The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 54 - 235 oiling concern

Hi Folks,
This is a continuation of "54 - 235 - Oil Line Placement" post from a couple of days ago. Basically I was trying to make sure I had my oil lines to the filter correct - and I do.
Oil Filter
That is a picture of my oil filter. Something ain't right. I rebuilt the motor almost 2 years ago. (Machined by NAPA, assembled by me) The oil change after break-in was ok. End of the first season at my oil change, the filter looked like this. I thought that maybe it was a bad filter so I continued to run it. Last week changed my oil and the filter looked like above again.
So, It has been running fine. Oil pressure is up and normal. I have about 1,500 on the rebuild and no problems yet (knock on wood). Average drive for me is about 8 miles side roads, 20 miles interstate (at 55-60mph) What could be causing this? Is it a concern? Like last time I was going to just monitor it, but I am planning a 700 mile trip begining of August and am a bit concerned. Don't want to be stranded.

So any ideas what the cause is? did I assemble something wrong?
Thanks,

Your picture is far from distinct- - - -what sort of debris is that imbedded in the filter? If it's soft sludge, I'm going to guess you're running some sort of non-detergent oil. If you're running HD oil, there must be something going on to contaminate it. I'd recommend running some type of crankcase flush product, or simply add a couple of quarts of kerosene or Diesel fuel to the oil and run the engine at a moderately fast idle for 15 minutes, then drain while hot and refill the engine with clean oil and a new filter.
Jerry

Hi Jerry,
What you are seeing is the fibers of the oil filter being pushed out of the filter. They are white at the top, and more oil-colored at the bottom. No sludge or debris in the oil. Sorry for the poor photo.
I use Brad Penn 10W30.
It as if I am pressurizing from the inside out.
Thanks,

Hi folks,
I have been reading tclederman's site, pre68Dave's site, and search on here trying to reason out the oil flow for the 235. I can't see why I would have pressure up the return line. I am going to pull the valve cover to re-verify my flow up to the rockers. It looked fine after the rebuild and a valve adj/check at first oil change, but I will check it again. Anything else I should look at? When I was trying to verify that I had the oil lines right, I cranked the motor with the filter out (coil disconnected) to verify I was getting flow from the inlet line, and oil appeared there and not comming up from the bottom.
Of course there is the debate of even having a filter. Should I just plug it and see where it shoots out of next? (he says with a nervous laugh).
Thanks,

The pressure should be coming into the canister at the midpoint of the side, and exiting out the bottom. There's a small (1/16") hole partway up the standpipe that controls oil flow back to the oil pan. If that hole is plugged up, there's no telling how the oil would try to flow through the filter element.

I'd suggest removing the filter, and do a thorough cleanup of the canister, then inspect the standpipe with a bright LED flashlight and an inspection mirror. You might also apply a good shot of air pressure to the drain fitting at the bottom of the canister to be sure the outlet orfice is clear. Once the canister is reinstalled, leave the return line loose at the block (into a catch can) and see if the oil drains from the filter properly with the engine running. It should take a minute or two to run a quart through the filter, so there won't be any engine damage if it doesn't go back into the engine immediately.

Final check- - - -lots of air pressure to the drainback fitting near the oil pan rail to be sure there's a free path back to the pan. Good luck!
Jerry

First of all Bishop, the oil filter for a 1954 engine only filters about 12% (arguable that it can be as much as 18%) of your oil. If both ports were completely blocked off, your engine will still get ALL of its oil pressure and run the very same as if the filter was working perfectly. In other words, the oil filter has nothing whatsoever to do with engine performance. Oil filters were an option back in the day and many of them are just capped off at the engine block. You can relax about engine damage.

The very worst thing that can happen is your oil will be unfiltered for that 700 mile trip as long as those lines are tight and there is no leakage.

Deve, Jerry, Thanks for your responses. I didn't have a chance to pull it apart and clean, but will do that with the next oil change. In doing some research I kept coming back to the fact that the filter doesn't filter that much oil so it probably isn't a concern as Deve said. It is just concerning to me that my fresh engine has a odd thing happening. We will see if anything 'flushes out' with this trip. Currently my biggest concern is the possibility of heavy rain during my trip. Not an issue except I have one 12,000 ft pass to go over and that may be fun with vaccum wipers!
Thanks again guys for the piece of mind.