spin-on oil filter

[fjbiker84]

I installed my RPM oil filter adapter kit yesterday.  Looks great!  But I'm wondering about one thing.  The stock system has a spring/valve type device in the bolt holding the filter in place.  I assume this regulates oil flow and pressure through the filter.  The spin-on oil filter system doesn't have something like this - just a clean passageway from the engine to the filter.   

[Country Joe]

The spring and ball in the original oil filter bolt is the oil filter bypass, just in case the filter gets clogged up. The oil filter bypass valve is built into the spin on filter. There is no functional different between the two.

[red]

I installed my RPM oil filter adapter kit yesterday.  Looks great!  But I'm wondering about one thing.  The stock system has a spring/valve type device in the bolt holding the filter in place.  I assume this regulates oil flow and pressure through the filter.  The spin-on oil filter system doesn't have something like this - just a clean passageway from the engine to the filter.

fjbiker84,

I believe that "regulator" is to let the filter move out and allow oil to flow, even when the filter is totally clogged with crud.  Dirty oil is better than no oil flow.  The spin-on filters have similar protection; they will physically blow out inside, when clogged.  Either way, you can not tell from the outside when the filter is clogged, so change the filter on a regular basis.

I put a large worm-screw type "hose clamp" around the oil filter, then run safety-wire from the clamp screw to the clutch slave bleeder screw.  That way, the oil filter can never get loose.  When people see the safety wire and clamp on the oil filter, sometimes they ask me if I think the oil filter might come loose.  I always just grin confidently and say NO.

Good quality spin-on oil filters will have an anti-drain flapper valve inside, so the oil filter remains full of oil even when the engine is stopped.  Cheap oil filters lack this feature, so the bike engine must run with no oil at all until the cheap oil filter gets full again.  Any good auto-parts clerk should be able to tell you which oil filters have this good feature. 

Airplane piston engines will go one better; they pump engine oil up to pressure before the engine is started.  Some cars have this "pre-oiler" option built in, too, but it is rare in cars.

[fjbiker84]

Good info... thanks!