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Overheard a guy at the auto shop say something about oil filters
I was waiting for my oil change at Midas last Tuesday and this old mechanic told the kid next to me that cheap filters let the oil bypass the filter when it's cold. I looked it up later and he was right, the bypass valve pressure is way different between brands. Has anyone else noticed a difference using a premium filter?
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nina_jenkins15d ago
My brother-in-law used to work at a Jiffy Lube and he told me the same thing. He said the cheap filters have a bypass valve that opens at around 8-10 PSI, while the good ones like Mobil 1 or Wix hold until 15-20 PSI. What that means is when you start your car in cold weather, the thick oil can't get through the filter media fast enough, so it just pushes the valve open and flows unfiltered. I read a study once where they cut open filters and the cheap ones had cardboard end caps that would warp and let oil bypass even sooner. I've been using Wix for years on my old Ford and it's never given me trouble.
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ross.felix15d ago
Nina nailed it. Those cheap filters with cardboard end caps are borderline scams. I cut one open from a no-name brand and the pleats were practically falling apart inside. The bypass valve thing is real too. I've seen it happen in winter. Oil thickens up, bypass pops open, and all that crud just goes straight through your engine bearings. Wix or Mobil 1 are the only ones I'll touch now for that exact reason. The extra couple bucks is cheap insurance compared to a rebuild.
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park.abby15d ago
Wait, have you ever actually seen what happens when a cheap filter fails? My buddy has a 90s Civic that he's been barely keeping alive, and he threw on some no-name filter from a discount auto parts store last winter. His car started smoking on a cold morning, and when he brought it to my mechanic buddy, they cut the filter open. The cardboard end caps were completely soaked and mushy, and the bypass valve was stuck open from all the gunk. The oil was basically just sloshing around the engine without any filtration at all. He had to replace the whole filter and do an oil change, plus flush the system because there was debris in there. The guy at the shop told him it would've cost him an engine if he'd driven it like that for another week. I've been telling everyone to stick with Wix or Mobil 1 ever since.
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