I put a bigger oil filter about 1.5" longer than the FL-1. it is a WIX I have about 1/2" between the filter and the power steering box. It fits a Massey Fergeson Tractor( I'm guessing a Perkins 5.6L or 6.0) it is a $11 filter but it holds more oil, and that in my opinion is worth it. OH ya I put Moble 1 and this Wix filter and picked put about 3 PSI oil pressure over a a fresh(er) Delo/Fl-1A oil change.
Just passing it along.
Dustin

 

the extra psi is from the lower micron rating as it is rated at 31 microns the wix 51515 is rated at 22 microns. just because it fits and holds 8 oz more oil does not make it a better filter it also has a different bypass valve setting. you could be doing more harm than good.

 

With that in mind, it could cause the bypass valve to open more and allow unfiltered oil circulate through the engine.

 

Lets see now almost 200,000 miles on my 86 F250 4x4 460. Lets see Motorcraft filters for a fair amount of that mileage Valoline 15-40 reg oil. Am I missing something here?

 

I would not worry about the bigger filter. I have been running the longer filters for two years on two different Fords that spec FL1A and it is working fine. The Wix is good and easy to get. Also Adv Auto can order the Purolator version (L40017), which in this case has the threaded end bypass valve.

The longer filter is Motorcraft FL299. Someone once said it was speced for an '89 F650 or something in that area with 460 V8. The different bypass valve setting is likely to protect the guts of the filter as you will find as much variation in bypass valve setting between brands of the same filter application as you will between different filter applications.

BTW, wife's Aerostar 3.0 (Vulcan pushrod) specs a FL400, but I have been running the larger FL1A on it for several years, again with no problems.

 

Now this has become very interesting. There are many on this and other boards that insist that an aftermarket bypass oil filtering system is absolutely mandatory. They claim that the factory-spec spin on filters allow too big of particles to pass, and the aftermarket filters are a much finer filter (down to 2 microns, I believe). These aftermarket gurus insist that particles in the 5-10 micron range do a lot of damage.

So you appear (correct me if I am wrong) to advocate a filter with a 31 micron rating rather than a 22 micron rating. How many miles do you have on the 31 micron filter? Sufficient to be statistically significant?

I am not attempting to criticize nor applaud you. I am just wondering, how big does a particle have to be to present a problem? 5 microns? 10 microns? 30 microns?

My personal belief is that the factory spec filters are quite capable of getting your gas engine to 150,000 miles, and a diesel engine to 250,000-300,000 miles without the addition of an aftermarkety bypass system.

 

I agree with Jschira, I bought a 92 Escort GT new and was appaled by the tiny filter and 3.8 quart capacity. I drove it 104,000 miles on VAlvoline 10w30 all climate and a Ford filter, sold the car tomy father that drove it to 240,000 miles on Valvoline rapid oil changes and now a good friend of mine has it up to 288,000 miles on samevalvoline allclimate 10w30 and stock ford filter. Car uses no oil in a 3000 mile change and runs like new.

I do have to admit though, I am using a FL400 on my 2005 Escape with the 2.3 Duratech instead of the FL910 due to availabilty reasons and being able to fill with an even number of quarts due to slightly longer length.

 

So do I switch to a FL299?

 

You can ask 10 people that and get 5 that say no and 5 that say yes.Try it if you don't think its doing you a good job change it.
I ran the big Wix filter on my 89 BII for about 2 years and had no problems.Would have keep doing it but sold the truck.I run the fl1a on my 4.0 Ranger and it doese a good job too.

 

Not to get the thread off track, but is this a case of:
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." ?

If the specd. filter works fine, why try something different?
If the specd. filter is marginal, then I can certainly see trying something different.

Thanks.

 

I agree with BrianA. If you are performing the recommended maintenance with the properly spec'd oil and a quality oil filter designed for the application there is no need to experiment.

 

How do you know?

Do you get your oil analyzed?

 

My opinion is that the stock filter does a fine job, but the Lure is more oil capacity. The more oil in the motor, the cooler it runs and can hold more contaminants. In the case of my Escape it allows me to put in an even amount of oil.
Dan

 

I don't see where a difference of 20 vs 30 microns really matters.

 

In what time frame?

I trade cars a lot, so putting 30,000 miles on one car is a lot for me. Mazzolla and Charmin is probably all the oil and filter that I need.

Some are still running grandpa's old truck with 200,000+ miles. Now does micron size matter.

I don't know and have not seen any long term durability tests.