Oil filters

[pfenlon]

A TR pal came around last week and whilst looking at my car, he pointed out that my Oil Filter wasn't in the right position.

 

I decided that I had better investigate further, so I E mailed the engineering shop that did my engine machining and parts supply, and asked the question.

 

He said that it didn't really matter.

 

Then he asked me who manufactured the oil filter (Spin on type newly purchased).

 

Knowing the him a stickler for doing things right, I dug out my invoice from July 2017 found I had paid only £3.93 for the filter, I called the supplier, (a big firm) who were really quite rude, of no help whatsoever

 

and informed me that they would not reveal their sources, and actually put the phone down on me.

 

Reporting back to the engineering shop without any useful information, I received an e mail from the shop telling me that the filter was probably made in the Far East and it would only provide about 40%

 

of the filtration needed, have not enough folds of paper, the pressure relief valve would have a poor seal and the wrong pressure relief valve spring installed, he advised I changed the filter for a

 

known make, Mann or Mahle.

 

So a big Thank you to Mr Ashworth for starting the investigation in the first place, changing the filter tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

[Fireman049]

Hi Pete ~

 

Name and shame the supplier of your filter so no one else deals with them.

Very tidy engine bay Pete.

Tom.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Tom Boyd

[Dave Ashworth]

Pete,

 

As you know from experience, if you turn your glass upside down, then the beer falls out. This was probably my logic with the oil filter, not knowing a fat lot about anything, but I'm glad I put foward this suggestion as we now know a lot more about pressure relief valves in oil filters and clearly they don't function the same way a beer glass.

 

I bought a Mann filter last week, plus a spare to put on the shelf for later.

 

Thanks for this enlightening information.

 

Cheers.

 

Dave.

[Den T]

The filters are not built to be fitted like that and nothing to do with the valve.

[lightningburns]

Hi Pete,

 

the point of having a spin on filter is that with the orig type the oil drains away when the engine is stopped. On restart the oil pump has to fill up the empty filter before it circulates around the engine. So on restart a rattle is often heard, not good for the bearings etc.

The spin on filters have incorporated in them an anti-drain back valve. It would be best if your filter was facing down (mine is near vertical) i.e. below the new fitting. This helps when changing the filter so you don't get covered in oil when unscrewing it, also you are then not relying on the anti-drain valve holding the oil in the filter when the engine is stopped, there are many cars with the filters horozontal so it's not vital, just preferable.

The position of the filter does not influence the operation of pressure relief valves.

As with any car buy the best filters, Mann, Mahle, K&N or Bosch are all very good. Even the most expensive are not very costly.

 

Regards,

 

John

[lightningburns]

Den,

 

The anti-drainback valve is visible through the top holes of the filter, It looks like a rubber/silicone flap, they also have in built a by-pass valve built further into the filter. The point of the by-pass valve is if the filter becomes clogged.

 

John

[HSM]

The filter you have fitted is a Unipart filter, now no longer available.

 

 

Harvey S. Maitland

[DRD]

Pete, the other guys are spot on.

 

It doesn't matter if the filter isn't vertical as they have an anti-drain valve to prevent the oil running out - that's the whole point of using them.

 

I found I couldn't get the filter into the vertical postion very easily anyway as there were other obstructions in the way, so have it in a similar position to you. I use the K&N one which has a nut on the top and makes it very easy to remove!

 

Daz

[pfenlon]

better safe than sorry I fitted a Mann filter today, Harvey points out that the old filter was a unipart product, so It was perhaps OK.

 

The price was cheap as John pointed out £4.10p inc VAT, how they make that item in germany, ship it here and make a profit I don't know, thanks for the advice everyone.

[John L]

From the picture above it would appear that its a filter as supplied by Moss, in a Classic Gold Parts box. I have one fitted at present, but its hanging down.

Surely I don't have to change it?

John

[monty]

I always use a K & N HP2009 but I think Mann or Mahle are also good. Steer clear of Fram as they had a bad write-up a while ago.

Cheers.

[pfenlon]

From the picture above it would appear that its a filter as supplied by Moss, in a Classic Gold Parts box. I have one fitted at present, but its hanging down.

Surely I don't have to change it?

John

John it seems that people here recognise

 

the old white filter, as a moss product, and it being a unipart item.

 

My engine builder didn't recognise it but he has had so many problems with customers fitting Far east rubbish filters he suggested I change it for a good known make.

 

I have just spent almost £1500 on my engine, and for another £4 or so it seemed churlish not to change it, peace of mind for £4 I can go along with.

Edited April 11, 2018 by pfenlon

[peejay4A]

Blimey Pete. Is it gold plated?

[pfenlon]

Blimey Pete. Is it gold plated?

Slip of the finger Pete, now corrected.

 

but there are woes for some, a pal of mine has his engine now turning out over 600BHP (pantera) cost was astronomical, it did 200 miles and wiped out the crank 1 journal only.

 

he returned it to the rebuilder who re-cranked the thing and yes you guessed it 200 miles later its knocking away again. not the same journal but again only 1, So glad I keep mine standard.

[TR5tar]

 

I use the K&N one which has a nut on the top and makes it very easy to remove!

 

Daz

 

I also use the K&N HP2009, mainly because I thought the nut to ease removal was a good idea. Although, I have to say, when I came to change it the socket kept slipping off it, so I had to resort to a trusty removal tool.

[Ben Freer]

 

I also use the K&N HP2009, mainly because I thought the nut to ease removal was a good idea. Although, I have to say, when I came to change it the socket kept slipping off it, so I had to resort to a trusty removal tool.

Agreed it's not quite deep enough but I suppose that stops it being over tightened in the first place ????

[RogerH]

 

I also use the K&N HP2009, mainly because I thought the nut to ease removal was a good idea. Although, I have to say, when I came to change it the socket kept slipping off it, so I had to resort to a trusty removal tool.

Hi Darren,

the 'nut' on the K&N filter canister is quite useless. I had to revert to the rope and screwdriver ploy.

The hex part of the nut is fine but where it joins the canister the radius is too big and allows the socket to spin off.

 

Perhaps the people at K&N don;t use their own products.

 

Roger

Roger

[DRD]

 

I also use the K&N HP2009, mainly because I thought the nut to ease removal was a good idea. Although, I have to say, when I came to change it the socket kept slipping off it, so I had to resort to a trusty removal tool.

 

Once I got the correct size socket (imperial) it was fine - the metric one of a similar size doesn't work though.

[RogerH]

I think the problem is the radius that I mentioned above, the shallow depth of the nut and that most sockets have a slight internal chamfer at the input to the socket.

 

This means that the gripping part of the socket has very little to grip on.

 

Perhaps a sheet steel ring spanner may do it.

 

Roger

[Lebro]

I have invented a way to stop these spin-on-adaptors leaking.

I have submitted an article about it to TRaction, but do not yet know if it will get published.

If it does not then I will put it on here.

 

Bob.

[MostEasterlySteve]

....it seems that people here recognise

 

the old white filter, as a moss product, and it being a unipart item.

 

 

It's certainly a Unipart part number but I came to the conclusion a good while back that certain suppliers are sourcing quite nasty oil filters from the far east and are getting the makers to print the old Unipart numbers on them to reassure (fool) customers that they are getting the right article. Exactly the same happens with Spitfires/heralds etc with Unipart GFE150. 'Classic Gold' and various other commonly available filters come with the Unipart number but in my opinion the actual items have no relationship whatsoever to Unipart (which was an OE supplier).

 

I certainly think it is better to source an equivalent part from a more reputable maker such as Mann. It's rather unfortunate in my opinion that it tends to be the specialist Triumph companies that are pedalling these cheapo filters. It's not hard in most cases to identify better products from Mann, Wix, K&N or whoever.

[TR5tar]

 

Once I got the correct size socket (imperial) it was fine - the metric one of a similar size doesn't work though.

 

I was using the imperial socket but it still kept slipping when I tried. Nut seems too shallow to me, as Roger says, but perhaps I'd just over tightened it last time around. Next time I'll use Roger's good old rope and screwdriver trick!

 

Lood forward to reading your article Bob.

 

Cheers, Darren

Edited April 16, 2018 by TR5tar

[Bleednipple]

In the old days I used to remove an old filter by knocking a big screwdriver straight through the can and using that as a lever. Slightly messy but always seemed to work a treat, but probably ill-advised for some reason (eg risk of getting swarf into the oil channels)?

 

Nigel

[Ian Vincent]

There are plenty of oil filter wrenches around nowadays - most only cost a few quid. I've got a chain wrench based one that I've had for years and it always works, although it does knacker the old filter canister.

 

Rgds Ian

[acaie]

In the old days I used to remove an old filter by knocking a big screwdriver straight through the can and using that as a lever. Slightly messy but always seemed to work a treat, but probably ill-advised for some reason (eg risk of getting swarf into the oil channels)?

 

Nigel

+1. After many years with the big screwdriver method I did eventually splash out on a chain wrench.