Jon
I have just fitted a Rimmer conversion to my 2500S auto and it appears to have a
shorter element than the Witor one you were supplied with. Please remember the
fundamental reason for the change ie to provide a faster supply of life saving
oil to bearings which are being operated with no oil at all when the engine
starts. Most of the engines I work with at sea have both engine driven and
independent lubrication systems such that if there is no oil pressure detected
they will not start and if loss occurs whilst running they stop very quickly.
Steam turbine systems even have a gravity system which comes into use when the
engine trips to maintain oil supply during slowdown. You would be surprised how
quickly a white metal bearing will heat to 180 deg F whereupon it runs and
journal damage is caused. Such is the importance of lubrication. Automobile
engineers appear to disregard this point probably in the hope of selling us
loadsa bearings. You should mount the cartridge such that it stays full and
primed when the engine is stopped ie hanging vertically down and you should do
it before your seal gasket hardens. The discomfort caused by a routine filter
change will be more than offset by the beaming smile you will get from your
engine for giving it a longer life than it would have with the conventional self
draining filter. A routine I go through when returning home from sea after 4
months is to remove the plugs, apply a squirt of oil in the bores then turn the
engine on the starter motor until the oil light is extinguished. It almost
flattens the battery even with good bearings but it does get the oil to where it
is needed without compression forces coming into play. I haven't had chance to
do this with the new filter but am expecting a quicker pressure build up when I
do.
Rgds
Graham Nelson
jonmac wrote:
> Friends,
> Guidelines please. I've recently acquired a spin-on oil filter adaptor from
> Chris Witor together with four FRAM filters PH 2895. They're quite long
> ones - about 5 inches.
> I invested in this for two reasons, (a) I like spin-on filters and (b) it
> occurred to me that I could mount it so I could unscrew it leaning into the
> engine bay rather than scratting around on my back underneath.
> When the time came to fit the filter head, I found I had to cant it at about
> 10 o'clock so the filter is aimed towards the radiator. All well and good
> until I discovered that with a filter of this length, I can't screw the
> filter fully home unless the filter head is loose and because of the length,
> the filter is fouling the T piece to supply the oil pressure gauge. In the
> words of the prophet, the clearance is as tight as a duck's a**e!
> As far as I can see, the only ways round the prob are:
> 1. To fit a shorter filter in the same 10 o'clock position, or
> 2. Keep my fingers crossed and see if it will fit in a vertical position in
> the bowels of the engine bay meaning I'll have to lie under the car to
> unscrew it, or
> 3. Still keep it in a vertical position with a shorter filter.
> If I fit a shorter filter, I'm obviously not going to get quite the same
> filtration because of the smaller overall filter paper area and I'm
> wondering if the oil pump might find itself working overtime to push the
> same volume of oil through a smaller area.
> I'm sure one or two people must have encountered this problem, so what is
> the general thinking and if a shorter filter is the way to go, what part
> number do you use? It doesn't have to be a FRAM #, the factor can sort that
> out from the cross ref list but I naturally want one with an anti-drain
> valve regardless of the position it eventually finds itself being fitted.
> Replies awaited with interest.
>
> Cheers
> John Mac
|