Upsizing the oil filter possible?

[freedster]

Hello all!

 

Back when I owned my Buick Grand National, one trick that we Turbo Buick guys used to do was to use a physically larger oil filter on the car than the one that the parts book called for. I believe the filter we used was the one intended for the GM 4.3L v6 truck motor, and while it was the same diameter and thread pitch as the stock one, it was a good couple inches longer. The extra length meant it had a much larger filtration element to it, and it also very easily added nearly an extra half-quart of oil into the system. Both very good things, and the bigger filter didn't cost much more at all.

 

Seeing the wisdom in this cheap oil system upgrade, I've done the same thing on my wife's Malibu for the same reasons, and I'll probably do it on every car I own from now on. Considering that there is no real physical length restriction on the filter on my 1.8L, I was wondering if anyone had tried this on their older Subie. If so, do you have the part numbers of the bigger one to use?

 

Sorry if this is a noob question, but I'm learning here. Thanks in advance for the info.

 

- Freed

[archemitis]

the only one i know for sure that will fit, and is larger is a harley filter. they are meant for the older motors, on dyna models made, before 99. they screw on, and are about 50percent bigger. you can get em in chrome!

 

 

other than that, anything other than fram, that screws on and has an anti drainback valve.

[MorganM]

I don't really buy into the theories presented. That aside, it's not a bad thing to do this mod as long as its a quality filter; as Archemitis has noted.

 

One thing I have noticed about the EA82 oil filter is that it's practicly double the size of filters on other engines. It's 75% larger than the oil filter on my wife's 3.3 liter Buick engine. Most certainly 100% larger than the oil filter on my KIA's 1.5 liter.

 

Should be easy to find a larger one. The thread pitch and diameter is a common size. All you'd have to do is find one longer. I'd go to the parts store, grab the proper one and start comparing to others for one with the same thread and diamter but longer.

 

Let us know what ya find

[archemitis]

ya, my filter on my 3.0 4runner is about half the size of the one on my subaru... go figure, subaru already did the big filter mod =]

[Petersubaru]

A long time ago my teacher called me a knob for NOT asking a question...I have been useing now for many years larger filters for all my cars...for example, on my carb 86 loyale.. filters by Mann/Mahle/Napa Gold /Wix..same as Napa Gold...the equivlent to the Fram PH8A("YUK") from Napa (the Napa # evades me now) or the larger diesel filter for the 1.6 VW diesels and for Turbo applications because the wider filter will not fit in, I use the VW gas filter form 1.8 gas motors...this filter is the same dia. but is extended in length...all these filters are good quality with extra filtering elements as compared to the Fram product or cheaper filters.. extra filtering in the diesel one...none of these will come apart

[bratman2]

Out of curiosity I tried the Motorcraft FL400 filter off my F150 on my EA81 Brat. Perfect fit, has the anti drain valve and is about 1.5 inches longer. I don't know about an EA82. Also the Brat filters fit my 22 hp Kohler and 26 hp Briggs & Stratton, are considerable larger and under half the price. Being I have nearily a case of AC Brat filters I guess you can figure out whats on the tractors.

[oddcomp]

now if you want to go big high capacity filter consider this

they make kits that slip a adapter plate on in place of the oil filter and in turn it has 2 ports for lines one in and one out.. duh.....lol

 

and in the same kit is anotehr adapter that you can mount as far as your custom made oil lines will reach say a fender wall or something easy

now you can use a huge truck type filter or depending on the kit .. 2 filters

now since your doing plumbing and such that would be a good time to add a external oil cooler on the return line

 

almost bought a jeep truck with a buick motor in it had the exact same setup heavy hydralic rated line running up to a remote oil filter and i kid you not the filter itself held about 2 quarts if not a tad more

oh also those kits usually have at least one or 2 pressure tap ports for gauges one under the hood and one in the cab

some have lare enough ports for even oil temp sending units... on a turbo that might not be a bad idea to install

[freedster]

I don't really buy into the theories presented.

The Turbo Buick crowd is more than a little paranoid about oil, so I guess I got my point of view from there. That turbo is pretty big, gets REALLY hot and oil is the only thing cooling it. Hence, a bit of bad oil can toast your turbo in a hurry, and the concensus is that every bit of extra volume you can add to the system is a good thing because it aids in cooling. Most guys run their cars with an extra quart in the pan and an extra quart in the tranny for just that reason. Those motors are also completely capable of making insane power with simple bolt-on parts, so any reliability upgrade isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

 

One thing I have noticed about the EA82 oil filter is that it's practicly double the size of filters on other engines. It's 75% larger than the oil filter on my wife's 3.3 liter Buick engine. Most certainly 100% larger than the oil filter on my KIA's 1.5 liter.

I noticed it was pretty big myself. Maybe Subaru was already hip to this idea when they built the car?

 

Should be easy to find a larger one. The thread pitch and diameter is a common size. All you'd have to do is find one longer. I'd go to the parts store, grab the proper one and start comparing to others for one with the same thread and diamter but longer.

 

Let us know what ya find

That's what I did with the wife's 'Bu, so I'll just try the same technique with the GL. I'll let y'all know what I find.

 

- Freed

[Snowman]

I've just recently started running Subaru factory filters. They are larger in diameter than the NAPA one I had on previously, so a little more oil can fit in there. If you want a meaningful upgrade, I'd grab one of those sandwhich adapters and throw an oil cooler on it. That would get another quart at least of capacity, and it would be much cooler when running, making it easier on everything. That's my plan, but I'm freakin' paranoid about maintenance items (I run nothing but Mobil1 in my car, and right now I've got the master WIX catalog sitting here so I can find a coolant filter, a bypass oil filter, and a fuel filter/water separator to retrofit to my soobie. Yeah, I know it's a $2000 car, but it doesn't think so:burnout: .)

[MorganM]

I've just recently started running Subaru factory filters. They are larger in diameter than the NAPA one I had on previously, so a little more oil can fit in there. If you want a meaningful upgrade, I'd grab one of those sandwhich adapters and throw an oil cooler on it. That would get another quart at least of capacity, and it would be much cooler when running, making it easier on everything. That's my plan, but I'm freakin' paranoid about maintenance items (I run nothing but Mobil1 in my car, and right now I've got the master WIX catalog sitting here so I can find a coolant filter, a bypass oil filter, and a fuel filter/water separator to retrofit to my soobie. Yeah, I know it's a $2000 car, but it doesn't think so:burnout: .)

damn yours is worth $2000? Is that including the Picaso in the back?

[85Sub4WD]

Snowman - You are *very* interested in keeping your engine clean aren't you.

I was also thinking about putting an oil cooler on mine. I know that at least some turbos had them from the factory, but I don't know which ones or if they all had them. The nice thing is that the factory ones have a thermostat on them to prevent over-stressing of the oil pump due to pumping cold oil.

I like the idea of a larger oil filter, that way I don't have to worry about flow through a PureOne Puralator filter (my fav). I would be running Mobil 1, but for financial reasons I run Castrol Synthetic Blend. I strongly discourage anyone from running 10w-40 the oil has some inherent gelling issues (this info comes from a recently retired Mobil Oil employee)

Just an FYI.

[Vanislru]

On the wagon in my sig I run an oil filter adapter w/lines up to a front mount oil cooler and then a line from that to my remote filter assembly on the fender wall where I run an oversize filter. Anyone who's modded aircooled VW's is used to seing added oil capacity usually in the form of larger sump pans. My wagon puts down a lot of power for a 1.8l, I want the coolest oil possible, I also want to maintain good pressure, to offset any flow losses from the lines for the remote filter and oil cooler I've gone oversize on the filter to lower the overall resistance to flow through the filter. The reason for the remote filter mount is cause of the crossover pipe for the turbo which radiates alot of heat by the pan and the oil filter in the stock pos., if I'm running hard on the trails there's not much air flow around that area.

Yeah so my vote oversize filters are good if you need them, better on turbo's especially remote mounted.

WJM posted about the availability of remote adapters a while ago I don't think many went for it tho.

[85Sub4WD]

With what I saw in the diagram - the oil cooler oil diverter acted as a screw-on spacer between the filter and pump, with lines going to the cooler. As I said, I do not know how many came with that stock, but I know it was on some.

[Frank B]

I did the same thing on my Isuzu P'up with the same theories in mind. The only problem I noticed was a slight drop in oil pressure. I guess due to the lower restriction with a larger filter element, the oil will pass thru easier. But you would gain less of a chance of the filter going into bypass, or at least it would do it "later".

 

I don't see how you would get any better filtration, unless you upgrade to a filter with a better micron rating, but then again, you could restrict flow a little by doing that. If you went with the remote filter, you could get a double filter set-up, and run the two with different micron ratings. Effectively getting a "primary" and "secondary" filters. Say the first is a 30 micron, the second a 10 micron, or something.....

The remote filters, oil cooler, and all associated oil lines will probably DOUBLE the oil capacity of the car!

And if you do see a drop in oil pressure, you could play with the spring washers(?) in the oil pump to get more pressure. I never did that, but I had seen a thread on it here some time ago.

 

You could also get some super strong rare earth magnets(super cheap on Flea Bay) and stick them on the filters, next to the drain plugs on the oil pan, tranny pan, etc.

 

All those specs should be in ANY filter catalog. I spent many hours leaning on the parts counter at NAPA looking thru them(some manager I was!!)

[Vanislru]

I use mobil 1 full synth 15/50 and my oil pressure at idle never drops below 4 [whatever units] and usually cruises 3000rpm just below 6[whatevers]. Did the oil pump mickey mouse seal and the large o ring about a year ago.

 

I personally think magnets are best on the sump pan.

[Frank B]

The benifit of putting the magnets on the filter is that you discard the metal with the filter, there is no doubt if you got it all out of the engine.

[WJM]

anything that fits an older Ford, say, 5.0 L 302 engines and 351's will fit these EA series and ER27 engines. I know dis.

[Scoobywagon]

Moroso makes an oil filter bypass head that is used to relocate the oil filter to whatever remote location in the vehicle you want. I'll dig up the part number, but what I did was install the bypass head on the filter base on the engine. I installed a dual head remote filter system and used 1/2" hydraulic hose to route the pressurized oil around. The remote head uses two "standard ford" type oil filters, also known as a Fram PH8A or equivalent. I use the Wix 51515. This nets you approximately 3 times the filter element surface area, a (tiny) bit of oil cooling and the ability to locate your filter(s) anywhere you want. Also, since the oil is now being routed "outside" the engine, you can easily add aftermarket oil coolers or whatever else your heart desires. How would you high-performance guys like to have an oil pressure regulator? Anyway, I'll try to dig up the part number if anyone is interested. Can't remember right off hand, but its either a Moroso or Mr. Gasket part.

[Alex C]

So archemitis what filter part number is that for the harley filter? Is it the really long one?

 

Alex

[NewDenverKid]

and I thought I got ripped off when I paid $1600 for mine!!!!

[subiemech85]

2870A is bigger, the one I used came from autozone, rubber texture, red

[Snowman]

and I thought I got ripped off when I paid $1600 for mine!!!!

You obviously have a different used car market than where I live. ANY running Subaru here will fetch $1000 easy. I have actually made some pretty good bank buying soobs elsewhere and reselling them here. I paid dearly for mine because it had NO rust, and since it was my first car I had no means to go elsewhere to shop.

 

 

85SUB4WD, from what I have heard you are correct about some models coming with coolers from the factory. The rumor is that Euro EA82Ts had coolers, and they had NO head cracking issues. That's why I'm going to look into one very soon. My car's about to turn 180,000, and I figure with all the goodies I'm gonna put on it, 300,000 or 350,000 shouldn't be a problem.

[TomRhere]

anything that fits an older Ford, say, 5.0 L 302 engines and 351's will fit these EA series and ER27 engines. I know dis.

The filter for the '86 era V-6 engines fit also. While doing the re-seal of the EA-82 engine that was in the '82, I found a box of parts from M-I-L's old '86 T-bird. Oil filter was 1/2 again as long as one on my engine.

[torxxx]

yup kelly is right on the sooby price.. my boss sells EA82 GL wagons any day of the week for 2000-2500 bucks... alaska market value is a lot higher

[Craven]

www.Summitracing.com has the oil filter relocation kits, single TRD-1113 or SUM-G4985 and the dual filter TRD-1213 or SUM-G4986 These are for a Ford 3/4-16 mount, if they are the same as the EA Subaru oil filter.