WIX Filters : Oil Filters

WIX Filters : Oil Filters

Background information.

BOBISTHEOILGUY: BOBISTHEOILGUY FILTER TESTS

BOBISTHEOILGUY: BOBISTHEOILGUY FILTER TESTS

If you wait for the images to load you will see pressure drop tests for all sorts of filters.

Same text in a more official format

Honda's i-VTEC engine technology = 5W20 Oil

CanadianDriver: Auto Tech - Honda's i-VTEC engine technology:
"Varying the camshaft in relation to the crankshaft is done with engine oil pressure acting on an actuator located on the end of the intake camshaft. The computer varies the oil pressure to change the rotation of the camshaft on its drive sprocket."

Oil pressure can be controlled/predicted at one location in the oil flow path. The oil pressure at all other locations is a function of viscocity i.e. stable 5W20 behavoir.

Motor Oil Test and Comparison, Mobil 1, Pennzoil, Castrol, Valvoline, Quaker State, AMSOIL

Motor Oil Test and Comparison, Mobil 1, Pennzoil, Castrol, Valvoline, Quaker State, AMSOIL

Here are bunch of tests. I want good NOACK Volatility performance.

Pennzoil and Sludge!

Pennzoil and Sludge!

This link has opinions on oil based on experience... My experience is 260,000 miles with no engine work on Castrol GTX. Changed oil once every 3,000 miles until a water line broke and the engine seized at 170,000 miles. After that switched to "Don't change, just add" for the last 90,000 miles. The frame on that 83 Honda cracked and it stranded me a couple of times, so I traded it in for a Mercedes ML320. Used synthetic oil after first change and followed the service indicator (10,000 miles). That car burned 2 quarts between changes. That was the first time the oil pressure light ever came on... Traded that car in for an Element at 99,000 miles.

Conclusions based on slight data: Oil gets polluted by combustion by products forcing an oil cange at 10,000 miles whether conventional or sythetic oil is used. You could do worse than Castrol GTX.

Engine Oil Filter Study

Engine Oil Filter Study

Here is another filter study! I am happy with my choice below.

Feds reopen probe of Honda CR-V fires - Sep. 14, 2004

Feds reopen probe of Honda CR-V fires - Sep. 14, 2004

When personally changing the oil on my Honda Element for the first time at 40,000 miles on September 12, 2004, I experienced the most frustrating and unusual oil change that I have performed in the last 20 years!

The oil filter is located:

1. near the exhaust manifold,
2. between the engine and the fire wall - half way between the pavement and the hood,
3. just in front of the passenger's feet.

I was unable to view the seating surface of the filter. Much of the operation is more conveniently performed 'blind'.

The 'anti-drainback valve' function that the filter performs means that the filter supports a column of oil in the engine above it, so that on a cold start, oil gets to the valve train quickly. This also means that when you unscrew the filter on a warm engine, hot oil drains out of the filter, across a cross member and onto your chest.

Properly attaching the new filter was difficult in that I did not do it right the first time. I discovered an oil spot at work the next day and fresh oil on the new filter as I showed a coworker how difficult it was to reach the oil filter.

To sufficiently tighten the filter and eliminate the leak required exceptional effort.

The filter is tiny.

Not trusting that there is not a stacked gasket under the new oil filter from some earlier oil change, I have to replace the oil filter and use mirrors or find some way to inspect and clean the seating surface. If I am going to be doing all that work I want to be putting on the best filter.

What is the BEST filter?

How do you figure it out? I looked on the web. Most data was old but there seemed to be a procedure for disassembly and inspection.

I asked a friend at work. He said:

"The best filter is the filter that is most likely to get you to change your oil every 3000 miles."

After reflecting, that made a lot of sense, so please find pictures and commentary to help you choose the best filter for your: Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Infiniti, Mitsubishi or Acura. They all use the same small oil filter.

Since I am not enthusiastic about changing the oil filter on my Element, and I don't expect that anyone else is either, I want a filter that will:

1. last two oil changes
2. not destroy the sophisticated valve train if it does not get changed
3. not leave the old gasket on the engine
4. not leak, and
5. encourage me to change the oil every 3000 miles.

There are only two brands under consideration: Honda OEM (Filtech) and NAPA (Wix). In the NAPA family I choose the two higher end offerings because this filter may not always get changed. So the field consists of NAPA NASCAR Select [#91356] @ $4.29, HONDA OEM [15400-PLM-A01] @$5.55, and NAPA Gold [1356] @ $6.99

Here is how they look on the shelves:

[#91356] @ $4.29	[15400-PLM-A01] @ $5.55	[1356] @ $6.99

Here they are unpackaged:

The NAPA (Wix) filters provide instructions in pictures-icons-hieroglyphics:

This shows the gaskets and oil entry ports. The Honda gasket has a bead [P shaped cross-section] while the NAPA gaskets are flat [rectangular cross-section]:

This picture shows the filters just after I cut them. The different 'jack in the box' heights show the difference in travel between a flat spring (Honda) and a coil spring (NAPA). The pressure on the stack of stuff that goes in the filter will be more consistent in the NAPA part:


This is a picture of the stack of stuff inside the filter. The difference between the Honda and both of these NAPAs filters that matters most to me in these pictures is the location of the by-pass valve. In the Honda the by-pass valve is located after the filter element, mounted to the leaf spring in the bottom of the can. This means that if it ever operates, due to very cold weather or because the filter element is clogged up, the filter dumps the accumulated oil on the dirty side of the filter into the valve train [all those fancy cams]. Another way to think about it is: the oil on the way to the cams has to pass through sludge first - and it does not get to take a shower! On the other hand, both these NAPA filters have the bypass valve before the filter, so if the filter gets clogged, the circulating oil avoids the pot of sludge and heads straight for the cams. The oil does not get cleaned but it does not get dirty either:


The NASCAR Select Filter on the left has an extra SPIN-FLOW element that the more expensive NAPA Gold filter does not. This is the item just after (above) the by-pass valve and just before the filter element. It swirls the oil against the wall of the can, leaving room for more gently flowing oil to pass through the filter element near the inlet. This is claimed to allow more of the filter paper to participate in the filtering process while depositing heavier particles on the inside wall of the can where they will not clog the filter element. I believe the claim, but wonder about the tradeoffs the designers made in filter paper area to take economic advantage of these benefits.

Here you see the difference in filter length between the three filters. Gaskets were placed to show the stretched length of each pleated filter element. The lengths are 30 inches, 53 inches, and 43 inches, with Honda having the clear advantage:


If I changed my filter today every 3000 miles like I used to, and could easily see the seating surface on the engine block, I would use the OEM Honda Filter. But lets go back to my personal criteria -
I want a filter that will:

1. last two oil changes
2. not destroy the sophisticated valve train if it does not get changed
3. not leave the old gasket on the engine
4. not leak, and
5. encourage me to change the oil every 3000 miles.

Two final photos show the gasket stand-off height of the different filters. This first one shows what we are looking at, The distance between the lip of the can and the initial touch point of the gasket:

Or closer, looking just at the two on the right:

Using a metric tape measure, the Honda can is within 1 millimeter of the seating surface at first contact, while the NAPA can has a 1.5 millimeter (mm) stand-off. The pitch of the threads used to fasten the filter to the engine block is 1.5 millimeters. If you turn the filter 3/4ths of a turn after the gasket first touches, the can will squeeze the gasket [3/4 turns times 1.5 mm per turn equals] 1.125 millimeters.

Hey, that is about the total height of the Honda gasket? Further, the small diameter of the filter makes it a bit more difficult to spin the filter and let it coast until the gasket just touches the seating surface. This used to be the standard way to figure out where to start the 3/4 turns of compression prescribed by the manufacturer.

CONCLUSION

I choose the NAPA NASCAR Select going forward on this Honda Element.

It may be the least expensive oil filter with a by-pass valve located at the entrance and it provides a generous tolerance for gasket compression without running the filter can into the engine block. It also has that spin flow marketing. I think they biased the technology a bit more towards value than performance in the automotive filter product line (in the over the road truck products they leaned the other way), but I'm fine with that. This product meets my needs.

Loose Oil Filter Caused Honda CR-V Fires

Loose Oil Filter Caused Honda CR-V Fires

A New 'Spin' on Technology Improves Oil Filter Performance - Auto News from May 27, 2004

A New 'Spin' on Technology Improves Oil Filter Performance - Auto News from May 27, 2004

Just looking at the boxes, this is the filter I would choose: NAPA NASCAR Select.

Japanese Companies in US Transport. Equip. - No. 354, March 1999

J.inUS Transport. Equip. - No. 354, March 1999: "SATURN CORP., a GENERAL MOTORS CORP. company, has awarded contracts to two more Japanese-affiliated parts manufacturers. Via parent TOYO ROKI MANUFACTURING CO., LTD., Findlay, Ohio-based FILTECH, INC. beat out 18 other bidders to supply oil filters for Saturn's small cars. The firm expects to ship 345,000 oil filters to Spring Hill, Tennessee in the first year. Filtech has been making air and oil filters and cleaners since 1990, but the Saturn contract marks the first time that it has won significant business from a Big Three builder. "

This says filtech (honda OEM oil filter manufacturer) is a transpant supplier. These suppliers are chosen for quality, price and responsiveness reasons.

Cars that use the tiny oil filter

This is a list of cars that use the small new oil filter used on Honda Accords.