I used to run an oil bypass filter on my old Powerstroke when I had it and even after 30k miles the oil was still good. Both my 96 and 97 Powerstrokes are long gone but I have two 5th gen 4Runners that I plan on keeping for another 10-15 years. My 2023 has 41k and my wife’s 2019 has 30k on it. Retirement is a couple years away so I am considering my vehicles into my retirement planning. I just installed a Frantz universal bypass oil filter kit on my 23 4Runner.

A bypass filter takes a slip stream from pressurized oil and filters more than the full flow filter that comes with the vehicle. I bought a Frantz universal so it filters down to 2 microns. The main advantage is cleaner, contaminant free oil but it allows greater time between oil changes. This is versified by oil analysis done by someone like Polaris labs through AMSOIL.

I figure with all the Iran stuff going on the oil prices will catch up and we will see an increase in product costs (not just oil but plastics and other petroleum derived products). I buy in bulk and have already stocked up on what i need for my oil changes and could probably make it a couple years before needing more supplies. Costco has their Kirkland brand synthetic oil on sale so I took advantage of that.

I do all my own oil changes and I think 300k miles out of my 4Runner is reasonable. Could I do it without the bypass filter? Probably but this is just added, cheap insurance. The cost was around $250 after using a coupon code. I had to buy a few fittings and a piece of metal plate for mounting so add $40 to that. I did not really need the plate but it made mounting easier.

I will put about 5k miles on this oil and send it out for analysis to get a baseline then decide on frequency from there.

I’m sure some here will consider this a waste of money (just like some say changing oil every 5k is overkill). But, it works for me.

There is a youtube channel called "The Motor Oil Geek" which focuses on engine oil analyses. On that channel, on a recent livestream, there was a comprehensive review of diesel engine wear with and without a bypass filter, along with various other oil top treats that seek to provide wear protection.

In the review, bypass filters were shown to provide filtration that reduced the engine wear, expressed in parts per million of iron, aluminum, copper, etc. per one thousand miles oil drain interval.

With a 5th Gen 4Runner in the family fleet, I’ll be curious about your results.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
There is a youtube channel called "The Motor Oil Geek" which focuses on engine oil analyses. On that channel, on a recent livestream, there was a comprehensive review of diesel engine wear with and without a bypass filter, along with various other oil top treats that seek to provide wear protection.

In the review, bypass filters were shown to provide filtration that reduced the engine wear, expressed in parts per million of iron, aluminum, copper, etc. per one thousand miles oil drain interval.

I listened to that when I was deciding on whether to buy a bypass filter.

I watch a lot of the Motor Oil Geek's videos.

One thing he advocates that I would like opinions from the group on:
After he drains the oil, before replacing the drain plug, he puts a quart of fresh oil through the engine to rinse it out!

My brother used to do that. Back then I thought he was going way overboard OCD, but now I am wondering if it may actually be beneficial.

At about the six minute mark he does the rinse:
Rinse Out The Oil

quote:

Originally posted by John Steed:
I watch a lot of the Motor Oil Geek's videos.

One thing he advocates that I would like opinions from the group on:
After he drains the oil, before replacing the drain plug, he puts a quart of fresh oil through the engine to rinse it out!

My brother used to do that. Back then I thought he was going way overboard OCD, but now I am wondering if it may actually be beneficial.

At about the six minute mark he does the rinse:
Rinse Out The Oil

I guess it depends on how the engine is designed whether that may wash out what is left in the oil pan. Some engines will never drain out the oil pan the way they are designed and gunk builds up.

If you had a way of draining the oil right after shutting down the engine, I think that would be better. The point being to keep solids in suspension instead of settling out and remaining after oil is drained. I doubt I would ever do that but now with my bypass filter there is no need.

I like the guy but there are things he states that I do not agree with. One being to leave oil filters in longer since they filter better as use increases. More stuff builds up on the filter which increases filtration. The same applies to air filters. I do agree and know from my occupation that this is true of filters. But he has not studied to find the point where this can be detrimental by reducing flow. To me the extra filtration is not worth any potential risk.

I simply replace my oil every 5000 miles. If I was a high daily mileage daily driver I might consider extending that some, depending on the type of vehicle.
Probably overkill but I've never had an internal engine problem going back to the early 70's.
I use Wix filters.

What's the wisdom of draining out the plug vs. vacuuming out via the dip stick tube? I think many mechanics use the latter method to avoid having to lift the car/occupy a work bay.

Back when I was limber enough to get under a car, I would install a Fumoto drain valve on a car's first oil change. It made subsequent changes much cleaner and easier (but probably not as much as sucking the used oil up the dipstick tube).

I’m in the 5k oil change camp too, but I can see the use for the bypass filter on a large engine like we had aboard ship. Does this system help with a small truck engine?

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
I’m in the 5k oil change camp too, but I can see the use for the bypass filter on a large engine like we had aboard ship. Does this system help with a small truck engine?

That is what is debated. Will filtering to 2 microns help? Are you going to extend your oil changes after gathering data from oil sampling? I just like the extra filtration and the Frantz filters are fairly inexpensive compared to others. I have used the Filtration Solutions FS2500 on my diesel and proved through oil analysis that it cleaned my oil. When using synthetic in a diesel that requires a lot of oil (if I recall, around 17 quarts) and it makes a deference in cost.

^^^ my FIL the engineer would go down that rabbit hole and be able to give you a cost benefit analysis. Me…not so much. I’m in the change the oil often and use the cheapest oil they have at the shop.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
What's the wisdom of draining out the plug vs. vacuuming out via the dip stick tube? I think many mechanics use the latter method to avoid having to lift the car/occupy a work bay.

Back when I was limber enough to get under a car, I would install a Fumoto drain valve on a car's first oil change. It made subsequent changes much cleaner and easier (but probably not as much as sucking the used oil up the dipstick tube).

I've found that there is no large measurable difference in oil removed via suction through the dipstick tube and draining through the plug. It is logical that there is some small amount of oil in the lowest parts of the pan which aren't sucked out, and it likely would have particulates in it that have settled to the bottom. But it isn't enough oil to show a difference on the dipstick when refilled.

The quality of the suction pump, though, is an important factor. I had a cheap electric one that was super noisy and slow to pump. It was the opposite of a joy to use. This is a buy-once-cry-once kind of product.

Removing the fiberglass/plastic aero shield under the engine is a serious pain, especially on our low slung convertible. If I had a lift or a work pit in the garage I would be much more inclined to remove it, but age is making it less fun to crawl under vehicles.

On the more recent cars, it seems that the drivetrains are mechanically sound for a lot of miles, whereas the multitude of sensors, connectors, and electric doo-dads fail sooner.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:

Back when I was limber enough to get under a car, I would install a Fumoto drain valve on a car's first oil change. It made subsequent changes much cleaner and easier (but probably not as much as sucking the used oil up the dipstick tube).

I use the Valvomax version and I can drain straight into my recycle containers without getting any oil on me (well, not including the oil filter. I always get oil on me when changing that).
https://www.valvomax.com/

Oil free of contaminants, impurities, and byproducts of cumbustion is only half the battle. Motor oils require additives in order to do their work, and unfortunately additives break down. Even full synthetics rely on a measure of additives.

When I order an oil analysis from Blackstone, I also pay for the Total Base Number, TBN, to be analyzed. It provides an overview of remaining additives in the sample. In my case, TBN is important because I use an oil engineered for extended drain intervals (10K) in my 300K mile Tundra, so I like to keep an eye on the TBN as well. Trust but verify, as they say.

quote:

Originally posted by Brackish:
Oil free of contaminants, impurities, and byproducts of cumbustion is only half the battle. Motor oils require additives in order to do their work, and unfortunately additives break down. Even full synthetics rely on a measure of additives.

When I order an oil analysis from Blackstone, I also pay for the Total Base Number, TBN, to be analyzed. It provides an overview of remaining additives in the sample. In my case, TBN is important because I use an oil engineered for extended drain intervals (10K) in my 300K mile Tundra, so I like to keep an eye on the TBN as well. Trust but verify, as they say.

That is why oil analysis is important when extending oil change intervals. It seems like other oil analysis companies have better analysis than Blackstone, BITOG explains the differences between them.

quote:

Oil free of contaminants, impurities, and byproducts of cumbustion is only half the battle. Motor oils require additives in order to do their work, and unfortunately additives break down. Even full synthetics rely on a measure of additives.

Don't forget the transmission fluid...
(There's no such thing as 'lifetime' fluid.)

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Oil free of contaminants, impurities, and byproducts of cumbustion is only half the battle. Motor oils require additives in order to do their work, and unfortunately additives break down. Even full synthetics rely on a measure of additives.

Don't forget the transmission fluid...
(There's no such thing as 'lifetime' fluid.)

Lexus is one manufacturer that states their transmission fluid is lifetime. At least they used to. Auto manufacturers set up their recommended maintenance to keep the first owner happy (the average owner keeps a new vehicle for 2 years then sells or trades it). I never heed what they say since they do not have my best interest in mind.

Regarding the "oil rinse". Either buy the lowest cost oil and a good filter for the "rinse" and use them both for 3-4 "rinses" by using a new "catch drain pan" specific to that purpose.

Fill to capacity, run the engine for about 1 minute and drain and store.

The "contamination" of the "rinse" oil will be much less than not doing the "rinse" but will still give you the benefit for several oil changes.

Since most of what you are removing is the remaining "trapped" oil after draining, and hardly any debris at all, you are only "diluting" the trapped oil and leaving behind less "used" oil after the process.

A lot of the trapped oil in in the heads and galleries/passages as well as the pan, and just pouring a quart through the filler might only affect a small area of the oil in the bottom of the pan.


"Lifetime fluid" (transmissions).
The fluid will last as long as the transmission. Think about that for a minute.

If the guy that sells you the horse tells you that you can run the horse at a full gallop all the time, find another horse thief...

He's a liar and a thief.

Sure it will help to some degree, but the best insurance is to change it at regular intervals, all fluids be it engine, Trans, Diff with quality oil and filters will probably do more to keep things running.

Pouring a quart of fresh oil straight through the engine without running it is about the dumbest oil-related thing I've ever heard of, and I've heard a lot.