40plyguy Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 What's the general consensus on running an oil filter? My engine doesn't have one. Years ago I picked one up at a swap meet. My gut feeling was that one should be on the engine. Shooting the breeze with some of my friends, a lot of them thought it's not needed in a car that won't be getting as much use as my daily driver does. That changing the oil yearly would be just as good. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 I think an oil filter is good to install no matter how many miles you drive. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatie46 Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 I would run one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knuckleharley Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 Can't hurt and might help. The answer seems obvious to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classiccarjack Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 I know that the filtered oil isn't filtered as well as the later engines. BUT, it has to be better than nothing. I too will run oil filters on all my engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDoctor Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 Back when I wasn’t all that old (16 in ’66), I had a ’56 Chevy convertible (sure wish I still had that one!!!), with a 265 V8 that didn’t have an oil filter. I changed the oil every 1,000 miles, but I think the previous owner may not have been as diligent as I, and the engine actually froze while I was going down the street. Talk about stopping suddenly!!! Anyway, I think the moral of this story is: either change the oil religiously, or put the oil filter on the engine, and still change the oil religiously, albeit at a longer interval. My vote—install the oil filter, and have some peace of mind. Besides, it couldn’t hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyguy Posted April 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 That's pretty much the way I feel about it too. When I rebuild the engine the filter goes on. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50plymouth Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 3 hours ago, 40plyguy said: What's the general consensus on running an oil filter? My engine doesn't have one. Years ago I picked one up at a swap meet. My gut feeling was that one should be on the engine. Shooting the breeze with some of my friends, a lot of them thought it's not needed in a car that won't be getting as much use as my daily driver does. That changing the oil yearly would be just as good. What do you think? What vehicle/engine are we talking about ? I was under the impression Chrysler first introduce the bypass oil filter in 1924 and that every Plymouth had one ? On my cars I run both the bypass oil filters and full flow oil filters. The bypass filter does a better job of cleaning the oil, where as the full flow filters the big lumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50plymouth Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 yes, found the reference point.. http://www.allpar.com/corporate/technology.html 1924 for oil filter 1930 oil filters were standard 1946 the introduction of full flow oil filters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyguy Posted April 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 Don't know what to tell you but my 40 Plymouth with a 1948 flathead doesn't have one. I thought I read somewhere that some of them don't have filters and need to use non detergent oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knuckleharley Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 4 minutes ago, 40plyguy said: Don't know what to tell you but my 40 Plymouth with a 1948 flathead doesn't have one. I thought I read somewhere that some of them don't have filters and need to use non detergent oil. ALL of them that haven't been rebuilt or flushed recently need to run non-detergent oil. High detergent oil is good in a rebuilt one,but can cause the oil galleries to plug up with sludge if you start running it in a engine with a lot of sludge. ESPECIALLY a older engine that has been "Quaker-stated" to death and full of parrafin. Old engine,run 30 wt non-detergent in the winter and 40wt non-detergent in the summer. New engine,run anything you want. These old engines had full-flow oil systems,and trash that has been "melted" by high-detergent oil is still trash and still abbrasive. Non-detergent oils let the heavy stuff sink to the bottom of the oil pan to be drained out,and most of the other impurities to be caught by the oil filter. High detergent oil leaves the debris/trash/impurities/no non's suspended and they keep circulating unless they meet a modern oil filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andydodge Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 When I got the 41 Plymouth I found it did not have an oil filter, even tho the car was supposed to be some sort of older restoration........being a hotrodder I saved up and bought a Beehive filter......being polished with fins it made the car go faster straight away.........lol.........and looked good anyway.....lol.......these, as are all the canister type filters, are bypass filters and apparently are a finer filter but do not filter all the oil in one pass, but are better than nothing..........andyd 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatie46 Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 Andy, I bet that thing was pretty quick with the beehive filter and the fancy coil cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDoctor Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 Andy, I remember reading some time back about full-flow vs bypass-flow filters. The article was about the Ford flathead V8, and the various methods of installing an oil filter, and the benefits of each. The main difference was that the full-flow system filtered the entire volume of oil on each volumetric circulation of the engine’s oil, while the bypass system filtered approximately 20% of the entire volume of oil on each volumetric circulation of the engine’s oil, meaning that the entire volume of the engine’s oil must be circulated 5 times to be completely filtered. And, as I recall, that takes approximately 5 minutes “at highway speeds” (no specific speed was stated, tho’) with the bypass system vs 1 minute for the full-flow system. So, if you’ve been driving for an hour, your oil has been completely filtered 12 times with the bypass system vs 60 times with the full-flow system. That sounds, on the surface, that the full-flow system is superior, but the bypass system typically has a finer filtering media than the full-flow filter, and if you use the bypass filter in a full-flow system, you can actually cause oil starvation, and engine damage, and eventual failure. So, which one is actually superior? The article concluded that both are about equal for the average street-driven vehicle. And, in conclusion, what’s been proven? Absolutely nothing, other than either of them is better than nothing!!! All of that jabbering just to get full circle . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 I have a full flow oil filter on my Desoto engine. There is a built in safety valve in the filter housing that will by pass the filter in case the filter is plugged or the wrong filter element is used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andydodge Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 Flatie & Doc, thanks for the comments, yep the fins and it being a red car made all the difference, varroom........lol........Dons full flow filter on his Desoto engine is a factory setup that the 25" engines came with from what I understand........andyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 My '38 Dodge Brothers pickup has the original factory installed engine. It has never had an oil filter. I use only non-detergent oil and change it every spring -- about every 1,000 to 3,000 miles. The engine was rebuilt about 30 years ago. Wear was minimal. Dropped the pan a couple of years ago and there was not much accumulated goop. Drove it from Minnesota to Vermont via Canada about 20 years ago. It's dependable and runs strong and quiet. Pete 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knuckleharley Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 1 hour ago, Peter1938 said: My '38 Dodge Brothers pickup has the original factory installed engine. It has never had an oil filter. I use only non-detergent oil and change it every spring -- about every 1,000 to 3,000 miles. The engine was rebuilt about 30 years ago. Wear was minimal. Dropped the pan a couple of years ago and there was not much accumulated goop. Drove it from Minnesota to Vermont via Canada about 20 years ago. It's dependable and runs strong and quiet. Pete There is nothing wrong with non-detergent oil. The problems came when the vehicles got old and people stopped changing the oil as recommended by the factory,as well as from using parafin-based oil like Quaker State. I remember working in a gas station as a kid and removing the valve covers from modern OHV engines that had only used Quaker State,and the rockers being so gummed up with sludge the oil literally couldn't drain back down into the base,and the lifters were frozen. This was common. To this very day I will beat on you if I catch you putting Quaker State oil in anything I own. Yes,the partial flow systems with modern oil filter IS a much better way to filter your oil,but that doesn't mean the original systems were bad if the oil was/is always changed at the proper intervals. The only downside to running non-detergent oil in a system developed to run non-detergent oil is finding the oil at a gas station. Yeah,you can always find it at a NAPA store,Advance Auto,tractor dealerships,etc,etc,etc,but they don't sell gas. This isn't a problem for me because I buy it by the case and keep the whole case in the trunk of my old car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDoctor Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 Man, Don, I wish I had an oil filter like that one!!! Ours is a Chrysler-installed one (I’d guess), since it’s got a decal on it, albeit a beat up decal. But, it looks nothing like yours, so I’m convinced it’s a bypass version vs full-flow. Knuckleharley, I remember working as a teenager at a Mobil service station, and changing the oil on a ’64 6 cylinder Chevy II that a regular customer (the proverbial old lady) brought in for an oil change. Her late husband always insisted on Quaker State, so that’s what she had the dealer put in when she first picked up the car (keep that tidbit in mind . . .). Anyway, after I had in up in the air on the lift, when I took out the oil pan’s drain plug, nothing happened!!! It was dark inside of the hole, and my finger wouldn’t go into it—something was plugging it. So, I stuck a screwdriver in it, and it just stayed there!!! I told the owner of the station, and we lowered the car back onto the ground, and he removed the rocker cover, and like you described, it was one cruddy, gunky mess underneath it. When we asked her when she’d last changed the oil, she said she didn’t, because [sic] “the oil was put in by the dealer when the car was new, and it never needs changing”. Between using Quaker State oil, and not changing it for just over 2 years—well, we poured kerosene into the engine, and ran it, getting the thickest goo out of the pan’s drain plug while it ran. We spent hours doing that, until we finally got 3 quarts of oil into it when it register ‘full’ on the dipstick. That’s my experience with Quaker State oil . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 Modern oil filters on a bypass filter system may not be the best choice. The original filter spec called for trapping particles 3 times smaller that today's full flow filters. The cited reason being that modern systems plumb the oil right on the bearings and any blockage could cause failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 As was mentioned the factory full flow oil filters were available on some but not all 25" Chrysler and Desoto engines. And even though the provisions for the full flow filter were available a pipe plug must be installed inside the engine block to make them function. If the engines has the full flow capabilities there will be a diamond shaped "boss" near the distributor as pictured. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MackTheFinger Posted June 29, 2017 Report Share Posted June 29, 2017 On 4/13/2017 at 9:51 AM, DrDoctor said: poured kerosene into the engine, and ran it You got lucky. No way I'd do that. Saw it done once on a Ford Econoline with a 351W. Wiped out the lower end bearings. I think it would be worse running one with kerosene in the crankcase than running one with nothing in the crankcase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted June 29, 2017 Report Share Posted June 29, 2017 Way back in the mid 60's there was a Bonded Gas station in the town where I lived that not only sold re-refined engine oil for ten cents a quart but also advertised an engine kerosene flush for a few bucks. At that time I had a rare 5 cylinder P-15 that had at best 10 pounds oil pressure so I pumped it up with STP at every gas stop. I did the Kerosene flush but it did nothing. I drove that car on 80 mile trips and the engine never quit. Final straw was a broken read leaf spring when I had about 10 guys in the car and the driveshaft started rubbing the floor board. I sold the car to the owner of the Bonded station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knuckleharley Posted June 29, 2017 Report Share Posted June 29, 2017 2 hours ago, MackTheFinger said: You got lucky. No way I'd do that. Saw it done once on a Ford Econoline with a 351W. Wiped out the lower end bearings. I think it would be worse running one with kerosene in the crankcase than running one with nothing in the crankcase. I used to see a lot of people do this back in the 50's. I even saw a guy do it with a 68 Chevy in the early 70's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatie46 Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 4 hours ago, MackTheFinger said: You got lucky. No way I'd do that. Saw it done once on a Ford Econoline with a 351W. Wiped out the lower end bearings. I think it would be worse running one with kerosene in the crankcase than running one with nothing in the crankcase. A guy I use to work with did this at every other oil change on his chevy celebrity. I can't see me doing it but I guess it's fairly common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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