OIL filter 90915-30002
The oil filter is the engine's main line of defense against abrasion and the premature wear. The oil filter removes solid contaminants such as dirt, carbon and metal particles from the oil before they can damage bearing, journal and cylinder wall surfaces in the engine. The more dirt and other contaminants the filter can trap and hold, the better.
In today's engines, all the oil that is picked up by the oil pump is routed through the oil filter before it goes to the crankshaft bearings, cam bearings and valvetrain. This is called "full-flow" filtration. It is an efficient way of removing contaminants and it assures only filtered oil is supplied to the engine. In time, though, accumulated dirt and debris trapped by the oil filter begin to obstruct the flow of oil.
The oil filter should be changed before it becomes clogged. Since there is no way to tell how dirty the filter actually is, the filter should be changed according to the maintenance schedule in your vehicle owners manual, or when the oil is changed.
Though some vehicle owner's manuals say oil filter replacement at every other oil change is acceptable, most professional technicians always change the oil filter at every oil change. Why contaminate the clean oil with up to a quart of dirty oil? And why risk expensive engine damage if the old filter is on the verge of clogging up? A new oil filter is cheap insurance against premature engine wear.
OIL FILTER BYPASS VALVE
If you wait too long to change the oil and oil filter, there is a danger that the oil filter might become plugged. To prevent a plugged oil filter from starving the engine for lubrication, oil filters have a built-in safety device called a "bypass valve." When the differential pressure across the oil filter element exceeds a predetermined value (which varies depending on the engine application), the bypass valve opens so oil can continue to flow to the engine. But when the bypass valve is open, no filtration occurs.
The bypass valve also opens when a cold engine is first started. Cold oil can be fairly thick and may not pass through the filter element very easily. So the bypass valve opens and allows the oil to go around the filter until the oil warms up and flows more easily. During this time, any contaminants that are in the crankcase may be sucked up through the oil pump and bypass the filter, causing increased engine wear and possibly engine damage. Once the oil gets warm and the bypass valve closes, oil flows through the filter and normal filtration resumes.
Related Product Tags:
bracket oil filter , diesel oil filter , fleetguard , Fuel Filter Fleetguard , hyd filter , hydraulic filter , oil filter assembly , auto oil filter , oil filter faw , oil filter fbc , oil filter joints , oil filter jx , oil filter kits , oil filters , oil filter sinotruck , oil filter system , performance oil filter , machine oil filter assy