Well folks. I went to a Ashland Oil Company (Valvoline) mechanics seminar to learn about how oil reacted. This really opened my eyes. Show us at test conducted at 32 degree and with 30W oil. I took a engine running at approx. 1,000RPM almost a full minute to get oil up to the valve covers to lube the rockers and valves. Tells you something huh? Good quality oils will hold a pretty good film for some time before metal to metal contact. Some engines have there oil filter installed upside down also. Pretty hard to pre-fill them. Just install your filter and fire it up.

A straight 30W oil? What does that prove? No OEM recommends such an oil. It would have been more interesting to see how a 0W20 or 5W20 would do. OHC engines would seem to be extremely vunerable to this lack of circulation. On the surface, it seems to me to be a visually impressive but fallacious demonstration to me.

Question to you Callisa: Is the above about not needing a "good filter" your opinion or fact? Is this only for certain engines, specific conditions or other driving styles ? What about diesels with the new EGR systems ? I've done some reading on this and it appears this is something to raise tremendous concern from cradle to grave. Thanks in advance.

It is always important to have a good filter if for no other reason than that the filter will have higher quality construction including a better seal (Viton) which insures that oil flow will be sufficient under all conditions. Better quality filters will have a higher quality media that is sometimes wire-backed so it stays in place even when oil flow surges under hard acceleration. I prefer my CM filter because it never runs in bypass mode since it doesn't have a bypass valve.

Your cams must be really suffering in the winter during cold start. This bypass valve is important.
If your OEM requires you to use an oilfilter with bypass valve, you should use one.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Callisa:
Your cams must be really suffering in the winter during cold start. This bypass valve is important.
If your OEM requires you to use an oilfilter with bypass valve, you should use one.

---

Would he not also be putting undue stress on the oil pump, risking sheering the shaft on a very cold morning, and/or blowing out the filter canister or gasket and spilling all the oil on the ground to the demise of the engine?

RE oil filter: See the following thread for why a bypass is not needed: CM Filter Tech

I get oil flow almost immediately. There's never any knocking since SynLube gives far superior protection until oil flow starts and the CM filter makes the wait almost imperceptible.

quote:

---

Would he not also be putting undue stress on the oil pump, risking sheering the shaft on a very cold morning, and/or blowing out the filter canister or gasket and spilling all the oil on the ground to the demise of the engine?

---

No. SynLube is no harder to pump than is a 5W20 oil because when it's cold, it's the 5W rating that counts. I've been through 4 winters with this oil and without any problems at all. Well, maybe once when my four tires fell off their rims.

BTW, I had two winters with a Ford Zetec engine for which 5W20 was recommended. SynLube was perfect for this engine.

Honestly, lets remember that SynLube is made entirely of synthetic fluids and solids and its properties will be similar to Amsoil or Mobil 1 at the cold temperatures excepting, of course, that the dry lubricants are embossed into the bearing surfaces so even if all the oil drained to the pan (which we know doesn't happen because of synthetic oil's polar attraction to metal), the surfaces would still be protected long after a conventional lubricant would have failed.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Houckster,

quote:

---

Question to you Callisa: Is the above about not needing a "good filter" your opinion or fact?

---

It's a fact. I improved an existing oilfilter two years ago and had to do some research before I started doing that. It was amazing to see what was left from some spin on oilfilter materials.

That CM Oilfilter design looks interesting. The product would be even more interesting for me if I could find a flow curve with a 5W-X oil flow rate vs pressure drop.

So, is there a reason we would not want to Prefill an oil filter; mechanical reason that is.

There's absolutely no reason not to prefill the filter if it's possible to do so. Just make sure the area around the filter has been wiped down to be sure that no dirt falls on the filter when you're installing it.

A clarification on the oil filter quality question: You do need a good oil filter. Removal of contaminants is only part of the job a filter does. If the contention is that after a couple of oil changes, there's nothing for the oil to filter, I won't argue that point (although I remain skeptical, at least with dino oils) but the other part of the filter's job is to pass oil efficiently. Cheap filters are not as safe. I believe that the Fram oil filters are notorious for periods of engine oil starvation based on feedback I've seen on other enthusiast sites. Once I switched to the filters sold by SynLube, and then to the CM filter, I never had that problem again.

Good filters have a synthetic media that is wire-backed to keep the media in place and to permit long drain intervals since the media won't tear. When media pleats migrate against one another, backpressure goes up. They also have greater media area, higher quality gaskets and thicker, more burst resistant casings.

Like the oil, the filter is such a critical part of protecting an engine that it makes no sense to buy a cheap filter.

Thanks Houckster !

quote:

---

Like the oil, the filter is such a critical part of protecting an engine that it makes no sense to buy a cheap filter.

---

Cheap meaning in construction, not price, right. I can get Motorcraft filters for under $3 each at Walmart and it is as good of a filter as anyone needs IMHO and in fact is a very well constructed filter.

Yes, the Motorcraft filter is sufficient for most people's needs.