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From: pwv@fluke.UUCP (Pat Vilbrandt)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: oil filters
Message-ID: <365@vax1.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29-Aug-83 17:22:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax1.365
Posted: Mon Aug 29 17:22:02 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 31-Aug-83 20:50:45 EDT
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Everett, Wash
Lines: 66

In regards to the query by John Pletikapich <246@mddc.uucp> on the
utility of oil filters, I would like to submit a bit of general experience:

My family bought a Rambler wagon brand new in early 1959.  This beast
had a 6 cyl. nine main bearing engine, with somewhere around 190-some
c.i.d.  The thing that intrigued me about this engine was the fact that
it had NO oil filter.  My father changed the oil semi-regularly every
3-6k miles with whatever oil he could get on sale the cheapest (Sears,
Wards, Mobil, Midland, I mean *really* cheap!).  The amazing thing
about all this is, except for a valve stem warping at 12k mi., the
little bugger ran for 120k+ miles with no major engine work and STILL
DIDN'T USE ANY (<1 qt.) OIL BETWEEN OIL CHANGES!!  (We finally junked
the car when the body literally rusted off the frame (midwest winters
=> salt).)

This has led me to also doubt the use of oil filters.

Some things to consider, however:

    The '59 engine had no PCV, EGR, or any of those other TLA's (Three
    Letter Acronyms) that tend to introduce junk into the engines of todays
    automobiles.

    We didn't drive the car in any excessively dusty areas.

    The engines of that era were not leaned out to the point of starvation
    so they tended to run much cooler and there was probably much less
    carbonization and general breaking down of the oil taking place then.

If a filter does begin to fill up fairly quick (and I believe that it
might) which causes the bypass valve to open sometimes (like when the
oil is cold), the filter would still be filtering some of the oil.  The
question then becomes "At what point does the filter become totally
non-functional?"

I still like the centrifugal oil cleaner that Simca (French car
imported by Crysler in the '60s) integrated into the accessory drive
pulley on the crankshaft.  All you had to do was take off the nuts and
scrape out the goo around the outside of the pulley every 10,000 miles
or so.  Worked Great!

My conclusions?

    If you don't drive under extreme conditions (too dusty, too hot, too
    etc.), and you change your oil every 2000 miles with a good (you define
    "good", I wouldn't dare even try!) detergent oil, you can bypass the
    filter on your car's engine and never miss it.

    WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING! 

    This is only my opinion!  Don't hold me liable if you break your car!

So much for my 2 cents worth.

    Pat (Paper Filters Are Only Good For The Filter Companies) Vilbrandt
    ...decvax!microsof!fluke!pwv


P.S.  Come to think of it, the Rambler also had an oil bath air cleaner 
      that you washed out with kerosene whenever it looked dirty 
      (> 10k mi.) and re-oiled.  It also had no fuel filter, just a 
      sediment bowl on the fuel pump.  Hmm... Makes you wonder.

P.P.S Yes, I do use an oil filter in my car, and I change it every 5000 
      miles.  But I also use synthetic oil that I change every 20,000 
      miles.  That's another story!