, which could be 20,000 miles or more. And of course Hondas are notorious for early engine failure and short life spans...


I bet Fernando Alonso has an opinion on that...
grin2.gif


On a more serious note...please see my sig. I understand that Hondas are known to last, and I'm also very familiar with their maintenance schedules.

But, most of us are on this site for the sole purpose of doing what we can to make our vehicles last longer and "run like new" for a higher/longer amount of miles/time.

So, with the fram ultra being a filter that can handle long change intervals AND has a significantly higher efficiency, then wouldn't it stand to reason that the owner may see benefits if they plan to keep the vehicle for the long term?

Are ANY manufacturers "notorious for early engine failure and short life spans" directly caused by oil filter efficiency, or lack thereof? And if not, why are companies still doing tests on the benefits of higher efficiency filters?
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
What concerns me is that new cars roll off the assembly line with what are essentially lowest bidder OEM oil filters. Those cars then sit on a lot and are short tripped and run hard during test drives until the car is sold.

By the time you get the car, the damage has been done. Wear metals are almost always high during break in.

The lowest bidder that meets the specifications given by the manufacturer. That is different than having inadequate filtration or being a poorly constructed product.
 
Actually, Honda recommends a filter change very other oil change, which could be 20,000 miles or more. And of course Hondas are notorious for early engine failure and short life spans... [/quote]



...and as a result they produce many more early oil burner's.
 
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: Ducked
"the threat they pose is diminished since they are still larger than many of the clearances within an engine. Their size will not allow them to enter the contact areas..."

Trying to picture how that would work, and can't.

Lets say a particle is small enough to get into the oil pump, but arrives somewhere where its too big. Anywhere it arrives it seems likely to be a problem, either due to blockage, abrasion, or both.

For example, say it gets to a bearing but is too big to enter. It can be too big only because it is in contact with a rotating shaft jourmal surface, and it is partially blocking the oilway where it enters the bearing. This does not seem a benign situation.


The particles that are too large to go through a running journal bearing clearance (which is around 5 to 10 microns oil film thickness when the engine is running) probably get spit out the sides of the bearing. Since the particle isn't being "smashed" between two surfaces, then it probably isn't going to cause much if any damage.


That doesn't appear to make much sense.

If they are small enough to "get spit out the sides of the bearing", then they don't seem to be "too large to go through a running journal bearing clearance" and if they are only just small enough to "get spit out the sides of the bearing" then they are exactly being "smashed" between two surfaces".

If they are too big to enter the bearing at all then they are going to block the oilway.

That said, I don't think I've any quarrel with what seems to be the main message (filtration GOOD, dirt BAD) though I havn't read it carefully.
 
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