Aux. Spin on Transmission Filters

[Jim 5]

I'm planning on rigging up an auxilliary inline spin-on filter for my wife's Acura 3.2 TL auto trans. I'm thinking of a trans-adapt or perma-cool kit.

This transmission is known for failing, and from what I read, it often fails because of clutch band material clogging certain passages. My thought is that an aux filter would go a long ways towards preventing this problem.

On this car the trans filter can't be accessed without removing the engine first.

Anyhow..I'm wondering if these inline filters have a bypass in case the filter gets clogged (unlikely given the larger filter media given).

Secondly, I'm wondering if this is worth it, or I'd be just wasting my time.

My thought is to install it so that it can be easily removed without a trace before any trip to the dealer. This problematic trans has an extended warranty to 100k miles.

Any advice would be most welcome.

 

[olefam]

Hi Jim5,
We just bought a 2005 CR-V with the 5spd auto trans and are also concerned about the trans holding up. Just a couple of points to consider: 1st, make absolutely certain that you do not already have a small inline filter installed from the factory. Apparently, many of the later 5spds do have one. Magnefine, a maker of good aftermarket inline filters strongly discourage the use of two filters. 2nd, instead of going through the hassle of installing the mounting for a screw-on style filter, consider the Magnefine alternative. It can be mounted in the return line to your transmission. If you do take your vehicle in the dealer, you merely need to undo a couple of hose clamps and attach the line from the cooler to the transmission and you're done - with no evidence that you ever had a filter in place.
Isn't it pathetic that owners of Honda products have to "re-engineer" these cars because Honda wants to save a dollar or two?
Glen

 

[Gary Allan]

Jim, it depends on how well you know yourself. If you're energetic and don't have issues with pulling a spin-on setup off of the vehicle in the event of a warranty call ..then do it. Otherwise, if you're not so motivated ..or don't have the facilities to pull the thing "on demand" ..then go with a Magnefine. The Magnefine is a dandy product. It won't have the capacity of a spin-on filter ..but will fit just about any application on the planet with a small piece of hose and a couple of clamps (as was mentioned).

Here's one setup that I have on hand. It has an internal bypass valve.

Mine has two 1/8" aux ports for a PSID gauge. I might be tempted to put a gauge in there to see what type of line pressure that you start off with in a cooling circuit (I think it's on the low side relatively speaking) ..and see how long it takes to reach the 15psi situation (btw-15psi appears to be a standard 'return line filtration back pressure accepted limit).

McMaster

 

[Jim 5]

Thanks Gary,

What you're showing there is exactly what I have in mind.

I would definitely prefer the one with the spin on filter, and don't mind taking it off for warranty service.

The only warranty left is on the transmission. I think that I'm going to take some good advice and let the faulty trans blow-up and then protect the replacement (which does not have the known defect).

I may add one of these babies to my chev K1500...you know..just for fun!

 

[Hajoca]

Princess Auto is your friend!

 

[porcupine73]

Jim, on one of my vehicles, I bought a Perma Cool remote oil filter mount and then bought the biggest Mobil 1 oil filter I could find that head the thread size and plumbed it into the cooler loop before the cooler. So it has a bypass in the filter, probably like 20 psi or whatever, not sure if that would be too high for trans use, but like you said would have to get a lot of junk in it to plug it up.

Zoiks Jim, have to remove the engine to get at the trans filter? If you do put an aux filter inline in the cooling circuit, would the trans's own filter get plugged up first? (not sure where the trans's own filter is located in the various pressure circuits? In some trans's its on the discharge to the cooler)

On my newer car I'm getting ready to put in an Amsoil Dual Guard bypass filter setup for the trans.
-Louis

 

[Schultz]

I prefer hydraulic spin-on's. You can buy the appropriate spin filter for the application and the head unit can be purchased with a 15, 20 or 30 psi bypass.
Try Parker units from Grainger or Surplus Center brands, Norther Tool & Equipment. All have reasonably priced units, surplus center & Northern Tool had the best prices. 10µm Filter and head unit for about $13

I've got a Beta 1000 at 2µm spin-on my Taurus and Taurus trans are fairly bad too. The Beta rating basically means it will capture 99.99% of any particles 2µm or larger. I've had it on for about 18k miles now and it hasn't once exceeded 15psi differential pressure, I know this because it has a 15 psid pressure switch on it that turns on a dash light if it it does exceed 15psid.

 

[Gary Allan]

Good find on the Northern Tool source, Tim! That's real cheap.

 

[Gary Allan]

Oh ..and it's nice to see that you stop in from time to time.

 

[Schultz]

Thank's Gary. Good to hear from you too.

I still like to see what others are doing and get new ideas. When you think about it we're all a strange group aren't we. Most never think about what we devote all this brain power to.

 

[unDummy]

I think its worth it and a must if you plan on keeping the car a long time, or to prevent known issues with certain trannies..

Just use an 'oil filter' with a built in bypass. And, if room allows, use the biggest filter you can get.

Stick a couple of magnets on the filter for some magnetic filtering too!

The above mentioned filter mounts from the industrial catalogues are very cost effective compared to permacool kits or the magnefine.

 

[Gary Allan]

Not only cost effective, the mounts tend to be higher quality castings then the more expensive Permacools. It's kinda odd. The distribution on Permacool is at the consumer level (jeg's, summit, JCWhitney) ..yet is more expensive to the consumer then the limited distribution of the industrial mounts. The only thing Permacool is cheaper on, in mounts, is the dual mount. The industrial hydraulic mounts in this setup are very expensive compared to two singles. The vendors of the Permacool stuff must make a very good penny on them.

 

[Shaman]

Schultz, do you happen to have some PN's on the Northern Tool stuff. My parents bought an auto tranny Elantra after I told them aobut problems, so I want to put something in to keep her going. For $13, I can buy two of them for the price of a magnefine.

And always, thanks for finding something new.

 

[Gary Allan]

Just go to Northerntool.com and put hydraulic in the search engine. It appears that the term "filter" means a mount and filter ..while "element" means replacement element.

..or look here

They're identical to those featured in McMaster-Carr ..but cheaper.

 

[Shaman]

I will check it out when I get off of the school connection

 

[Megadeus]

Schultz - Where can I get everything to duplicate the setup that you have on your Taurus? Our 4R70Ws are pretty bad too. i could use something exactly like that.

 

[Schultz]

Well my system is probably cost prohibitive since I used components that aren't mass market type stuff. It might be hard to find where to purchase exactly what I have. If you can't get what I have I think there are more cost effective alternatives. But lets see if I can help you out to find what you need.

First I have a Pall 7400 series spin-on hydraulic return line filter: (http://www.pall.com/datasheet_hydraulic_3109.asp?sectionid=specifications)
The head unit has a built in 30 psi bypass valve and a 15 psi pressure switch mounted on it. The switch has normally open and normally closed contacts. List for somewhere around $150-200, have no idea what actual cost is. I then welded together a angle bracket to mount to the car and bolt to the filter head unit onto. The filter is a 4" KZ filter rated for 20 gal/min, which is way overkill for a trans cooling line flow. Micron rating is 2.5µm at beta 1000. Pall filter heads can be ordered with many different switch options:
http://www.pall.com/datasheet_hydraulic_3109.asp?sectionid=ordering_information

For the pressure switch I wired it into a three way switch, which is connected in with the low coolant level sensor/switch. My low coolant sensor happens to be an on/off float switch. it's off/open when the coolant reservoir is full and on/closed when the coolant reservoir is low. For my three position switch, one position is test, where it bypasses the coolant switch and closes the circuit. In this position the low coolant dash light comes on within 5-10 seconds. The second position (normal operation) has the pressure switch in parallel with the coolant switch. If the low coolant light comes on it's either low coolant or the filter pressure switch. Third position is pressure switch only with the coolant level sensor bypassed. But it's pretty obvious to see through the coolant reservoir if your low or not. I only the wired the third position because it wasn't much more work.

OK now for something that might be readily available and a lot less money. The $13 Northern tool filter has a 1/8" differential pressure port on the side which you can put a 0-15 or 30 psi gauge on that you can either bring back into the car or mount somewhere in the engine bay and check once and a while when you start up the car. Or Parker makes an 1/8" npt N/O 15 psi pressure switch #9269359 that will fit the Northern Tool filter head or the Parker filter head, and then you can do something like what I did above. Parker and Northern filter heads look identical. So worst case you may have to visit Grainger or any Parker hydraulics store to order the switch. The switch is made to fit there 12AT spin on filters. Not sure what it cost?

Hope the helps, if you have anything else let me know.

 

[Megadeus]

That seems to be complete enough. Totally and completely awesome.

 

[Schultz]

By the way. If you use the pressure switch you want the relief valve 5-10psi higher than the switch. Otherwise the switch will never close and it would seem that your filter is never getting dirty or loading up because the relief valve is opening. I like have a pressure gauge or switch, then you know when you have to change the filter. Having a gauge provides some indication as to the progression of filter loading, heck if you really want it all just T the gauge and a switch together.

 

[Ibuiltmine-o1oo]

I also am doing this!
i bought a remote filter head from Fleetguard (HH6982) http://www.fleetguard.com/fleet/catalogImages/HH6982.JPG

And i am using a fleetguard stratapore lf3552
it is 100% @ 30microns and 73% @ 10 microns while flowing 18.5 gpm
http://www.fleetguard.com/fleet/catalogImages/LF3552.JPG
I built a mount out of some scrap metal to hang it in the extra space in the front passenger side of the engine compartment. I then went to the parts store, and got two adapters to go from the 1 inch on the head to the stock fittings in my trans cooler. I used a little 1/2 inch stratoflex in a pig tail to keep the vibration down. I have not installed it yet, because i dont know what kinds of pressures those lines have to hold.