The document discusses choosing the right oil filter for engines. It recommends AMSOIL EaO filters, which use advanced nanofiber technology to filter particles as small as 3 microns, achieving 98.7% efficiency. Extensive testing by General Motors found that removing particles smaller than 10 microns can reduce engine wear by a factor of 14 and increase fuel economy by 0.9%. The document also compares specifications of standard and racing Wix oil filters to illustrate differences in filtering performance.

1. MotorOilWorld.com - Choosing an oil filter 2/27/09 12:08 PM
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Your source for EVERYTHING motor oil. Web www.motoroilworld.com
With the article below in mind the best filtering filters to be found at
1. Choosing the right oil. this time are the AMSOIL EaO filters. Continuing on the path to
2. Choosing the right oil filter. revolutionize the filtration market, AMSOIL has introduced the new Ea
Oil Filter line. Ea Oil Filters feature advanced full synthetic nanofiber
3. Changing your engine oil. technology, making them the highest efficiency filters that are available
4. Disposing of your used oil. for the auto/light truck market.
Extensive testing shows that AMSOIL Ea Oil Filters achieve a near-
Related Links: perfect absolute efficiency rating. The exclusive new technology used in
Types of Motor Oil:
*** AMSOIL EaO Filters provides filtering efficiency to 98.7 percent at 15
microns. EaO Filters are the most efficient filters that are available for ***
auto/light trucks.
Petroleum
Syn-Blend These AMSOIL EaO filters are available here:
Synthetic http://www.modernoils.com/EaO_Oil_Filters.html
Oil Groups:
Manufacturers:
76 Lubricants Company Engine oil filters specifications, claims and facts
AMSOIL Paul Dilger
Bel-Ray Company, Inc.
Cal Industrial - Royal Purple As we continue our series on oil filters, let's look at engine filtration needs with respect to
Castrol tolerances and lubrication oil films and then compare those needs to the claims made
Chevron by today's oil filtration products. We will also look at some research General Motors
Cosworth Synthetic Lubricants conducted on 22 diesel engines with respect to quality oil filtration.
Havoline
Innotec Typical engine specifications show how critical it is to have an effective oil filtration
Joe Gibbs Racing Oil system. http://www.shoclub.com/lubricationoil/lubrication-oilpart5.html Web site and
Kendall Motor Oil shows the bearing clearances for three different engines. This is the SHO club Web site
Lubrication Engineers designed to help club members select the best filters for their engines in order to reduce
Maxima Racing Lubricants engine wear caused by abrasive particles.
Mobil 1
Neo Synthetic Oil The sizes of the minimum tolerances are hard to comprehend. The smallest total
Pennzoil tolerance for the V8 SHO engine on the chart is 0.0004 inch. This means the oil film on
Pennzoil-Quaker State Company each side of the crankshaft and the block's main bearing is 0.0002 inch, or two ten
Pure Power Lubricants thousandths of an inch. What then is the largest particle that we would consider safe to
Quaker State pass through the oil filter, measured in microns? My best guess would be about 70
RedLine Synthetic Oil Corp. percent of 0.0002 inch or 0.00014 inch. If 1 micron is equal to 0.000039 inch, then
Shell Lubricants - Rotella T 0.00014 inch is about 3 microns. Keep this number in mind as we go through our study.
Valvoline
If 1 micron = 0.000039 inch, then 10 microns = 0.00039 inch (or 0.0004 inch), the
Usage Applications same as the minimum total oil film tolerance in the V8 SHO engine main bearing. It is
Motor Oil Ratings easy to see that when abrasive particles are the same size as the oil film, wear will
occur. Most automotive engines do not meet these tight tolerances. We will normally see
LINKS around 0.001-inch oil film on each side of the crankshaft or about 25 microns. You would
think it would be fairly safe to look at using a 10-micron filter to achieve excellent
filtration on such engines.
What happens to the life of an engine when the oil filter does not remove all the particles
larger than the oil film tolerances? In an article about oil filters in January 2006 OPE, we
learned that typical efficiency numbers for paper element filters are 40 percent at 10
microns, 60 percent at 20 microns, 93 percent at 30 microns, and 97 percent at 40
microns ( http://people.msoe.edu/%7Eyoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilters.html ). We can see
from these percentages that the larger the particle, the more efficient the filter medium.
For the V8 SHO, only 60 percent of the 20 micron particles are removed, while at the
same time, some larger particles are still passing through that will slowly erode the 3 K&N OIL FILTERS HONDA
bearing surfaces. 450R TRX 450R FILTER
CRF450R
$6.99 1h 31m
Lubrimatic 100% There is a new filter test, the SAE J1858, that provides particle counting and gravimetric
Synthetic TC-W3 measurement to measure both filter capacity and efficiency. The particle count test
Moto...
Lubrimatic measures the number of particles of all sizes combined per fluid volume before and after
New $32.55 the filter. The beta (B) ratio is then used by the filter manufacturers to determine a
filter's efficiency. Beta calculation of filter efficiency [beta] = #of particles upstream/ =
10,000 particles/ = 10 #of particles downstream 1,000 particles Filter efficiency = (a-1)
4.5" Soft Plastic
Crawfish - * 100/ = (10-1) * 100/ = 90% efficiency
Furry Fish Baits
New $3.99 [beta] 10 - The particle count leads to the measurement of the filter's capacity, while the
gravimetric process measures the weight of the particles before and after the filter to K&N Part# KN-132 Performance
determine the filter's efficiency. Keep in mind that when a filter manufacturer says its Oil Filter Lot of 4 401456
$9.99 5h 36m
Coil Spring filter is 90 percent efficient, it could be based on either the particle weight or on the size
Compressor Set
of the particles. If the filter's efficiency is based on particle size, the manufacturer may
tools
New $20.00
specify, for example, that it removes 90 percent of all 20 micron-sized particles!
This gives the specifications for the Wix 51060 filters.
EA/V-TWIN
( http://www.wixfilters.com/filterlookup/ResultsPart.asp?PartNo=51060 ).
MOTOR OIL
20W50 QT ~ BEL- All the information for both filters is consistent down the chart to the anti-drain back
R...
valve. The differences in the two filters show up in the beta ratio, the burst pressure, the
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2. MotorOilWorld.com - Choosing an oil filter 2/27/09 12:08 PM
BEL-RAY
COMPANY IN... maximum flow rate and the nominal micron rating. Since both filters use paper media,
New $7.79 the difference in the maximum flow rate is due to either larger pore size or greater AMSOIL Synthetic Foam Filter
Oil not K&N
BEL RAY EXP surface area of the media. $5.00 7h 39m
10W40
BEL RAY
New $38.95 The consumer information on the 51060 racing filter's box says: "NASCAR performance,
proven improved horsepower, no dry starts, no-leak positive gasket seal, and extreme View all disclaimer
burst pressure." (I'll cover these later with respect to all filters.) Here are some more
Invincible Marine interesting points printed on the racing filter's box that the manufacturer specifically
Marine Oil wants you to know.
Changer...
INVINCIBLE
* "Not intended for street use."
New $24.97
* "Warning: Wix racing filters are designed for racing purposes only, and if used on
Privacy Information
street-driven vehicles, pre-mature engine wear is possible."
* "New vehicle and equipment warranties are void when this product is used in
competitive racing or on modified high-performance engines."
In addition, following are some of the "exclusive features" written on the racing filter box.
* "Advanced Performance Media; providing high volume, low restriction." Because Wix is
using paper media, I am left to assume it is using a larger pore size or greater surface
area in the media to increase the flow rate.
* "Heavy Can and Cover." This implies the metal is thicker than the standard canister. I
will be measuring them later and will let you know.
* "Zinc Chromate-plated Base Plate." This is not found on inexpensive filters!
* "Fully Perforated Spiral Steel Center Tube." This is necessary for extreme automotive
oil pressure.
In most cases, you won't find any detailed specifications on oil filters unless you go
directly to the manufacturer. For example, an AC Delco "Duraguard PF1218" oil filter
provides the following information to the consumer: 1) Offers superior engine protection;
2) Removes engine-damaging particles; 3) Provides a durable, high-quality filter.
Durable? Are they talking about the media or the shell? Don't all oil filters pretty much
claim the same things? How would you compare this PF1218 filter to the
interchangeable Wix or Fram filters?
Some years ago, General Motors sponsored a basic research study on diesel engine wear
and fuel economy with respect to oil filtration. Fodor & Ling, affiliated with the Research
Institute of Automotive Industry, conducted oil filtration tests on 22 6V-53 turbocharged
Detroit Diesel Allison engines.
Three technical papers (SAE 881827, SAE 881825 and SAE 95255) were written on how
ultra-fine oil filtration affected an engine's performance. These papers described the
results of micro-micro filtering crankcase oil to determine the affect of by-pass filtration
in the 3- to 10-micron range. Five engine components were tested: rod bearings,
bushings, compression rings, oil control rings and main bearings. The emphasis of the
test was to control particles in the 3-to 10-micron range. The test proved that removing
additional particles in the 3- to 10-micron range will have the greatest effect in reducing
engine wear. Particles in this range have traditionally been ignored, but this size range is
very significant as a long-term wear factor.
Some interesting findings of this research are as follows:
* Micro-micro filtering gravimetrically reduced the particulate contamination from 0.016
percent to 0.0025 percent, which reduced the number of particles by a factor of 6. It also
reduced normal engine wear by a factor of 14.
* Fuel economy was increased 0.9 percent. This may not seem like much, but is a
considerable amount over the life of the engine.
* Particles in the 3- to 10-micron range create a significant amount of unforeseen wear.
* Particles in the 3- to 10-micron range create friction and power loss.
* Particles in the 3- to 10-micron range increase fuel consumption.
* Particles in the 3- to 10-micron range micro-erode engine rings.
* Particles in the 3- to 10-micron range micro-erode soft seals on the crankshaft.
* Particles in the 3- to 10-micron range micro-erode rolling surfaces.
* Particles in the 3- to 10-micron range cause the engine to wear about six times faster
than it would if these particles were removed.
The ultimate benefit of these tests resulted in greater diesel engine performance over an
extended fife, along with lower operating costs. These tests showed the significance of
reducing the proliferation of particles generated by the engine below the 10-micron
range is phenomenal. Each grain of contaminant (wear debris, mineral grain, metallic
oxide) produces a small but finite amount of friction, abrasive wear and catalytic oil
breakdown. Because of the vast number of harmful microscopic particles, the total effect
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3. MotorOilWorld.com - Choosing an oil filter 2/27/09 12:08 PM
breakdown. Because of the vast number of harmful microscopic particles, the total effect
of this abundance of debris is abbreviated oil life, substantially higher engine friction,
and propagation of engine wear.
You have probably noticed very large oil filters bolted on the outside of the cab on large,
line-haul trucks. These large filters are by-pass filters that filter a percentage of the oil
being pumped. After the oil is filtered, it is dumped directly back in the crankcase
without any of it passing through the engine. The aforementioned test results can easily
relate to the benefit these large engines receive from low-micron, depth-type filtration,
since these large diesels average 300,000-500,000 miles between overhauls.
In conclusion, today's engine and filter manufacturers maintain levels of cleanliness to
keep consumers satisfied with their products. Keep in mind that engine manufacturers
such as Detroit Diesel, Cummins and Caterpillar strive for bragging rights on whose
engine will last the longest. The automotive market is more into sales and parts.
Therefore, if consumers want their automotive engines to last as long as possible, they
need to research the highest quality replacement parts for their application.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For more comprehensive studies on OPE engine, electrical and hydraulic
certification, visit Paul Dilger's Web site at www.imslo.com. These study programs
develop professional mechanics.
Paul Dilger is a retired professor of agricultural engineering at Cal-Poly State University.
He worked as a mechanic in the US. Army before attending college. After graduating
from college, he taught mechanics for 25 years. He is currently a private consultant
helping companies develop quality service training programs.
Figure 1--Engine bearing clearances
Bearing Clearances
V8 SHO--1996
Min (") Max (") Journal Dia (")
Rods 0.0009 0.0023 1.9680
Mains 0.0004 0.0012 2.4800
Pistons 0.0008 0.0016
Cam 0.0008 0.0024 0.9826
V8 SHO--1996
Microns Min (")
Rods 40.6 0.0009
Mains 20.3 0.0011
Pistons 30.5 0.0012
Cam 40.6
3.0L V6 SHO--1989
Max (") Journal Dia (") Microns
Rods 0.0022 2.0463 39.4
Mains 0.0012 2.5187 29.2
Pistons 0.0020 40.6
Cam
Chevy SB 283-302 CID--1958-1969
Recommend (") Journal Dia (") Microns
Rods 0.0025 2.0000 63.5
Mains 0.0025 2.3000 63.5
Pistons 0.0050 127.0
Cam
Figure 3--Specifications for the WIX 51060 oil filter
Part Number: 51060 Standard 51060 Racing
UPC Number: 765809510609 765809129269
Principal Application Chevrolet/GMC Racing Applications
Trucks (91-05), Only
Hummer (93-06)
Style: Spin-On Lube Filter Spin-On Lube Filter
Service: Lube Lube
Type: Full Flow Full Flow
Media Paper Paper
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4. MotorOilWorld.com - Choosing an oil filter 2/27/09 12:08 PM
Height: 5.178 5.170
Outer Diameter To 3.660 3.600
Outer Diameter Bottom Closed Closed
Thread Size: 13/16-16 13/16-16
By-Pass Valve Setting None None
Anti-Drain Back Valve Yes Yes
Beta Ratio [beta] 2/20 = 17/41 NA
Burst Pressure-PSI 270 NA
Maximum Flow Rate 9-11 GPM 28 GPM
Nominal Micron Rating 19 NA
COPYRIGHT 2006 Bev-AL Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group
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