Oil Filters Exploding

[rede4christ]

Hello Fellow Buick Lovers i have a fresh rebuild done by my local machine shop on my 87 gn and first start up oil presure went to 80 psi stayed there until warm then droped to about 30 at idle when warm. after it was warm i revd the engine and it blew up the oil filter like a baloon, oil went every were. that was a fram filter ph 25. i went to a dura guard pf24 it lasted a little longer but it also bit the dust in like fashion i know there is a problem but what? the car does have a adj oil pressure pump and some type of conversion to allow the use of these filters. it came on a gn motor i bought from a friend that the pump worked fine on. anyone have any ideas?

 

[BlackBandit]

What was the pressure when it actually blew? Also, do you know if the bypass is plugged? I'm not sure if all filters have a bypass built in. I'm sure someone will pipe in and clarify that because if the filters you're using don't have a bypass maybe using a filter with one will fix the problem. HTH james

 

[TurboDave]

Ya, sounds like your bypass has somehow gotten plugged.

 

[67turboCamaro]

I have heard of Fram's doing this, thats why I switched to WIX.

 

[cool 84]

That's weird, everytime I've accidentally had the oil pressure get over 100psi, the O-ring is the first to go. Same with my dad's car. My oil filter bypass is plugged too (on purpose) and I've never had a problem. Just make sure the car is completely warmed up before touching the gas. I use PF52 filters for what it's worth.

 

[Boost231]

wow you got any pics. that really sucks but i would like to see some pics of the filter.

 

[norbs]

Cool 84 if you open the filter up you will find the media torn to shreds, even though the fiilter has not exploded. My bypass is plugged on purpose and i have destroyed ever paper filter i tried. Even the baldwinb29 race filter. If you want to run the bypass blocked you need to go to a durable filter that is resuseable like this Pure Power Oil Filters High Performance Motor Oil It is rated to 1000 psi bust, but does not have a bypass so you have to wash it often.

 

[cool 84]

Cool 84 if you open the filter up you will find the media torn to shreds, even though the fiilter has not exploded. My bypass is plugged on purpose and i have destroyed ever paper filter i tried. Even the baldwinb29 race filter. If you want to run the bypass blocked you need to go to a durable filter that is resuseable like this Pure Power Oil Filters High Performance Motor Oil It is rated to 1000 psi bust, but does not have a bypass so you have to wash it often.

That's interesting and scary. I drove mine to work everyday 210 miles round trip for 3 months while the beater was down and no noticable problems. I'll have to cut one of my old filters apart. I changed my oil every week when I was daily driving it, hopefully that saved it. Always ran pretty thin oil and let it fully warm up before it was ever revved or put into gear. Do I even want to ask what one of the Pure Power Filters cost?

 

[Nick Micale]

First of all, if you use a Fram filter, use the HP-2 race filter. We have never had a problem with these.

Second, you probably have a restriction somewhere which will give you high pressure? What is needed GOOD flow along with good pressure. Restriction can be many things from oil passages not ported, cam bearings installed wrong, bearing clearances too tight or ?

 

[norbs]

Here are the fram specs looks pretty good. The prure power are roughly $200, and there micron rating i found out is 22, so i guess the HP2 filters a tiny bit better, but you have to throw it out when your done. But the purepower filters flow double at 20 gpm.

 

[FlyinGN]

my oil pressure is amlost 100 psi on cold start up and for yours never had an issue using K&N oil filters.

 

[49-blues]

How does the baldwin B9 or B253 compare?

 

[rede4christ]

Thank you to everyone for all of your help. yesterday i switched the oil pump ie took off the adj pump with the large filter adapter and took off the oil cooler line just in case. great news did not blow oil filter. how ever drove it around the block never seen 10 lbs of boost now there is water in the oil and also running out of the engine from some were. never over heated or anything but not runing on all 6. so this weekend i am pulling the motor and puting the roller motor in. i will surely be checking all the clearance before i install this one. thanks for all the helpful advice. it will be interesting to see what all is wrong with this motor i am pulling out it only has maybe 4 miles on it.

 

[GNVAIR]

You guys with the 80-100 psi oil pressure scare me.
You should see what the front cam bearing looks like after running that much pressure. Especially if the engine has a replacement cam with the groove in the front journal.

 

[AbeWhat]

Lost a motor cuz the O-Ring shot off for no apparent reason. :frown:

 

[tb3]

You guys with the 80-100 psi oil pressure scare me.
You should see what the front cam bearing looks like after running that much pressure. Especially if the engine has a replacement cam with the groove in the front journal.

On start up, I have close to 80 psi till it warms up, then it falls down to mid 30's at idle. Is this cause for concern?

 

[GNVAIR]

On start up, I have close to 80 psi till it warms up, then it falls down to mid 30's at idle. Is this cause for concern?

GM as well as most manufacturers say 10lbs for every 1,000 rpms is normal. When guys start having extreme oil pressure at a hot idle thats when I would be concerned especially after you read the next paragraph.
My biggest issue that I dont like is most of the aftermarket camshafts have the groove cut in the front journal for the 85 and earlier engines. The 109 blocks have the oil groove cut into the block under the first cam bearing. The 87 style cams do not have the grooves cut into the cam as it was no longer needed. This was the best thing GM could have done as it gave more surface area for the cam/cam bearing. I had one engine that I built with a grooved aftermarket cam that also had an aftermarket high volume/high pressure cover. I was seeing 30-40 at hot idle and around 80 when cold. I took the engine apart after 2k miles to change somethings around and to my surprise I found the front cam grooved on the bottom from that groove in the camshaft My theory is that the load from driving the oil pump was pulling the camshaft downward and started to mushroom that cam bearing. TA has their hard cam bearings, but the fact is the additional oil pressure and the groove cam didnt help the situation.
The high oil pressure isnt good for those little PF47 and PF52 filters either.
I am sure there are other guys that could explain the down sides to running the high oil pressures as well as to blocking the bypass. As long as I have been on these boards I have never seen anyone post anything positive for blocking the bypass. I personally would rather have the minute amount of unfiltered oil in my engine than wipe bearings out because I blew an oil filter off. Just my $.02

 

[tb3]

hmm... thanks for the info gnvair. I should also mention, It's my 84 hot air that I'm talking about. It has a aftermarket oil cooler, and I've installed the adapter for the bigger oil filter (mobil 203). It had a aftermarket hv kit on it when I bought it. I'll be installing a new timing cover this fall. I've done alot of research on this board, and read plenty of pros and cons, and I've decided to not put the hv kit back on when I change out the timing cover and oil pump. I'll be doing some porting and cleaning up (if needed), and thats it. Also be adding a cam button. Its a 66,000 original mile car with light bolt on mods. I've been using mobil 1 5w30 with 1 quart of the lucas additive and oil seems to stay pretty clean even for a turbo car. I'm pretty mild driver for the most part and live in st. louis. Would you suggest doing anything differant for my situation? I'm replacing the timing cover because the threads in a couple of the bolt holes of the top hat/oil pump where stripped out. I just did a temporary repair to hold me over till this fall.

 

[GNVAIR]

hmm... thanks for the info gnvair. I should also mention, It's my 84 hot air that I'm talking about. It has a aftermarket oil cooler, and I've installed the adapter for the bigger oil filter (mobil 203). It had a aftermarket hv kit on it when I bought it. I'll be installing a new timing cover this fall. I've done alot of research on this board, and read plenty of pros and cons, and I've decided to not put the hv kit back on when I change out the timing cover and oil pump. I'll be doing some porting and cleaning up (if needed), and thats it. Also be adding a cam button. Its a 66,000 original mile car with light bolt on mods. I've been using mobil 1 5w30 with 1 quart of the lucas additive and oil seems to stay pretty clean even for a turbo car. I'm pretty mild driver for the most part and live in st. louis. Would you suggest doing anything differant for my situation? I'm replacing the timing cover because the threads in a couple of the bolt holes of the top hat/oil pump where stripped out. I just did a temporary repair to hold me over till this fall.

Talk to some of the pro's such as Dan Strezo, Nick Micale, Cal Hartline, Bill Anderson, etc to see what they would recommend. I havent owned a hot air car so I wouldnt be the one to ask for advice on that. All I know is that stock is definitely good when in doubt.

 

[norbs]

80 to 100 psi is not needed unless your planning to run over 8k rpm. If your getting those numbers cold, change the spring in the oil pump or put the adjustable end on the oil pump relief valve, TA performance sells. The high psi will chew the gear on the cam sensor and wear the front bearing , as others have noted. YOur oil pressure should be max about 65 cold. If you use the HP-2 filter or something like the gopurepower you would be best off. These filters are proven on this board to be the better ones to use.