Forum for competition engine enthusiasts. RIP Guy Croft 09/11/2020 - This forum will continue both as a source of information and as a memorial to Guy.
It's a D388. It measures 4.25" wide and 3.5" high. Someone can probably figure up what the volume is of this filter. I may have overestimated it's capacity. It may be more like .5 liters. Still a large oil filter none the less. When I needed an oil filter it stuck out on the shelf like a sore thumb, I didn't even need to look for it. I could go right to it because it was so much larger than all the other ones for other makes.
I Googled "Deutsch oil filter" just to see what I could come up with. This is all based on assumptions by the way. This oil filter was made by Champion and sold exclusively at AutoZone part stores in the US up until around 2000. I do know that. Then they replaced it with another brand STP or something. I initially thought this filter was made by Champion spark plugs.
However my Google result yielded a company called Champion Laboratories Inc. or Championlabs.com. So apparantly they made the filter for Autozone. They are still in business. They now sell their filters under the name "Champ" but I have not seen any sold at any autopart stores. I also entered "D388" into their search engine and it turned up nothing. I'm still not sure if this is the same company of not but it appears to be.
Here is the Deutsch oil filter on my spare twin cam:
Deutsch oil filter.JPG (78.05 KiB) Viewed 9379 times
Deutsch oil filter2.JPG (42.63 KiB) Viewed 9379 times
I mentioned this Mazda oil filter and the Nissan oil filter being tiny. Well according to the book, turns out Mazda 1.6 liters and Nissan 3.5 liters use the same oil filter! I did not know this.
Mazda Nissan.jpg (53.73 KiB) Viewed 9379 times
Mazda Nissan (1).jpg (40.13 KiB) Viewed 9379 times
I like Purolator, they invented the canister filter 'Pure Oil Later' is where the name came from, seems I cannot get in the UK anymore, tried writing to them but as so often in the way of large companies they didn't deem it worthwhile to reply to little me,
Oh that's odd... I posted a couple of responses yesterday, 1 with further text info, and 2 photos, but they've disappeared.
Perhaps I broke forum policy? I know I resized them down to highly compressed jpegs and I didn't host them other than on here, I've seen the warning about doing that.
Unfortunately I didn't keep a copy of the text response with the results of a couple of hours research on filter specs, but I've got a copy of the photos.
Obviously don't want to repost them if there was something wrong with how I uploaded them Guy?
Is nobody using the Fram 5112? It is the replacement of the Lancia Beta VX, Lancia Y Turbo and the Renault 30 V6 engine. It has shorter length and when you use the oil cooler sandwich plate, the same length as standard oil filter.
I believe the Fram PH5112 is 93mm long, which although shorter than the OEM filter is too long for my particular application.
That report that Chris (Brit01), although subjective, is interesting, worth PM'ing him about.
I believe the Fram PH5112 is 93mm long, which although shorter than the OEM filter is too long for my particular application.
That report that Chris (Brit01), although subjective, is interesting, worth PM'ing him about.
Yes no problems. PM ahead.
There are several types of Fram filters and they were all opened and inspected. They internals varied in quality, that's all I can say here.
Guy Croft wrote:Sorry Twincamspit - may have been lost during the server switchover, please repost if you can. I did not delete them,
G
Thanks, I've managed to retrieve most of my post from firefox's cache so I'll re-post it below:
Great photos Turbofiat, and thanks for the measurements... I've just looked at that small PL14612 purolator filter for the mazda on their site and got this info:
At 74mm high, it's about the same as the EFL298 and the Coopers Z501, and bigger than the WIX WL7064.
That Deutsch D388 proved harder to track down; they seem to be made by Champion labs, but I can't find any manufacturer’s tech info for it.
The Purolator site says it has a D388 equivalent with these details:
Deutsch D388 -> purolator L20020
4.26" (108mm wide)
3.96" (100mm high)
UNF-2B thread (which I believe is also 3/4" UNF)
but that seems to me to be taller than the one in your photos, which you describe as '4.25" wide and 3.5" high' (108mm x 89mm).
Still, an interesting alternative for those without the clearance problems.
I’ve taken a couple of photos to show a few of the easily available (in the UK at least) filters that fit, i.e. correct thread, sealing ring, and shorter than the 100mm OEM filters:
Attachments
smaller than OEM set 1
filters1-lo-res.jpg (204.46 KiB) Viewed 9183 times
HOF 202 with smaller filters
filters2-lo-res.jpg (137.77 KiB) Viewed 9183 times
I've heard negative comments on FRAM oil filters. Some say the filter media is cardboard and it has a rubber plug instead of a pressure relief valve. I've used FRAM in the past with no issues and have never heard of an engine failure from using a FRAM oil filter.
I would think regular oil and filter changes would be more important than the type of oil and filter. Some say oil needs to be changed every 3K miles or 6 months (because it turns acetic).
This may not be the best method but I usually go by color. If the oil is still transparent, I leave it alone. If it's black then it's time to change it.
On my turbocharged Fiats, I usually change the oil every 2500 miles because I run no oil coolers. I measured the temperature aiming one of those heat pens at the oilpan on my Yugo after making a hard run and it showed 230F/110C and I've always heard 300F/149C is the danger point.
I've got a VDO guage from a Volvo that goes to 150C but have never bought a sensor for it to see if the oil actually get's the hot.
On my other cars I usually change it every 4000 to 5000 miles.
This may not be the best method but I usually go by color
I would have to agree with you there with good sythetics as they suspend the dirt in the oil. The darker it gets the more dirty it is.
I intend to change mine twice a year if I can, also because I like a lower 'W' rating for winter.
There are good and bad Fram designs out there I believe like any makes.
Chemical decomposition. Oil contains several chemicals that have nothing to do with lubrication. Anti oxidation to stop oil from getting acidic, stuff to keep particles in suspension so they won't clog the pump or galleries, but get filtered out once they pass the filter and so on. These chemicals get "used up" deteriorate from heat, exposure to air and such. Just opening a canister of oil and letting it sit on a shelf for a year will make the oil a lot less good, let alone pump it around an engine at higher temperatures. These chemicals tend to work best at temperatures over 60-70 degrees centigrade, but some deteriorate at high temperatures like 120 degrees Centigrade and above.
Break down of multigrade enabling molecules. These are very long molecules that are rolled up in a ball shape when the oil is cold. This makes the oil nice and thin on a cold start. Once the oil starts to warm up, they "stretch" and become microscopic threads. This will make the oil much more "sticky", providing you with the right viscosity at working temperature. Due to the fact that these molecules are so big, they get ground up by gear systems and fall apart at overheating. 110-120 degrees Centigrade is really not good for them, higher than that and you'll be looking more at minutes, not weeks for them to fall apart. If these particles aren't available in sufficient numbers, your warmed up oil will become way too thin and not provide a good lubrication surface anymore. Cylinder bores will wear out very rapidly, valve guides will too. Your main and conrod bearings will no longer hold enough oil between their surfaces during high power low rpm conditions and their surfaces will make actual contact. You may experience some oil pressure drop, but it may not show to be below par on your dashboard, while in reality, your engine is dying rapidly from lack of oil on critical places. Because of increased friction, temperature of the oil and the engine will go up, accelerating the break down of oil even more.
Contamination with micro particles. Oil filters are very good at filtering out particles that are larger than 40-50 micrometer. However, the smaller ones will pass through. These particles get inside your engine, because air filters, especially the non paper cartridge ones, let them in. These are mostly silicate-based (sand dust) and form a very fine polishing paste that wears down your piston rings and cylinder walls. The longer you leave your oil in, the more these particles will accumulate.
The first two reasons will make you want to change your oil even after you once overheat it. Compare it to the oil in your local chippy. If they overheat it just once, the chips will taste foul and be very unhealthy. Make sure you know the critical temperature for your exact brand and mixture of oil and be religious about this, if you want your engine to last. The third is the reason why you should change oil regardless of how good the additives still are. You'll need a very good air filter to delay oil changes, even with modern "long life oil" mixtures.
If you change the paper cartridge oil filter on your production car for a full flow cotton or foam one (K&N, Pipercross and the like) you need to change oil much more often. Those filters are very effective at catching dust and dirt, but they still let a lot more micro particles through than paper filters do. Paper filters just don't have holes big enough to let particles through, unless really small, the oiled full flow ones rely on turbulence to make the dirt stick to the filter. Even if that's 99.99% effective, 0.01% of all particles will get through, versus 0% in the paper filter case. For a racing engine, that's no problem whatsoever, because rebuilds happen way before cylinder wear becomes an issue, but for a road car this is certainly significant.
I may have created some confusion by mentioning both oil filters and air filters. The two types of air filters I mentioned use a different physiological method of filtering air. One of these is by making debris, which is much heavier than air molecules, stick to an oil layer on the fabric of the filter.
To my knowledge, all automotive oil filters use some form of paper (fibers pressed/glued in a random pattern) to filter out debris larger than the openings between the fibers. Which brands use what technology, opening size, one way valves and all that, is something I have no idea of. I use well known brands from reputable sources and trust the brand name and the source to provide me with a suitable alternative. Being in the Netherlands, that actually works so far. How long it will take before imitation filters with false branding will make their way into the distribution chain here, I don't know. Reading about other members problems in sourcing proper quality parts in other countries has me worried about that.
You could try and go looking for an oil filter that has smaller openings between the fibers to filter out the smaller silicate contamination. Keep in mind that your oil pump will have to generate the same amount for pressure and flow through this filter to provide your engine. If you don't put on a much heavier pump and accept serious losses in energy for just pumping oil around, that won't fit in a cartridge anywhere near the size that it is currently. Even if you beef up your oil pump, all you'll do is break the distribution transport to it. Chains, sprockets, gears, shafts will get a much higher load than OEM design parameters were. Modern cars that are designed for modern, long life oils, must be equipped for something like this, because I don't see how you can run a car that long on oil that picks up silicate just as quick as any other car pumping that amount of air. Does anyone here know what actual design parameters are used for those on modern cars?