Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Are bypass oil filters really worth having?

JeepBuilder · May 15, 2025

Partial success.. My original post the links should show when clicked on. I will try to fix it when I have more time.

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johnmyster · May 15, 2025

I think the ROI math for the additional protection only works out if:

1) You drive lots of miles, and the extended interval keeps the truck earning money rather than lost productivity during downtime.
2) You drive lots of miles and are already paying a lot of money for dealership oil changes with $300 boutique oil and the $500 amsoil kit pays for itself in saved oil changes and downtime.
3) You drive lots of miles and you're a garage scientist. You can put together a kit for $100 and the additional protection/OCI interval is a part of your truck fiddling hobby.

Else, with modern oils, a 5k OCI for us short tripper low annual miles types isn't harmful to the motor. Oils on rebate aren't expensive, even big brand synthetic diesel stuff. (We just had rebates from Rotella, Delvac, and Delo). The hour it takes me once or twice a year to change your own oil just isn't that big of a loss and easily fits into an after work session with tire rotation or some other job.

For me, changing the oil is cheaper than a bypass kit, fancy oil, and requisite UOA monitoring to stretch the interval.

Grumpy8811 · May 15, 2025

I've always figured the cost of cheap oil and filters changed frequently out weighed the so called benefit of a long drain interval with hi dollar oil and oil analysis costs figured in..
friend of mine hauls cars with his ram, trucks go 500k miles or more before he gets another
and he just uses Rotella T4 and a Fleetguard filter every 15000 miles..

JeepBuilder · May 15, 2025

My truck see's relatively light use. I haul a camper in the summer and once in a while a vehicle or materials on a trailer. I park it all winter when snow flies and road salt starts getting laid down. I will heat it up and run it up and down the non salted side roads here twice a winter. Just to move some oil around. And since I am not doing long oil change intervals, I figure just changing it out is better than the gains from the bypass filter. Plus that 4 thread engagement on that steel 1/4 nipple did not leave me feeling like it was a solid install.
Last August while moving 4 hours one way from the panhandle of Idaho to central WA state, I logged 5000 miles in 40 days moving 43 years of jeep parts. Parts I really need to get rid of. Trip after Trip. For me that was huge and I hope to never have to do that again. Well, till I move back ...LOL

GAmes · May 15, 2025

johnmyster said:
For me, changing the oil is cheaper than a bypass kit, fancy oil, and requisite UOA monitoring to stretch the interval.

I change the oil in my Hemi/Ram when the light comes on (10,000 miles) AND I send in a UOA. Oil analysis is the only way to know what is going on inside the engine. It isn't about cheap, it's about monitoring. Extended drains is something almost all of us have been programmed to be scared of. Diesel oil holds up better than gas engine oil does. I have no issues with my extended drain schedule for my Cummins.

Grumpy8811 · May 16, 2025

GAmes said:
I change the oil in my Hemi/Ram when the light comes on (10,000 miles) AND I send in a UOA. Oil analysis is the only way to know what is going on inside the engine. It isn't about cheap, it's about monitoring. Extended drains is something almost all of us have been programmed to be scared of. Diesel oil holds up better than gas engine oil does. I have no issues with my extended drain schedule for my Cummins.

honestly, most miles I have went between changes on the Cummins is 17000, so I pulled a sample testing and oil was fine.
quite a few of of us just like changing the oil. I know I do, I just do it pretty cheaply.. very rare to cost more than 40 dollars for oil and filter. every 6 months.
no matter the miles. which really aren't that much most of the time.

Shiner · May 16, 2025

Grumpy8811 said:
honestly, most miles I have went between changes on the Cummins is 17000, so I pulled a sample testing and oil was fine.
quite a few of of us just like changing the oil. I know I do, I just do it pretty cheaply.. very rare to cost more than 40 dollars for oil and filter. every 6 months.
no matter the miles. which really aren't that much most of the time.

I find routine maintenance, like oil changes and such, therapeudic. I could care less if I could extend intervals or not as I get the secondary uses such as heat, out of the old oil.

GAmes · May 16, 2025

Grumpy8811 said:
honestly, most miles I have went between changes on the Cummins is 17000, so I pulled a sample testing and oil was fine.
quite a few of of us just like changing the oil. I know I do, I just do it pretty cheaply.. very rare to cost more than 40 dollars for oil and filter. every 6 months.
no matter the miles. which really aren't that much most of the time.

The oil was fine but you changed it anyway. SMH. I can envision $40 for three gallons of oil but a quality filter too? Have you sever taken the time to read this?
TDR71_LubeOilFiltration.pdf

GAmes · May 16, 2025

Shiner said:
I could care less if I could extend intervals or not as I get the secondary uses such as heat, out of the old oil.

I'm not understanding the economics here. According to www.eia.gov the highest heating oil in the nation is $4.16 today. You buy engine oil for $4.16?

Grumpy8811 · May 16, 2025

GAmes said:
The oil was fine but you changed it anyway. SMH. I can envision $40 for three gallons of oil but a quality filter too? Have you sever taken the time to read this?
TDR71_LubeOilFiltration.pdf

never bothered reading much too on TDR... I had a subscription for awhile but then it grew tiring and after awhile you realize most of what is put to print is designed to get you to spend more money on a specific recommended product, because that is what magazines do ,so I never bothered reading it..
not too mention my own experience with the subject has led me in the other direction..

you can find spec store label 15w40 for 10 bucks a gallon all day long and even the big selling names have rebate programs if you watch out for them..
Generally my unit cost for a gallon of oil is 6 to10 dollars a gallon .. and a five dollar filter. so 40 might be the high side cost wise...

GAmes · May 16, 2025

Grumpy8811 said:
never bothered reading much too on TDR.............
......and a five dollar filter.....

'nuff said.

Shiner · May 16, 2025

@GAmes :No, but close. But point is, two uses out of the same oil. My burner burns maybe a quart an hour, vs the salamander at gallon plus of diesel/fuel oil an hour. Plus, I love ticking off people who like to tell me what I should be doing….with my money, and how this or that is bad for the planet , or a waste of resources. I also drive a 14mpg truck most days when I have a car that gets 40 mpg, I just don’t care. I drive and do what I want. I drink lots and lots of beer too…..just to get up and pee a lot, but I like beer. I’ve been watering the trees religiously, so I get double value there too. Come to think of it, I have a dozen vehicles that I spend money on when I could just have 1, but what’s the fun in that? I mow my yard twice as much as it “needs”. I shower twice a day when I could get by on every third day. I collect things that only have value to me, for now. In 10-20…..somebody else’s new found treasure.

Grumpy8811 · May 17, 2025

in many cases, only a short distance separates over analysis from the need for psychoanalysis.

Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Are bypass oil filters really worth having?

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