The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk oil filter question

This question is a little embarrasing but bear with me. I recently bought a '54 3600 with a 235 engine. I looked all over and couldn't find an oil filter. When I went to auto parts store for oil the guy who worked there told me it had to have one and sold me a filter for it. However I still can't seem to locate it. Did they all come with filters? If so where is it located?

I believe that the answer is no as the filter was an add on, at least in Canada it was.

Don't worry, I did the same thing when I got my first truck. He sold you a spin-on filter to right?
If it has one, it is usually a canister type bolted to the intake manifold.

Colin

Yup, it's a spin on type. Where is the intake manifold? All I see on the engine is the starter on one side and the generator on the other. Nothing on the bottom.

Intake manifold is on the left side-it's what the carburetor is bolted to. If you have an oil filter, it will be a can like device clamped to the manifold.

The latest issue of "Vintage Truck" magazine has an article on oil filters in Chevy trucks.

It looks like a coffe can with something like a 1/2 bolt on top.

psubrewno, a picture of the motor in question might be helpful. If your motor's incomplete, that might answer a coupla questions. See this post:
http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000017

for info on posting pics (although this probably otta be updated to reflect the preference for links to pics, rather than the images themselves.)

Make sure you verify the canister brand, either AC of Fram usually, the filter elements are different. Also some what expensive-about $15 in my area. It may not have a filter though, it was an option in the US also.

Filters in '54 were optional in trucks (and prior to that too).

If you want one you can add it. You can probably find the cannister OEM style on e-bay or in a catelog.

Unfortunately it is most likely that your engine can only ever have bypass filtration not full flow filtration. That means it'll only filter a small portion of the oil anyhow.

Take the filter back.

IF you can't find it, you probably don't have one.

And, you don't necessarily NEED one.

As NM51 says, you're only going to be able to do bypass filtration anyway, and you won't get very much of your oil filtered.

Just make sure you use 30 weight oil with NO detergent and you should be golden.

And, I believe without the OPTIONAL filter, the recommended oil change interval is every 1,000 miles versus every 2,000 miles with the filter. If you're like me and you only drive it about once a week and for occasional hauling, changing the oil every 1,000 miles is no big deal.

The weight of the oil that you need to use will vary depending on the weather (okay, specifically the temperature ). You'll need a lighter weight oil when the temperature and the birds head south, if you live where they actually have a winter season. If you plan on working on this truck yourself, I recommend getting a repro shop manual. It should have all you need to know about performing everything from regular maintenance upto rebuilding an engine or transmission. Among the maintenance items will be recommended oil change intervals and weight of oil required, based on expected temperature range.

Psubrewno, Vintage Truck magazine has a great spot on oil filters in the August 06 issue.
I think its worth checking out.

It will also tell you about what sort of gearbox grease you should put into your gearbox and differential and when (temperature-wise).

It's nearly indispensible, that shop manual.

You must never , _EVER_ put greasae into the tranny , rear end or steering box ! these were all designed for Hypoid 90W , you can use 80-90W Hypoid .

If your truck still has the Torque Tube you may find a Zerk fitting on top of the u-joint bell , this was for factory fill of 90W gear oil , DO NOT put grease in there ! .

If you want to see a shot of the oil filter set up on these trucks look at the link in my signature. The picture of the engine shows the oil filter. It's foward and outboard (in the foreground of the picture) of the carb. It looks like it has a yellow band around it. I haven't torn it apart so I can't give you specifics of the set up but that will at least give you a visual of it. Have fun with your truck and get that shop manual - it really is indispensible.

vwnate1: I am not as stupid as I look.

80w90, 80w, and 90w are known amongst the farmers and mechanics of my area as "Gearbox Grease". Go into ANY FLAPS or Tractor/Implement supply store in northwest lower Michigan and ask for "Gearbox Grease" and they will take you right over to the area where they keep the Hypoid Lubricants.

Also: Steering boxes do not use 90w Hypoid. There was a lubricant of much higher viscosity that was widely available back then that is not so widely available now.

The only place that I know of to get it is Penrite Oil. The product is called "Steering Box Lube" and is for use in "veteran" steering boxes. They do not recommend using it in Rack and pinion setups. It is found at www.classicautolubes.com . Several 'bolters swear by it, and it costs about $12 (which includes shipping) for half a liter.

I have heard that John Deere makes a steering box lubricant that is the proper weight, but I don't know what the model number is.

The steering box lubricant is a water resistant 200W "pourable" grease/oil that maintains its viscosity at relatively high temperatures (at least that's what I've read). Castrol also makes a grease for track vehicles that is supposed to work though I can't remember the name. I belive that they sell it mainly down under in Australia and New Zealand based on their website info.

A common problem (one I have had myself) is steering box leakage due to improper weight of steering box lubricant. Once I put the correct weight of lubricant in the seepage stopped.

Back to your original question, don't waste your money on the manifold mounted oil filter but rather find a full flow filter and install that on your truck and only if you plan to use it as a daily driver.

There is tons of info in the forums on both type filters and how to install them so I would suggest doing a search by clicking the search button at the top of the page type in "oil filter" and wait for the search to find your search results. You can find lots of good tips on any subject by doing a search.

My conclusion would be that a bypass filter is better than nothing but not as efficient as a full flow filter.

WELCOME TO THE BOLT!!!!! Hobert

Good to see Nate lurkin' around these parts!!! Nate, you keepin' them in line over at the Old Trucks list?

So how many Zerk fittings are on a '54 truck anyway? :p

22 or more

Several.

There is an interesting article on oil filters in the latest issue of Vintage Truck Mag.

Brendan M,
What is your logic behind your suggestions that only non-detergent oil be used? And what is your response to the Vintage Trucks article by Bob Adler. If you have not seen it, I will be glad to post the appropriate section for you. But be warned, he is critical of your view.

Well, I'm not Brendan and I'm not an oil expert, but I will tell you what I have been told.

Several years ago I was a manager of an auto parts store. One of the wholesale warehouses had an open house where manufacturers had booths showing off their products. Here's what I learned from an oil company's sales rep.

An engine with an oil filter should use detergent oil. Detergent oil dissolves dirt in the engine and absorbs it. As the oil circulates through the engine it passes through the oil filter and the dirt is removed and clean oil continues on it's way.

An engine without a filter should use non- detergent oil. The dirt is not absorbed by the oil. It circulates with the oil into the pan where gravity cause the dirt to fall to the bottom of the pan. The oil pump pick-up is slightly above the bottom of the pan so clean oil goes back through the engine. When the oil is drained the dirt in the bottom of the pan is washed out with the oil. If oil is not changed often enough the dirt level in the pan will get higher than the pick-up and cause dirt to circulate through the engine over and over.

If you use detergent oil in an engine without a filter the oil absorbs the dirt. The dirt does not drop to the bottom of the pan. It just recirculates through the engine over and over.

Now, as I said I am not an oil expert, but this explanation was told to me by an "oil expert". The logic made sense to me. If this info is not correct I hope someone will let me know.

psubrewno
Welcome to the Stovebolt Page. Everybody has an opinion about oil and oil filters in these old trucks. Tabasco's explanation makes a lot of sense to me as I have heard the same thing before. Your old truck may not have an optional filter and that's OK, too. You cannot use a full-flow filter unless your engine has been modified to do that. There is a tech tip on this website about that. Good luck with your truck!