I have often wondered if an oil filter isn't at its best when it is full, but not before opening the bypass valve. Because the trapped particles will now trap even more, so if it was a 10 micron filter, once it has a lot of debris in it, it may now be down to 5 microns.

Eventually, there will be better filters and our oil consumption will go down to a quarter of what it is. I just wish more people would recycle their used oil, instead of burning it or pouring it out to kill weeds, or just pollute the earth with it.

I saw some oil at Autozone this week, it was something like 100% recycled oil. I wonder how good that stuff is. I wouldn't run it in my scoot, but there may be places that it would be OK.

 

Your point is well taken RD. If you look at K&N recommendation for there air filter, they will say not to clean them too often. The dirt buildup actually helps the filtration process. I was just reading the K&N cleaning kit stuff and it actually said let the dirt collected by the filter help you.

 

There are some out there. Im have been doing a test for the last year and a half with a 4 micron filter on a diesel fleet. The oil sample is cleaner after a double life use compared to a normal interval with just a spin on and bypass element, and is almost at the same level as virgin oil. I never would have believed it, but after monitoring fleet sampling for 30 years and conducting particle count and lubricity testing, I am sold on the fact that it works.
Most oil filters (except HD) filter down to 30-40 microns, the clearances in an engine are between 4-10 microns, so if you can keep particles at less than 4 microns you pretty much take away a major wear factor in an internal combustion engine.
To sum up the numbers that blew me away were the normal filtered oil changed on a regular cycle (6-10K miles) created 80 particles (wear particles) per mile, on the test engines going 12k-20k miles created only 16 particles per mile. Now this wasnt done on an air cooled HD but an EGR HD diesel engine.

 

With reference to an earlier post of mine, this article refers to hydraulic filtration. This information is relevant to hydraulic systems and the solid contaminent aspect of automotive filtration, but hydraulic systems do not run above 60 degrees Celcius which is considerably lower than auto apps. For this reason hydraulic oils last for life (assuming no chemical contamination and effective filtration) but Auto oil does NOT, the additives degrade due to the elevated temperatures. We must be careful comparing the 2

 

Sg,

I agree with you. On the sub we never changed the hyd oil. Same with the turbine control oils. Never meant to say internal combustion engine oil would last as long. But it will last longer than most think. At some point the additive package will deplete. Just sayin most of us worry too much. It is surely good for 5000 miles.

 

Agree totally. The estimates on mileage change frequency are almost certainly very conservative.

 

I agree that the whole heat thing in relation to oil is a bunch of B.S. If UOAs are our only true indication of what is going on, I am also leaning toward the camp that says Synthetics are a waste of money.

Every UOA I have seen with Amsoil MCV 20/50 or M1 V-twin, where the bike was at or near a 5k OCI, comes out a 60w. The wear numbers look reasonable. Amsoil UOAs where the oil was changed at 2500 or 3000 seem to stay in grade.

Mobil 15-50 at 5k comes out a 40w. The wear numbers look reasonable.

There isn't much data on Dinos at 5k. But, I have seen an HD360 report where the wear was on par with the Amsoil. And the oil was still a 50w.

Just as rare are Amsoil UOAs with extended drains. I have seen a couple with 8k plus. They look just like the 5k changes. Reasonable wear numbers, and thicker than new.

In the end, I don't think it comes down to science. Most UOA reports get interpreted to backup the readers pre conceived notions of what is best.