john@mddc.UUCP (08/25/83)
I had an economics teacher in school that had these things to say re: oil filters- When I was working may way thru school at a service station I dismantled hundreds of oil filters. Even the ones used for only a short while clogged up and passed dirty oil thru some bypass valve. For this reason, on all my cars I install an oil filter block-off plate (avail- able at hot rod shops) and change my oil more frequently - 2000 miles. I haven't tried this on my car (it's too new to screw around with), but this man was one shrewd dude who knew where to spend his $. His cars seemed to be in good running order. Any opinions? ...!cbosgd!qusavax!mddc!john John Pletikapich
kek@mgweed.UUCP (08/25/83)
I drove a Toyota Crown for 10 years (1969-1979). Early in its live, I installed what was called a Frantz oil filter. It was a by-pass filter rather than a 'full flow' filter. Each circulation of oil, about 10 % went through the filter. It used a roll of toilet paper for a filtering element and I changed it every 1000 miles. I changed the oil about every 4000 miles, although it stayed absolutely clean no matter how long I left it in. I rebuilt the engine at 94K miles and it was so clean that I could have eaten off of the inside of the valve cover. I have a 1979 Pontiac that I have never installed it on because I decided to try using Arco Graphite oil for the live of the motor and I knew that it would filter out most of the graphite. I can no longer find Arco Graphite around here (anyone know if it has been discontinued?) and have switched to Valvoline 10W-40. I may put the filter back on, although the car already has 45K miles. Cheers... Kit Kimes Western Electric Co. Montgomery Works Aurora, Il. 60507 ..!ihnp4!we13!mgweed!kek
ralph@inuxc.UUCP (08/29/83)
Arco Graphite is no longer being produced. I heard nothing but good things about it and was running it in my RX-7 at the time it was discontinued. You might be able to find some still in store stock, but I haven't been able to for the last 9 months. It's probably all gone by now. Atlantic Richfield (sp?) claims that the oil was difficult to make and just not profitable enough since they were not selling very high volumes of the stuff. Ah well, seemed like a good idea to me. Ralph Keyser AT&T CP, Indianapolis inuxc!ralph
pwv@fluke.UUCP (Pat Vilbrandt) (08/30/83)
In regards to the query by John Pletikapich <246@mddc.uucp> on the
utility of oil filters, I would like to submit a bit of general experience:
My family bought a Rambler wagon brand new in early 1959. This beast
had a 6 cyl. nine main bearing engine, with somewhere around 190-some
c.i.d. The thing that intrigued me about this engine was the fact that
it had NO oil filter. My father changed the oil semi-regularly every
3-6k miles with whatever oil he could get on sale the cheapest (Sears,
Wards, Mobil, Midland, I mean *really* cheap!). The amazing thing
about all this is, except for a valve stem warping at 12k mi., the
little bugger ran for 120k+ miles with no major engine work and STILL
DIDN'T USE ANY (<1 qt.) OIL BETWEEN OIL CHANGES!! (We finally junked
the car when the body literally rusted off the frame (midwest winters
=> salt).)
This has led me to also doubt the use of oil filters.
Some things to consider, however:
The '59 engine had no PCV, EGR, or any of those other TLA's (Three
Letter Acronyms) that tend to introduce junk into the engines of todays
automobiles.
We didn't drive the car in any excessively dusty areas.
The engines of that era were not leaned out to the point of starvation
so they tended to run much cooler and there was probably much less
carbonization and general breaking down of the oil taking place then.
If a filter does begin to fill up fairly quick (and I believe that it
might) which causes the bypass valve to open sometimes (like when the
oil is cold), the filter would still be filtering some of the oil. The
question then becomes "At what point does the filter become totally
non-functional?"
I still like the centrifugal oil cleaner that Simca (French car
imported by Crysler in the '60s) integrated into the accessory drive
pulley on the crankshaft. All you had to do was take off the nuts and
scrape out the goo around the outside of the pulley every 10,000 miles
or so. Worked Great!
My conclusions?
If you don't drive under extreme conditions (too dusty, too hot, too
etc.), and you change your oil every 2000 miles with a good (you define
"good", I wouldn't dare even try!) detergent oil, you can bypass the
filter on your car's engine and never miss it.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
This is only my opinion! Don't hold me liable if you break your car!
So much for my 2 cents worth.
Pat (Paper Filters Are Only Good For The Filter Companies) Vilbrandt
...decvax!microsof!fluke!pwv
P.S. Come to think of it, the Rambler also had an oil bath air cleaner
that you washed out with kerosene whenever it looked dirty
(> 10k mi.) and re-oiled. It also had no fuel filter, just a
sediment bowl on the fuel pump. Hmm... Makes you wonder.
P.P.S Yes, I do use an oil filter in my car, and I change it every 5000
miles. But I also use synthetic oil that I change every 20,000
miles. That's another story!alpert@inmet.UUCP (09/02/83)
#R:mddc:-24600:inmet:2700009:000:1016
inmet!alpert Sep 1 15:34:00 1983
I concur with the observation on Arco Graphite. I too have heard
these *nasty* rumors about plugging up oil passages, wearing down
bearings and camshafts, etc.; but have never met anyone who actually
experienced said problems.
My experience with this oil entails its use in a 1978 Subaru
for ~100,000 miles. I also used it in my 1980 Subaru as long as
it was commonly available, about 65K miles worth (the car
currently has over 75K).
Neither car has needed engine repairs of any sort. Both are
in daily use and consume practically no oil between changes.
(Oil & filter are changed at ~3,000 mile intervals.)
I had to give up using Arco Graphite about six months ago
when I began noticing that it was getting nearly impossible
to find, now I know why.
-- Bob Alpert
-- Intermetrics, Inc.
733 Concord Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
...harpo!inmet!alpert
...hplabs!sri-unix!cca!ima!inmet!alpert
...yale-comix!ima!inmet!alpertjunk@ur-tut.UUCP (Jan Vandenbrande) (02/24/86)
... Are all oil filters equal, or are some more equal? Is there a difference between the oil filter I buy at my VW dealer (for example) and oil filters such as those made by Fram, K-Marts finest, Sears best, and others? Is there a brand which makes better filters, or a brand which makes an equivalent to a VW filter for less money? The reason for this posting is that the filters you buy at VW seem to have some spring loaded mechanism in them which I have no clue to what its function is. This mechanism doesn't seem to be present in the other non-VW oil filters. Has anyone out there have some idea to what the differences are between the various oil filter types and whether it makes any difference at all? A reference to some magazine article/test would also be very appreciated. Jan.