Re: Is there a bypass built into the oil filter housing for Boxster 986/987 cars.

I am changing my oil and noticed a plastic section with a round metal piece in the middle at the inside bottom of the Black filter
canister.It that just to support the filter or is there some kind of bypass built into the housing.If so how to u test it?
Thx

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moresquirt
I am changing my oil and noticed a plastic section with a round metal piece in the middle at the inside bottom of the Black filter
canister.It that just to support the filter or is there some kind of bypass built into the housing.If so how to u test it?
Thx

What I was told is there is a pressure bypass as part of the oil pump to prevent overpressuration of the oil filter housing and the rest of the oil system. This setup routes excess oil pressure back to the someplace ahead of the pump and does not route unfiltered oil to the engine. The oil flow drawing/diagram of the Boxster engine shows a bypass at the oil pump area.

If there is a pressure bypass that in the event the filter becomes clogged it would probably be part of the "block" located in the area that is between the filter element and the housing so that the high pressure oil from the pump can bypass the filter and would then be routed to the same main oil galley that is fed by filtered oil that has passed through the filter. This bypass is not that exotic looking. The ones I have seen in other engines consist of just a ball bearing backed by some spring the ball bearing is forced off its seat and oil flows around it if the bypass pressure is obtained.

However, I don't recall ever seeing this when I changed my Boxster's oil. And I don't recall ever seeing a bypass in the filter area of the Boxster engine oil flow drawing/diagram.

Makes sense. The filter has a lot of surface area and becoming blocked/clogged with stuff is just not going to happen. I like the fact the pressure bypass is at the pump and there appears to not be one at the filter.

Great info.Thx.Just got done installing my new AOS,went pretty smoothly but if I had to do it again it would go a lot quicker.
I think I personally have done more work on this car than any car I have ever owned.Im not sure if its because I don't want to pay the
crazy Porsche hourly rates and that the nearest dealer or Porsche Indy shop it almost 1.5 hrs away but its definitely self rewarding
when I finish each job and it worked out ok. I will also say sadly that I have had way more issues with this car than any other car I've owned.
If youre not somewhat mechanical you better have deep pockets!!

Forgot to add, have you noticed any difference in oil filters, aftermarket (Wix,ect) compared to the stock Porsche unit in Microns.
I have been using the Carquest units and they look vert similar but I notice that they start to cave in or distort pleats if left on for say 10000 kilometres (7000 miles)
or is that more to do with the design.

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moresquirt
Forgot to add, have you noticed any difference in oil filters, aftermarket (Wix,ect) compared to the stock Porsche unit in Microns.
I have been using the Carquest units and they look vert similar but I notice that they start to cave in or distort pleats if left on for say 10000 kilometres (7000 miles)
or is that more to do with the design.

I only bought one "aftermarket" or "OEM" filter when I had my Cayman S. (I can't recall now where I bought it from but it as mail order.) When I got the filter I was a bit bothered by how it looked compared to what I remember my Boxster filter looked like so I bought a genuine Porsche Cayman S filter at a dealer and compared to the two filters side by side. Based on what I saw I decided to not use the "aftermarket" or "OEM" filter but instead stick with using the genuine article. This was the case with the Cayman and has been the case with the Boxster and the Turbo.

My opinion is I see no reason to use my cars as test beds to try to determine if some filter other than the factory filter is as good as the factory filter.

Ya know, I suspect there might be based on the advertising LN does for their spin on oil filter adapter. "The LN Engineering Spin-On Oil filter adapter also helps improve the longevity of your engine by providing full flow filtration by deleting the bypass, which means 100% of the oil gets filtered and whatever goes to the filter stays in the filter. This limits collateral damage from foreign object debris that would otherwise re-contaminate the engine when using the factory filter arrangement."

reference: http://lnengineering.com/products/featured/oil-change-bundle-configurable.html

I decided to call Porsch an ask.They tell me that there is NO BYPASS built into the Canister so I'm not sure what LN is referring to.I really wish it was easier
to get a strait answer on this.Maybe some years did and some did not.I wonder if Pedro could chime in and help confirm!

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moresquirt
I decided to call Porsch an ask.They tell me that there is NO BYPASS built into the Canister so I'm not sure what LN is referring to.I really wish it was easier
to get a strait answer on this.Maybe some years did and some did not.I wonder if Pedro could chime in and help confirm!

As I wrote I have seen no evidence of a filter bypass at least in my Boxster engine. Maybe the 996 3.4l/3.6l engines have a filter bypass.

While some experts tout an aftermarket filter that does not have a bypass as if this is better than the Boxster filter element and separate canister frankly I do not put much trust in what these experts say in this regard. It just sounds like some kind of enticement to get Boxster owners to buy the aftermarket filter.

Go to this link and look at the third small picture. Guess what it shows in the middle of the bottom of the filter.

Mike that looks ver similar to inside of mine but Dealer is telling me that the raised section with the round metal rivet in middle is
just a molded receiving section for filter element to sit into.I tried to press hard on that section and none off it would budge.I thought
it would be spring loaded unless mine is seized or jammed.Only way I can confirm I guess is to cut it open.I just dont want to be driving around with the
possibility of it jammed open if it is a bypass.Thats what I read on an LN post, he had found many stuck open.Went to dealer to look at a new unit but dont stock.
Would have to order.Be nice if not person doing an oil change could check theres to see if that section moves up and down.I would think that
it should move even if not a bypass to hold tension on filter element.

I have an extra one of these oil filter canisters that I alternate when changing the oil so i can clean and inspect at leisure when I have plenty of time. The round raised section with the rivet in the center at the bottom is stationary, does not move and seems to just be a receiver section for the filter to fit into.

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oldhoo07s
I have an extra one of these oil filter canisters that I alternate when changing the oil so i can clean and inspect at leisure when I have plenty of time. The round raised section with the rivet in the center at the bottom is stationary, does not move and seems to just be a receiver section for the filter to fit into.

That's what I thought tthat thing in the bottom of the housing was for. It is not substantial enough to be a oil pressure bypass.

All of the oil pressure bypasses I've seen have been in the block and located so if oil pressure is high enough at the filter the oil can flow through the bypass directly into the main oil galley the same galley oil from the filter would flow into.

With the pressure bypass at the oil pump there is no reason to have another one at the filter. The filter is not going to become clogged. Heck for my Boxster Porsche specified 15K mile oil changes and 30K mile filter changes.

UPDATE: I just received an email back from LN regarding this and there definitely is a Bypass in the Canister .
It does not move down, it moves up towards the filter or engine under approx 2psi pressure and allows oil (probably dirty oil)
sitting in the bottom of the canister to flow up thru the bottom of the element into the motor. To test u can get a hooked
screwdriver or a pair of pliers and pull up on the raised plastic section down inside the canister (the bypass) and pull off.
Its basically a hat with a spring underneath. I read on another forum somewhere that apparently the early caymans and boosters
bypass in the canister would open to easily and Porsche updated the part to spring pressure so it would only open with higher pressure I think
8 or 10 pounds, cant recall (if filter got plugged completely).Its nice to finally get a strait answer unfortunately not from dealer!

sorry, miss read his info 10 to 12 was the spec of the newer stuff.The older or earlier caymans and Boxster were much higher in pressure as per a post
from LN I read today.