Oil Filters, whose is best, and Why?

zoomzoom626 · July 2003

Thanks for the advice!

swordfish555 · July 2003

I just received an Amsoil SDF-13 oil filter & was kind of surprised by the small size of it..It is even smaller than the Honda brand filter which I thought was small but this is Tiny! It is for a 2003 Civic. Does anyone know the reason for this?

armtdm · August 2003

However, size doesn't always matter in terms of filtering capability. True, a larger filter will provide more oil volume but unless you cut open two filters and inspect the smaller could may actually conatin more filtering media then the larger one.

However, ask Amsoil, many of their filters have duplicate uses and they usually have a larger filter with the same thread and bypass settings that you can use. I fact, my chart says the SDF 20 and the SDF 36 will both work. The 20 is slightly larger and the 36 much longer so it depends on your clearances.

fwatson · August 2003

I posted the following back on July 14 with no response except one suggestion of water condensing in my engine which it is not.

I have since put over 1500 miles on the new oil and filter change, and in that milage have used absolutely no measurable amount of oil.

I'm still curious, what with this being a forum on oil filters, if anyone has seen the bypass on a filter not allow the oil to fill the filter until after a period of time such as this seems to have been. I can't figure any other place for 1/2 quart of oil to suddenly disappear. It happened only once, so there is obviously no oil using problem with the engine itself.

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Quote Old Post:

#2424 of 2440 Stuck Bypass? by fwatson Jul 14, 2003 (7:01 am)

I had a curious occurance. About 3000 miles after changing the oil and filter on my '01 Mazda Millenia P, I took a 150 mile trip. Before leaving, as usual I checked the oil level and all was fine.

The trip went fine, but when I checked the oil before returning home it was down halfway between the add and full marks. I headed home and bought a quart of oil about 75 miles down the road, and it still showed about midway on the stick. Added the oil to the full mark and went on home. Next morning oil level checked full.

I have since changed oil and filter again and after about 500 miles there has been no drop in the oil level.

It may seem strange, but all I can come up with is a stuck bypass in the filter that finally closed allowing the filter to fill. Does that seem sensible to you filter guru's?

There has never been any sign of oil on the engine or underneath the car, and the tailpipe is clean and dry. I haven't seen any even minute sign of oil smoke from it.

The filter was the same, SuperTech, which I have run for years on all my cars with no previous incident of any kind.

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paul29 · August 2003

The filter will normally fill regardless of an open or closed bypass , if stuck open it will fill and not filter properly , if stuck closed it can collapse the filter media (on cold weather startup or with clogged media ) and cause other problems but will almost fill the can.

fwatson · August 2003

for your observation. That being the case, I guess I'll just have to dismiss the incident as one of the black holes of life from which no knowledge can escape

It sure does make me wonder why there would be a one time occurance like that. And until I had several hundred miles on the new filter and oil I was highly vigilant of the oil level. All is fine with the engine though so I guess I can relax now.

karld1 · August 2003

Recently I have bought 6 Mobil1 M1-103 filters at Kmart!!!
They look just as small as my 2002 MazdaP5 filters but Mobil cross reference is stating that my car should use M1-108.
M1-103 is designed to be used in variety of Toyota 1.8L engines (Corolla, Celica, MR2, Matrix, Pontiac Vibe) can I safely use those in my Protege?

Right now I'm using PureOne from a 2.5l V6 Mazdas or Bosch equivalent.

What should I do?
What's a better choice?

Oil Filters, whose is best, and Why?

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