Synthetic vs. Dino

[mbulriss]

Jay,

Regular oil filters tend to cellulose based, commonly referred to as
paper. If you ever cut a regular Fram or AC filter open it is
typically just pleated paper to increase the total surface area of the
paper filter medium. Cellulose is basically broken down soaked wood
chips made into a paste and then compressed into sheets and dried to
become paper. As a result, cellulose fibers are inconsistent in size,
shape and thickness. You have thick spots and shallow spots in the
paper. Thick spots result in higher restriction and lower dirt
holding capacity. Shallow spots allow more contaminants to pass
through and can even rupture into mini-holes allowing unfiltered oil
and contaminants through. It is the very small contaminants that
cause most of the wear in engines over time. As time goes on, the hot
oil will also degrade the resins that bind the cellulose media
together, which allows even more unfiltered contaminants to pass
through. If you get lucky and get a particular thick piece of
cellulose, it can get saturated or totally plugged up with
contaminants and then start bypassing unfiltered oil through the
filter bypass valves. That's what they are there for, to prevent
engine oil starvation in the event of filter restrictions.

The synthetic grade filters typically use a manmade synthetic media
which has very controlled fiber density of uniform sizes, shapes and
smaller diameters. They are then typically layered in various
densities with wire screen backing for shape and strength. they are
compressed at a consistent rate to eliminate thick or weak spots.
They then have consistent flow rates and more fully filter
multi-micron size contaminants. Precisely measured tests prove them
to be far more efficient at cleaning pre-measured contaminants out of
oil passing through them. With synthetic oil, use good synthetic
filters and change them half way through your life cycle of usage.

For even more efficient cleaning, several manufacturers sell bypass
filter systems that use even denser synthetic media that can clean
down into the one micron range. These bypass filter systems typically
use a restricted oil orifice, typically off the oil pressure gauge
sending unit, to pass small amounts of oil at a time through the
bypass filtration system. Due to the dense filtering restriction, it
typically takes 7-15 miles at highway speeds to pass all of the oil
through the bypass filtering system, which cleans the oil back to
nearly new state in terms of contaminants. An early version of these
deep cleaning bypass filters were commonly found on the mid-80s PT
Birds. Many of them have been removed since they were so dirty to
change. I know mine was missing on Stagecoach - only the
documentation in the Blue Box remained. The new bypass filter systems
utilize spin on filters and are much easier to service. Supposedly,
you never need to change the synthetic oil again with synthetic
filters and a synthetic quality bypass filter system. You just change
the filters regularly and top off the synthetic oil supply. I have a
bypass system I haven't installed yet. Amsoil has an interesting tear
down test on a class 8 diesel with 400,000+ miles that had a bypass
system and only changed filters during that time.

Ironically, as regards air filters, the most effective air filter
tests that I have seen are not cellulose/paper or oil treated
synthetic filters, but the old oil bath filters found on the Perkins
gen sets. So if you have one of those, keep it.

Per your question, the synthetic oil filter cross reference numbers I
have for the 6V and 8V are as follows:

Amsoil SDF72
Donaldson Endurance ELF7670
Hastings LF262
Fleetguard LF670
LuberFiner P670/LFP911

I have the Perkins oil filter numbers in the old bus log, which I
don't have here right now. I believe the Amsoil oil filter # is
SDF96. Actually, I think I posted a cross reference list in the forum
files if you need them.

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Jay Darst"
wrote:
>
> Mike,
>
> How are the synthetic filters different from conventional filters?
>
> Do you have part #'s for the proper filter to be used while using
> synthetic engine oil?
>
> Jay Darst
> 85PT40
> Springfield, IL where might be making the switch from dino to
> synthetic in the DD, startint to make some sense....
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mbulriss" <mbulriss@>
> wrote:
> >
> > Bob,
> >
> > I have been using Amsoil in every internal combustion engine I own
> > since 1979. At 5,000 miles, with modern ring technolgy everything
> is
> > broken in by now and you are OK to switch, but since you just had
> the
> > oil changed, switch at 8-10,000 and get your money's worth out of
> the
> > last oil change. When you switch, make sure you get a good quality
> > synthetic oil filter also: Amsoil, Mobil-1 or the new Donaldson
> line.
> > The synthetics don't break down, but they will load up with dirt
> and
> > soot just like dino oil. You need excellent quality filters to
> > preserve your synthetic oil investment. The paper based filters
> are
> > are a waste of money and synthetic.
> >
> > Mike Bulriss
> > 1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
> > San Antonio, TX
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Lawrence"
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Bob,
> > > Your 80k miles on the 6v-92..is that without an oil change?
> > > Just put in dino in the engine with synthetic in tranny (Amsoil).
> > > I wonder if I decide to switch to Amsoil in engine how many
> miles I
> > > have to have on it before draining the dino oil. At present, I
> only
> > > have 5k miles on the rebuilt engine.
> > > Bob Lawrence
> > > 84 PT36 (Scratching my head)
> > > Tacoma, Wa.
> > > >
> > > > I put eighty thousand miles on a 6v-92 using amsoil 15/40 and
> have
> > > 50
> > > > thousand on my 8v-92 using amsoil. I also use the amsoil syn
> > > > transmission fluid along with the rear dif, fluid. My Dodge
> diesel
> > > > pickup truck has 100 thousand with amsoil in it from the first
> day.
> > > No
> > > > complaint's. I have the oil analysis once a year on all
> vehicles and
> > > no
> > > > problem's. I would never go back to Dino.. Still snow on the
> ground
> > > > here in Jackson, Wy..Bob&Carol. 93pt-40 Bunker Hill, Il...
> > > >
> > >
> >
>