NOTE: When reading this article, please keep in mind
the date it was written and that the oil
filters in question will have been upgraded and
revised. Also note that this test was done by an
independent European car magazine and the test results
may or may not be accurate.
From: Kalalahti Matti (
k124476@ee.tut.fi)
Subject: Oil filter test results!
To:
toyota-l@cyberspace.cyberauto.com (Toyota mailing
list),
toyota-mods@cyberspace.cyberauto.com
(Toyota-Mods mailing list),
supras@cyberspace.cyberauto.com (supras),
mr2-interest@cyberspace.cyberauto.com (mr2)
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 00:57:49 +0300 (EET DST)
Sender:
owner-toyota-mods@CyberAuto.Com
The Finnish car magazine "Tuulilasi" compared oil
filters in its latest
issue. The filters tested were all for Toyota Corolla
with A-series engine.
Results in short:
Champion C138 Very good
Clean DO 851 Very good (with size
reservations)
Biltema 502077 Good (with size
reservations)
Purolator Micronic Good
Teho OK 174 Good (with
reservations)
Fram PH 4967 Satisfactory
Motorcraft EFL391 Satisfactory
Mann W68/80 Passable
M-Filter MH 3347 Passable
Toyota 90915-10001 Inferior
Vic C-110 Inferior
"Clean" filter was was wider than others, and
"Biltema" longer.
What did they test?
1) Filtration
Filters were tested with a test equipment conforming
to standard ISO 4572.
The test oil was recirculated through the filter, and
dirt was continuously
added to it. The test dirt consisted of particles
smaller than 200 micrometers.
I've picked the figures below from the graphs on the
magazine. 15 mg of
dirt was added to each liter of oil passed through the
system. Oil flow
rate was 25 liters per minute.
After 5 minutes, % of each particle size [micrometers]
filtered:
40 30 20 10
Champion 98 91 64 19
Clean 99 91 66 16
Biltema 99 91 62 16
Purolator 97 86 60 11
Teho 96 89 61 17
Fram 98 87 55 9
Motorcraft 99 90 61 12
Mann 98 88 56 10
M-Filter 96 85 50 10
Toyota 88 77 31 0
Vic 87 71 39 4
After 10 minutes, % of each particle size
[micrometers] filtered:
40 30 20 10
Champion 97 90 63 18
Clean 97 91 62 13
Biltema 95 88 56 11
Purolator 97 82 52 9
Teho 98 86 56 15
Fram 97 85 51 5
Motorcraft 97 92 62 16
Mann 96 83 50 7
M-Filter 94 80 47 9
Toyota 81 60 25 1
Vic 81 68 39 4
time until blocked (bypass valve opens):
Champion 16-18 min
Clean 21-23 min
Biltema 29-33 min
Purolator 22-26 min
Teho 16-18 min
Fram 22-26 min
Motorcraft 13-15 min
Mann 25-27 min
M-Filter 19-27 min
Toyota 16-23 min
Vic 20-20 min
2) Anti-drainback valve operation
All except Vic held the oil.
You can test this yourself, if you want. Find a bolt
that fits on the
thread in the filter, fill the filter with oil, and
with the bolt
screwed in, turn the filter to its side, like it is on
the engine
block. Does it leak?
3) Bypass valve operation
Some filters leaked slightly through the bypass valve
early before
the filter elements were blocked, but at worst only
22ml/min.
Compare that to the 25000ml/min total flow in the
test, and you
see that it is totally insignificant.
Make your own conclusions. Before this I thought
Toyota filters
would be the best one could get (even though I've used
Teho myself
because it's 5 times cheaper).
