Engine health depends on the filters; engine oil lubricates and protects the engine. Over time, this oil may accumulate impurities and grime and lose its efficacy. As such, oil filters eliminate harmful contaminants to ensure that the oil performs at its best. They come in varieties, and depending on the brand and model of the vehicle, different specifications apply to the type of oil used, the type of filter based on oil, and other factors. And several kinds of oil-based filters are covered in this article.
Full-Flow Oil Filter
The primary oil-based filter, also known as a full-flow filter, is a component of the full-flow filtration system used by most automobile manufacturers. In contrast to other filters that filter a portion of the car’s engine oil, this filter is known as a full-flow filter since it can remove impurities from the whole engine oil of the vehicle. For low temperatures, full-flow filters are recommended.
While most filters impede oil flow and make filtration challenging, extreme cold can thicken engine oil, and this might significantly harm the engine. This oil filter, however, safeguards the engine by allowing engine oil to move through the device more quickly than other filters. Also, there are two types of full-flow filters, namely:
- Cartridge Oil Filter
This oil-based filter is vertically installed on the engine. The filter can be checked out without draining the engine’s oil in this position. This kind of full-flow filter is often considered the simplest to use. Many cartridge filters are also made entirely of plastic, which makes recycling them simple. Instead of using metal, cartridge filters make use of materials like plastic or cellulose filter media. And due to their simplicity in recycling, these filters are sometimes referred to as environmental filters.
- Spin on Oil Filter
The spin-on oil-based filter is another full-flow filter. This kind of filter is not eco-friendly, unlike cartridge filters. It combines a paper filter element with a steel canister. Meanwhile, spin-on filters are ideal if you wish to replace your gasoline filter. For simple replacement, only a few tools are needed.
Secondary Oil Filter
As the name implies, secondary oil filters are added to the vehicle’s primary or full-flow filter. Unlike the primary filter, this filter does not entirely purge the engine oil. The secondary filter cleans less than 10% of the total oil used by the engine, and its main goal is to support the primary filter. To put it another way, it removes pollutants that a full-flow filter could skip. As such, it is not necessary for oil function or filtration that a secondary filter be present; hence its use is optional. However, it is always advisable to have a second filter to ensure that the engine oil is cleaned correctly.
The secondary filter can further increase the engine oil’s lifespan by preserving it, reducing the frequency of oil replacement. So, an additional filter frequently results in further cost savings for an oil change. Meanwhile, secondary filters come in two standard varieties, namely:
- Oil Spinner Filter
Another name for these filters is centrifugal filters. This secondary oil filter uses centrifugal force, as its name implies, to capture contaminants in the engine oil. Some spinner filters have 2,000 times more power than gravity. Thus, this bypass filter can remove even the tiniest pollutants from engine oil.
- Magnetic Oil Filter
All trace metal particles in your engine oil are eliminated by this filter using a magnetic force. However, it cannot filter non-metallic pollutants, filth, or dirt. Additionally, reusable, this kind of filter never needs to be changed. The magnetic oil filter can also be cleaned, reinstalled, and used.
