This New Oil Filter Just Changed the Game (No More Oil Changes)

today we're looking at oil filters the oil filter is an unsung hero that impacts how well your engine performs and lasts so how does it work what are the different types and how do you choose the right one for your car so roll up your sleeves and let's get under the hood your car's engine performs optimally when it has clean motor oil and your motor oil performs its best if the oil filter is doing its job so the oil filter may not sound like something exciting but actually it's quite important it's the onsung hero because it impacts engine performance fuel economy motor oil life and also the environment your vehicle's oil filter does two very important things it filters waste like dangerous pollutants and contaminants but that's not all it also keeps oil in the right place at the right time so you can think of oil filters as the kidneys for the car so how does it work let's take a look inside an oil filter and see how it works first we have the tapping plate it has small holes around the edge and that's where the motor oil enters the filter the oil then travels through a filter material it's made of a mesh of synthetic fibers you can think of it as a sieve that catches the dirt grit and grimy oil the filter material is pleated to create a larger surface area within the same amount of space the filtered oil then travels into the center steel tube then it exits to a threaded center hole of the tapping plate the oil filter has a few other parts there's the relief valve when it's cold outside motor oil naturally thickens this makes it harder for the oil to travel through the filters so the relief valve discharges a small amount of unfiltered motor oil into the center tube to your engine to give your engine a boost until it warms up then you have the two end discs on each side of the oil filter they're made of metal or fiber and they prevent unfiltered oil from passing into the center tube and into your engine some oil filters don't have these end discs but use a sealant instead the anti-drain back valve is a rubber valve with a flap when your engine is off the valve flaps shut to prevent oil from seeping into the engine and into the oil filter did you know that early cars did not use an oil filter at all some placed a rudimentary mesh sieve at the oil pump intake but that wasn't really effective at all so drivers back then had to get a whole lot of oil changes the automobile industry changed in 1923 when two american inventors george green hall and ernest sweetland filed a patent for an automotive oil filter they called it the purolator a name derived from the combination of the words pure oil later it revolutionized the automotive industry the early filters used the cloth weave it sure was better than no filters at all but it wasn't exactly pure oil either most of the oil was pumped from the oil sump directly into the engine's working parts only a small proportion of the oil was sent to a filter via a second flow path filtering the oil over time several decades later in 1954 jack wicks and paul crenshaw patented the spin-on oil filter the slogan was twist of the wrist it was easier quicker and less messy to handle less than 10 years later almost all domestic passenger cars had adopted spin-on filters in the 1960s disposable oil filters became popular and cellulose and paper were used to reduce production costs today the general shape of most oil filters remains basically the same but there's been progress with the filter material many still use cellulose and paper while premium filters use synthetic so exactly how important is clean motor oil the biggest threat to your engine and its greatest enemy is actually tiny dirt particles smaller than the eye can see we're talking microns so how small is a micron as a point of reference an average human hair strand is around 75 microns an average human can see objects that are 40 microns or larger a white blood cell in your blood is about 25 microns a red blood cell is like 5 microns bacteria can be 3 microns so we are talking tiny an average oil filter removes particles that are 40 microns and large but general motors did a study on diesel and gas engines they found that a 30 micron oil filter compared to a 40 micron oil filter reduced engine wear by 50 a 15 micron filter reduced engine ware by 70 dirt particles in the 10 to 20 micron range can do serious damage to bearings cylinders and other engine parts that's because those tiny particles can get lodged between the parts which causes heat buildups which in turn causes damage to the engine let's talk even smaller for example the clearance between the piston ring and cylinder bore is incredibly small usually 5 to 10 microns according to the study particles smaller than 10 microns generated about 3.6 times more wear on the rods rings and main bearings than particles greater than 20 microns i'll just show you how important oil filtration is critical to your engine performance and life so let's talk about filter media those are the membranes that filter out motor oil contaminants today the three common filter media are cellulose synthetic and micro glass filter media many disposable oil filters have cellulose filter media it can catch particles that are eight to ten microns and clean up to forty percent of the motor oil in general it's best to check and replace these filters at every three thousand miles if you want better quality next up is synthetic filter media it's effective at removing twenty four percent of particles that are eight to ten microns small in general use filters should be checked out and changed every five to seven thousand miles most high-end filters use extremely fine metal or micro glass filter media these fibers are ten times finer than cellulose yet they also have a lower oil flow restriction that's why it only needs to be checked or replaced every two to five years or ten thousand miles whichever is less there are many oil filters on the market so which one do you need it depends on your engine type and your car manufacturer's recommendations in the owner's manual using the wrong filter can cause mortar oil to leak out of the engine or the filter can just fall off either situation can cause serious engine damage most car manufacturers use a full flow oil filter known as primary oil filter it filters 100 of the motor oil used by the engine whereas other filters might clean only some of the oil another advantage of the full flow filter is that it allows motor oil to move more freely through the engine compared to other types of oil filters so the full flow filter is especially useful in colder weather when the motor oil thickens on the other hand because it has a lower flow restriction it also allows smaller contaminant particles to pass through one type of full flow oil filter is called the cartridge oil filter a typical cartridge oil filter has no metal parts so it's easier to recycle it's also easy used and if you mount it upright you can usually inspect it without removing the oil another type of full flow filter is the spin on oil filter basically it's a steel canister paired with a paper element installation is fairly simple and you only need minimal tools in addition to full flow or primary oil filter some car makers also install a secondary oil filter also known as the bypass filter the secondary filter supports the primary filter by cleaning less than 10 percent of the motor oil and then routing it back to the engine it works independently of the primary filter and helps to remove contaminants that might have been missed by the full flow filter one type of secondary filter is the spinner oil filter also known as centrifugal oil filter as the name suggests it spins we're talking about centrifugal forces up to 2000 times greater than that of gravity some powerful stuff that's why i can efficiently trap some of the tiniest contaminants from the odor oil typically these filters have two sections a housing chamber and member critical part of this filter is the base gasket which prevents motor oil from leaking but unfortunately it's also one of the weakest part of the filter and isn't too durable so if you use this type be sure to check the base gasket at least once every three months or every three thousand miles another type of secondary filter is the magnetic oil filter it's effective in removing metal contaminants but it's ineffective in removing dust and grime the advantage to this filter is it doesn't need to be replaced but just cleaned regularly and of course it doesn't work on aluminum because that's not magnetic and cars have a lot of aluminum parts these days now when it comes to oil filters just remember that you get what you pay for lower quality filters contain light gauge metal loose filter material and poor quality gaskets that can lead to filter failure some filters can filter out tinier particles more effectively and some are more durable and will last longer so it's important to use a filter that fits your car's knee a common myth is that some people believe you should replace the oil filter at every other oil change if you think you're saving money this way actually it's penny wise but pound foolish if your oil filter gets plugged the oil will go into bypass which leads to faster engine wear so i recommend you replace the oil filter every single time you change your motor oil assuming you change your oil regularly after all why run clean oil through a dirty filter the best oil filters retain 99 of its effectiveness throughout the life of the motor oil as with all things always check your owner's manual for recommended oil change intervals but you tell me do you have any funny or horror stories about your car's oil filter or motor oil changes please share by commenting below if you liked the video please subscribe to my channel for more car history and technology videos thanks for your support [Music] you

Channel: Scotty Kilmer

Views: 504,319

Keywords: auto, auto repair, car, car diy, car repair, cars, diy, how to, mechanic, repair, scotty kilmer, car review, car advice, diy engine oil change, diy oil change, engine oil, engine oil change, engine oil diy, how to change engine oil, how to change oil, motor oil, oil, oil change, oil change fail, oil change how to, oil filter, best oil filter, oil filter test, oil filter change, engine oil filter, engine oil filter change, changing car oil, new oil filter, oil changes

Id: fHCXUP2liDc

Length: 10min 6sec (606 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 18 2021