DIY Guide: 'Full-Flow' (non-bypass) oil filter housing mod for $1. No spin-on.
#1
DIY Guide: 'Full-Flow' (non-bypass) oil filter housing mod for $1. No spin-on.
Might post this on another forum in another life.
Last edited by User 63031; 06-09-2021 at 04:45 PM.
#2
can the stock filter handle the starting pressure? I seem to have read that the bypass is on when engine first start. Would like to see how long it holds up for you. I am too chicken to test this myself...
Last edited by rogazilla; 06-04-2018 at 09:51 PM. Reason: remove quote
#3
Rennlist Member
The original Porsche filter housing can be easily modified into a full-flow non-bypass design with two simple washers
(and even be superior to the Spin-on / Napa Gold 1042 combo)
We're all familiar with the spin-on adapter, but I wanted to find a cheaper and better way. At 200$ the investment is considerable for a piece of metal, be it a well-engineered one. I think it has an additional pretty big shortcoming in the tiny oil filter that comes with it. The original Porsche filter media is well over twice the size of the Napa Gold 1042 filter due to its length. In terms of flow-capacity, the larger Porsche filter media is vastly superior. I do own the spin-on adapter and ran it with a Napa Gold 1042 for a few hundred kilometers, and upon inspection I found the filter media to have partially crushed under the pressure (some of the pleats were folded on one side).
Obviously the strain on the tiny filter is pretty big. I haven't been able to find larger non-bypass spin-on filters, so figured I might as well take the Porsche housing apart and see if I could block the valve easily. I'd much rather use the original size filter for flow-capacity considerations, AND have a non-bypass situation to protect my engine in case of debris. Luckily, it's very easy and very cheap to have both, which I will show with this short guide.
Disclaimer: if you already have a spin-on adapter, don't worry because it works fine and nobody reported any major problems with it AFAIK. This guide is aimed at people who haven't gotten the adapter yet and/or don't want to shell out 200$ for one.
First let's see this valve. It's located at the bottom of your filter housing, and pulls right off with a long pair of pliers.
The device is very simple, a metal valve that slides into the plastic housing, and is held shut with a spring. The valve has two legs crimped around the spring. If the oil pressure > spring resistance, the valve opens (top-right). To avoid this, the spring has to be disabled somehow. I simply added washers to fill the space until the spring was fully compressed and thus the valve was unable to open. Illustrated here by compressing the spring:
I ended up using two of these washers, I'll measure the exact dimensions, but they were about 2 mm thick each. The prongs of the valve slide through the center and and hold the spring down tightly. It can be tricky to push down the spring all the way and at the same time get the prongs through properly. Getting the prongs of the valve through the hole of the washer sure is a tight fit. I had to squeeze them together first, then use one of those 'reverse pliers' or whatever they're called to push the prongs outwards. Some bending maybe required, and some fiddling, but it shouldn't be too difficult.
For added peace of mind, I cut a screw to size and inserted that in the middle so that the prongs of the valve can never slide off of the washer:
Pop the valve back in the bottom of your filter housing, and you're done.
IMHO this setup is slightly superior to the spin-on adaptor since it allows the use of the larger filter media with much higher flow capacity. But mostly it's just much cheaper for the DIY minded folks here
(and even be superior to the Spin-on / Napa Gold 1042 combo)
We're all familiar with the spin-on adapter, but I wanted to find a cheaper and better way. At 200$ the investment is considerable for a piece of metal, be it a well-engineered one. I think it has an additional pretty big shortcoming in the tiny oil filter that comes with it. The original Porsche filter media is well over twice the size of the Napa Gold 1042 filter due to its length. In terms of flow-capacity, the larger Porsche filter media is vastly superior. I do own the spin-on adapter and ran it with a Napa Gold 1042 for a few hundred kilometers, and upon inspection I found the filter media to have partially crushed under the pressure (some of the pleats were folded on one side).
Obviously the strain on the tiny filter is pretty big. I haven't been able to find larger non-bypass spin-on filters, so figured I might as well take the Porsche housing apart and see if I could block the valve easily. I'd much rather use the original size filter for flow-capacity considerations, AND have a non-bypass situation to protect my engine in case of debris. Luckily, it's very easy and very cheap to have both, which I will show with this short guide.
Disclaimer: if you already have a spin-on adapter, don't worry because it works fine and nobody reported any major problems with it AFAIK. This guide is aimed at people who haven't gotten the adapter yet and/or don't want to shell out 200$ for one.
First let's see this valve. It's located at the bottom of your filter housing, and pulls right off with a long pair of pliers.
The device is very simple, a metal valve that slides into the plastic housing, and is held shut with a spring. The valve has two legs crimped around the spring. If the oil pressure > spring resistance, the valve opens (top-right). To avoid this, the spring has to be disabled somehow. I simply added washers to fill the space until the spring was fully compressed and thus the valve was unable to open. Illustrated here by compressing the spring:
I ended up using two of these washers, I'll measure the exact dimensions, but they were about 2 mm thick each. The prongs of the valve slide through the center and and hold the spring down tightly. It can be tricky to push down the spring all the way and at the same time get the prongs through properly. Getting the prongs of the valve through the hole of the washer sure is a tight fit. I had to squeeze them together first, then use one of those 'reverse pliers' or whatever they're called to push the prongs outwards. Some bending maybe required, and some fiddling, but it shouldn't be too difficult.
For added peace of mind, I cut a screw to size and inserted that in the middle so that the prongs of the valve can never slide off of the washer:
Pop the valve back in the bottom of your filter housing, and you're done.
IMHO this setup is slightly superior to the spin-on adaptor since it allows the use of the larger filter media with much higher flow capacity. But mostly it's just much cheaper for the DIY minded folks here
The following 2 users liked this post by Charles Navarro:
FunWithPaul (08-01-2024),
velandia (03-14-2020)
#4
Good info, thanks. Not entirely sure why my Napa 1042 partially collapsed then. Still, in extremely cold weather it's better to have a better-flowing filter to avoid oil starvation.
Last edited by User 63031; 12-10-2018 at 01:52 PM. Reason: Added cold weather consideration.
#6
Rennlist Member
Another option is the Napa Platinum that has wire backed media, if there is a concern about the pleats folding over.
#7
Another advantage of using spin-on oil filters is that you can easily add a Filter Mag to them. One more layer of protection.
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#8
Rennlist Member
I have been disabling the factory by-pass for years on my (3) m96 engines, using two different methods. One by flipping the valve/spring to the opposite side, and the other by just filling the plastic cup/valve with Loctite E-120HP Epoxy. Have had no issues with filter crushing with either method using the Porsche/Mann/K&N filters with the plastic center cage.I also Epoxy neodymium magnets to the outside of the plastic canister for the extra filtering. I prefer the canister filter simply due to larger filter area and the ease of inspection. That said the L&N adaptor is a nice piece and well engineered.
The following users liked this post:
FunWithPaul (07-11-2024)
#9
Epoxy would've been a nice one too, might be looking into that next time when I have the time to let it set. I tried flipping the valve first, but found the seal on the sharp lip inside wasn't as good as the rounded recess (air could go past if I simply blew into it), so I opted against it.
Thanks for your info on long-term running experiences!
Thanks for your info on long-term running experiences!
#10
I know there is lots of good engineering around the "no bypass" filter mods. Having worked on jet engines in an earlier career, I have always felt (and been trained) that contaminated oil bypassing the filter is better than no oil. It causes damage, but not catastrophic failure like Oil starvation can cause. I know many here disagree, but I thought I will share a different perspective. I will keep my factory setup.
#13
Rennlist Member
The way the bypass works is if there is an 8# spring in the bypass, you have to have a greater than 8# delta between both sides of the filter to open the bypass. Start-up is often the only time it opens unless the filter is completely plugged.
The following users liked this post:
FunWithPaul (07-11-2024)
#14
Burning Brakes
I know there is lots of good engineering around the "no bypass" filter mods. Having worked on jet engines in an earlier career, I have always felt (and been trained) that contaminated oil bypassing the filter is better than no oil. It causes damage, but not catastrophic failure like Oil starvation can cause. I know many here disagree, but I thought I will share a different perspective. I will keep my factory setup.
For most of us who change oil at 5-7k intervals and don't start the car in very cold ambient temperatures its a non issue. I left mine alone and instead added external magnets which really work, last filter change they collected some fine ferrous spooge and my element was spotless at 5k miles
#15
While I do agree contaminated oil is better than no oil, my particular engine had an IMSB failure which let some contaminants in there. I won't feel safe running the stock setup at this point.