Go Back  Offshoreonly.com > Technical > General Q & A
MPI oil filter head. Restriction? >

MPI oil filter head. Restriction?

Notices

MPI oil filter head. Restriction?

Old 03-09-2021, 09:26 AM
  #1  
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
TomZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 3,975
Received 1,224 Likes on 682 Posts
Default MPI oil filter head. Restriction?

Morning guys.

With one of my 509s just about done, it's time to work on plumbing of the oiling system. I am trying to keep the MPI brackets and such in place and I'd like to mount the oil filter the way it was installed from Merc. Being that the engine room is tight and there's no place to mount the filter elsewhere, the MPI location is convenient in my TRS 311.

I have a Canton inlet/outlet on the block pad. I will plumb that with -10 fittings. My oil cooler will sit (hopefully) on the back on the engine go to the filter up front. Playing around with the filter adapter, I've drilled and tapped the inlet of the housing for 1/2-inch NPT and can now install an NPT to -10 mail fitting. The problem I'm running into is on the outlet side of the filter. The fitting appears to be JIC and should work but it's a -8. I could add an adapter fitting to go back to -10 but am I creating a significant flow restriction? I believe the outlet is 7/16 but that's no where close to the 5/8 of the incoming side. But again, it's the filter and there's restriction there anyway.

I have no problems trying to get something different to work on the bracket. I was just having fun with tools and thought that it would be cool to get this to work. What do you guys think?
TomZ is offline  
Old 03-09-2021, 09:55 AM
  #2  
Registered
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Portland OR
Posts: 456
Received 286 Likes on 150 Posts
Default

I'm also interested in answers to this. I'm in the same boat with my oiling system. Factory -8 fitting on the remote oil filter base. Right now I have it adapted up to a -10 but I wonder if that is OK.
87MirageIntruder is offline  
The following users liked this post:
TomZ (03-09-2021)
Old 03-09-2021, 10:06 AM
  #3  
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
TomZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 3,975
Received 1,224 Likes on 682 Posts
Default

I did a calculation on the flow rate through that orifice and came up with a little more than 9 gallons a minute. If I'm remembering correctly, the Mobil 1 filters I use flow 7 gallons, but would need more test data to compare.

As is the usual case for me, I'm probably getting too deep into the details.
TomZ is offline  
Old 03-09-2021, 10:18 AM
  #4  
Registered
iTrader: (1)
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 2,885
Received 142 Likes on 94 Posts
Default

The OEM head has quite a bit of material that can be hogged out. I went with the Hardin head for different reasons but ported out the oem unit and was pleasantly surprised with how much it can be opened up. I think the oem fittings are the bottleneck.
Baja Rooster is offline  
The following users liked this post:
TomZ (03-09-2021)
Old 03-09-2021, 10:36 AM
  #5  
SB
Registered
iTrader: (1)
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: On A Dirt Floor
Posts: 13,519
Received 3,089 Likes on 1,391 Posts
Default

See if what you are looking fir in arcticfriends 502mpi oiling ‘bible’ thread:
oil pressure problems from stock hardware
SB is offline  
The following 2 users liked this post by SB:
Gimme Fuel (03-10-2021), TomZ (03-09-2021)
Old 03-09-2021, 11:13 AM
  #6  
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
TomZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 3,975
Received 1,224 Likes on 682 Posts
Default

I've been all over that thread. Any time I have a question on oil system plumbing, I refer to what he put together. As always, he did a lot of work point out the short comings and how to overcome them.

The real issue he talked about seemed to be with the fittings. The 1/2 inch lines weren't perfect, but probably "ok" on a 400 HP engine. The fittings were the really bad parts with orifice openings that were restricted to 3/8. Those created real bottle necks.

In the case of the MPI filter head, the flow is going from the filter through the -8 fitting into -10. Technically, that shouldn't be a real restriction to flow because it's going "little to big" instead of the other way around. I have opened my inlet up quite a lot so I doubt it will be any kind of restriction. And this is without hitting it with the die grinder to clean it up more. I'll get a picture of it later today or this evening. It's sitting in my parts washer.
TomZ is offline  
Old 03-09-2021, 11:16 AM
  #7  
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
TomZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 3,975
Received 1,224 Likes on 682 Posts
Default

On a side note... I was going to do something similar with with my fuel/water separator head, but there's jut not enough material there to increase the fitting size to 3/8 NPT. I'll order new ones for those.
TomZ is offline  
Old 03-09-2021, 12:03 PM
  #8  
Registered
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Portland OR
Posts: 456
Received 286 Likes on 150 Posts
Default

Tom it sounds like you are like me an tend to overthink things but that's part of the fun I think in building stuff. We've got great resources and experience such as that oil thread and other forum members experience that says don't go with anything less than -10 for oil stuff. Then on the other hand we have for instance a Mercury 496HO that is the only big block to not fail during the 300 hour WOT endurance testing, and has been proven to run for 1,200+ hours no problem with -8 fittings.

Perhaps the real answer is there's no one size fits all. Maybe it's oil pressure and temperature that really matter on a given engine.
87MirageIntruder is offline  
The following users liked this post:
TomZ (03-09-2021)
Old 03-09-2021, 12:25 PM
  #9  
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
TomZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 3,975
Received 1,224 Likes on 682 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by 87MirageIntruder
Perhaps the real answer is there's no one size fits all. Maybe it's oil pressure and temperature that really matter on a given engine.
^^^^ This!!!
TomZ is offline  
The following users liked this post:
Gimme Fuel (03-10-2021)
Old 03-09-2021, 12:58 PM
  #10  
Registered
iTrader: (7)
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: NW Michigan
Posts: 8,293
Received 1,476 Likes on 801 Posts
Default

I’m glad you started the thread. It made me think about the filter heads I was planning on using for new builds. Not knowing every restrictive point I like the idea of bigger is better when it comes to oil gpm. One or two choke points are one thing but when you look over the complete oil system there’s a lot going on. Something that can easily be overlooked especially when using near stock oil components and throwing another 25-50% more power at it.
getrdunn is offline  
The following users liked this post:
TomZ (03-09-2021)

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.