Spin On Oil Filter Adapter-Hype?

[Uwon]

Several years ago I installed a LN Engineering oil filter adapter in my '06 C2S largely because of the hype created on this and other forums surrounding the IMSB issues. (I also removed the IMS seal and adopted the 5k oil change practice, amongst other things). Notwithstanding, I always wondered how this small canister filter could be better than Porsche's own cartridge version.

So today I had my first chance to use my new sniffy oil filter cutter (amazon.com) on an accumulated collection of used oil filters from the car...

 

The more oil filters I cut open and examined for metal particles (fortunately none found), the more I questioned the use of a filter with such small filtering area. And, quite frankly, I see little difference in the filter paper material used in the recommended NAPA Gold filter and the Porsche cartridge....

My layman' reasoning concludes that it's easier to push he same amount of oil thru the larger Porsche cartridge filter, and, certainly the filter would be cleaning inch for inch through the same cycle. So, is the oil filter adapter gizmo all hype? Thoughts?

Cheers,

Johan

​

[GOLENJEEPTJ]

I too have the same setup and I would be very interested on knowing also?

[Ahsai]

My understanding is this setup addresses the following:

 

1) The metal filter offers better filtration by having smaller pores (can't be detected by naked eyes). Cleaner oil equals less wear.

 

2) The metal filter does not have a bypass valve or it has a bypass valve but with a much stronger spring than the stock filter canister's by-pass valve. If and when the stock bypass valve is tripped, any debris at the bottom of the canister will also enter the engine.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Ahsai

[JFP in PA]

 

Several years ago I installed a LN Engineering oil filter adapter in my '06 C2S largely because of the hype created on this and other forums surrounding the IMSB issues. (I also removed the IMS seal and adopted the 5k oil change practice, amongst other things). Notwithstanding, I always wondered how this small canister filter could be better than Porsche's own cartridge version.

So today I had my first chance to use my new sniffy oil filter cutter (amazon.com) on an accumulated collection of used oil filters from the car...

 IMG_4604.JPG

The more oil filters I cut open and examined for metal particles (fortunately none found), the more I questioned the use of a filter with such small filtering area. And, quite frankly, I see little difference in the filter paper material used in the recommended NAPA Gold filter and the Porsche cartridge....

IMG_4612.JPG

My layman' reasoning concludes that it's easier to push he same amount of oil thru the larger Porsche cartridge filter, and, certainly the filter would be cleaning inch for inch through the same cycle. So, is the oil filter adapter gizmo all hype? Thoughts?

Cheers,

Johan

​

 

 

Easy: While the OEM filter is much larger in physical size, it is also much coarser in terms of the filter media pore diameter as well, which allows a lot more fine material through the filter and back into your engine.  The NAPA Gold spin on has nearly a third smaller pore diameter in its media, which stops particulates that would pass through the OEM filter.  And as Ahsai has also already mentioned, the spin on is a "full flow" design, which does not have a bypass like the OEM filter, so all the oil is filtered all the time, and failed bypass valves are a real issue with the OEM setup.

 

As for physical size or surface area, that is not the critical measure of an oil filter, what you should be looking at is efficiency (how many gallons per hour of oil the filter can the filter handle, and how good is it at stopping particulate matter); and in those categories the spin on wins hands down (it is rated well in excess of the volume of oil your engine can actually pump, and with a third smaller media pore diameter it will stop a lot more than the OEM unit).

 

Some like to argue that without a bypass and with smaller pores, the spin would clog up faster than the OEM and shut off the oil flow in the case of a catastrophic engine failure, which is actually irrelevant as in that case the engine is already toast and would need to come apart anyway, regardless of which filter is on it, and running it longer with circulating debris is just going to make a bad situation a lot worse..

 

We have a lot of customers running the spin on filters, and we cut open every filter on every oil change, regardless of filter types.  We also offer UOA for every oil change to our customers as well, and many make use of that service with each change so that the owners have records of how their engine's have been doing over time.  Which style filter you use is not a matter of hype, the spin on is better hands down, particularly if you also run a FilterMag unit on the outside of it, which passes every drop of oil in the engine through a strong magnetic field as it passes through the filter.

[KevinH90]

 

 

Several years ago I installed a LN Engineering oil filter adapter in my '06 C2S largely because of the hype created on this and other forums surrounding the IMSB issues. (I also removed the IMS seal and adopted the 5k oil change practice, amongst other things). Notwithstanding, I always wondered how this small canister filter could be better than Porsche's own cartridge version.

So today I had my first chance to use my new sniffy oil filter cutter (amazon.com) on an accumulated collection of used oil filters from the car...

 IMG_4604.JPG

The more oil filters I cut open and examined for metal particles (fortunately none found), the more I questioned the use of a filter with such small filtering area. And, quite frankly, I see little difference in the filter paper material used in the recommended NAPA Gold filter and the Porsche cartridge....

IMG_4612.JPG

My layman' reasoning concludes that it's easier to push he same amount of oil thru the larger Porsche cartridge filter, and, certainly the filter would be cleaning inch for inch through the same cycle. So, is the oil filter adapter gizmo all hype? Thoughts?

Cheers,

Johan

​

 

 

Easy: While the OEM filter is much larger in physical size, it is also much coarser in terms of the filter media pore diameter as well, which allows a lot more fine material through the filter and back into your engine.  The NAPA Gold spin on has nearly a third smaller pore diameter in its media, which stops particulates that would pass through the OEM filter.  And as Ahsai has also already mentioned, the spin on is a "full flow" design, which does not have a bypass like the OEM filter, so all the oil is filtered all the time, and failed bypass valves are a real issue with the OEM setup.

 

As for physical size or surface area, that is not the critical measure of an oil filter, what you should be looking at is efficiency (how many gallons per hour of oil the filter can the filter handle, and how good is it at stopping particulate matter); and in those categories the spin on wins hands down (it is rated well in excess of the volume of oil your engine can actually pump, and with a third smaller media pore diameter it will stop a lot more than the OEM unit).

 

Some like to argue that without a bypass and with smaller pores, the spin would clog up faster than the OEM and shut off the oil flow in the case of a catastrophic engine failure, which is actually irrelevant as in that case the engine is already toast and would need to come apart anyway, regardless of which filter is on it, and running it longer with circulating debris is just going to make a bad situation a lot worse..

 

We have a lot of customers running the spin on filters, and we cut open every filter on every oil change, regardless of filter types.  We also offer UOA for every oil change to our customers as well, and many make use of that service with each change so that the owners have records of how their engine's have been doing over time.  Which style filter you use is not a matter of hype, the spin on is better hands down, particularly if you also run a FilterMag unit on the outside of it, which passes every drop of oil in the engine through a strong magnetic field as it passes through the filter.

 

Why does Porsche persist in using inferior technology when a fairly simple process for improvement is available? 

 

I would have thought that their substantial staff would be aware of this information and be eager to make an upgrade.  Is it a cost factor or is the paper cartridge in a reusable plastic canister the response to a recycling issue?  I guess they are avoiding having a substantial amount of metal being added to the waste stream by doing it this way.

[JFP in PA]

 

 

 

Several years ago I installed a LN Engineering oil filter adapter in my '06 C2S largely because of the hype created on this and other forums surrounding the IMSB issues. (I also removed the IMS seal and adopted the 5k oil change practice, amongst other things). Notwithstanding, I always wondered how this small canister filter could be better than Porsche's own cartridge version.

So today I had my first chance to use my new sniffy oil filter cutter (amazon.com) on an accumulated collection of used oil filters from the car...

 IMG_4604.JPG

The more oil filters I cut open and examined for metal particles (fortunately none found), the more I questioned the use of a filter with such small filtering area. And, quite frankly, I see little difference in the filter paper material used in the recommended NAPA Gold filter and the Porsche cartridge....

IMG_4612.JPG

My layman' reasoning concludes that it's easier to push he same amount of oil thru the larger Porsche cartridge filter, and, certainly the filter would be cleaning inch for inch through the same cycle. So, is the oil filter adapter gizmo all hype? Thoughts?

Cheers,

Johan

​

 

 

Easy: While the OEM filter is much larger in physical size, it is also much coarser in terms of the filter media pore diameter as well, which allows a lot more fine material through the filter and back into your engine.  The NAPA Gold spin on has nearly a third smaller pore diameter in its media, which stops particulates that would pass through the OEM filter.  And as Ahsai has also already mentioned, the spin on is a "full flow" design, which does not have a bypass like the OEM filter, so all the oil is filtered all the time, and failed bypass valves are a real issue with the OEM setup.

 

As for physical size or surface area, that is not the critical measure of an oil filter, what you should be looking at is efficiency (how many gallons per hour of oil the filter can the filter handle, and how good is it at stopping particulate matter); and in those categories the spin on wins hands down (it is rated well in excess of the volume of oil your engine can actually pump, and with a third smaller media pore diameter it will stop a lot more than the OEM unit).

 

Some like to argue that without a bypass and with smaller pores, the spin would clog up faster than the OEM and shut off the oil flow in the case of a catastrophic engine failure, which is actually irrelevant as in that case the engine is already toast and would need to come apart anyway, regardless of which filter is on it, and running it longer with circulating debris is just going to make a bad situation a lot worse..

 

We have a lot of customers running the spin on filters, and we cut open every filter on every oil change, regardless of filter types.  We also offer UOA for every oil change to our customers as well, and many make use of that service with each change so that the owners have records of how their engine's have been doing over time.  Which style filter you use is not a matter of hype, the spin on is better hands down, particularly if you also run a FilterMag unit on the outside of it, which passes every drop of oil in the engine through a strong magnetic field as it passes through the filter.

 

Why does Porsche persist in using inferior technology when a fairly simple process for improvement is available? 

 

I would have thought that their substantial staff would be aware of this information and be eager to make an upgrade.  Is it a cost factor or is the paper cartridge in a reusable plastic canister the response to a recycling issue?  I guess they are avoiding having a substantial amount of metal being added to the waste stream by doing it this way.

 

 

One of the basics of car building is that the bean counters very often overrule the designers; saving a buck or two per car is critical in these circles.  Just look what saving $0.50 per car did to the Ford Pinto, or what saving $0.65 on an ignition switch did for GM.  It ain't always about being "green", and if fact very rarely does that ever enter into the equation.

[Uwon]

Didn't honestly believe that my original post was going to turn into a "crap on the bean counters" rant. My God, I used to be one of them. :-)

More to the point, I have learned allot particularly from JFP, thank you, and I'm ordering FilterMags for all our cars tonight.

Cheers,

Johan

[wyovino]

I have the spin-on adapter and magnetic drain plug but never knew about the FilterMag.  Very cool! Thanks for the information. I'll be ordering one.

Do you recommend having one or do you use a pair?

Edited September 30, 2015 by wyovino

[JFP in PA]

I have the spin-on adapter and magnetic drain plug but never knew about the FilterMag.  Very cool! Thanks for the information. I'll be ordering one.

Do you recommend having one or do you use a pair?

 

One is sufficient for most applications, the neodymium magnets are very strong.