Oil filters keep splitting

[BigBart33]

Hey all,

My 03 Cobra has split 2 Ford Motorcraft oil filters in as many days. It’s been very cold here, both times I tried to start it, it was under 15 degrees. My idea is that the oil is getting extremely thick, putting a ton of pressure on the filter, and causing it to crack. I was running 5w-20 this last time.

As I understand it, the oil filter and engine are supposed to have pressure releases to keep this from happening. I’m going to try another filter brand (Wix Xp is the best I can get in my area I believe), but other than that, do you guys agree that it might be the oil pressure relief valve in the oil pump? Or could it be something else I’m missing. Also, if it is due to a stuck oil pressure relief valve, is that located in the oil pump? It’s an MMR Hurricane bump btw. I couldn’t find any other occurrences of this here on SVT performance.

Edit: forgot to mention that it happened as soon as I turned the car on both times.

 

[MG0h3]

I’ve never heard of that.

I suspect this has something to do with your aftermarket oil pump


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[Bullitt1448]

What is your oil pressure?

 

[03cobra#694]

What is your oil pressure?

I'm going to assume, high as hell. Never heard this one either.

 

[CobraBob]

I've never heard of it as an issue on a Terminator, either. Or any car for that matter. Everything points to the aftermarket oil pump, unless another engine component is causing high oil pressure. But the key is that high pressure isn't being relieved, which IMO points to the oil pump relief valve. If the oil relief value is defective (closed or closing), the high pressure has nowhere to go, hence the split oil oil filter. Although, I've never heard of an actual oil filter splitting due to high pressure. Using other engine damage is the result. I'm not as tech savvy as some others here, but that would seem to make the most sense. How old is the pump?

 

[98 svt]

Very odd indeed. Not sure what's causing it, but I bet a breather would keep that from happening.
Still though, you need to find the cause.

 

[cobracide]

Make sure the bypass passage for the oil filter is clear and not plugged. Try a different brand of filter and make sure it has a bypass function. Purolator comes to mind.

 

[BigBart33]

I put a brand new Wix XP filter in so we’ll see how it goes. The Purolator looks good but if this one breaks as well I’m gonna go ahead and assume it is the relief valve as everyone mentioned. The oil pump is about 6 years old with a couple thousand miles on it. I may just avoid starting the car in freezing cold and leave all that alone for the time being lol.

The instrument panel oil pressure gauge doesn’t read super high when it starts but not sure how accurate that is, plus I didn’t actually look at it when the filter cracked. It does read a bit higher than the middle pretty consistently though (maybe like 55% rather than 50%). Do these cars have digital oil pressure sensors so I can check it with an OBD scanner? If not, how do y’all recommend I check the pressure?

 

[cobracide]

The stock oil pressure gauge is little better than a dummy light. You would need a more sensitive sensor coupled with an aftermarket gauge to get a precise reading.

 

[Bullitt1448]

A real mechanical gauge is your best bet put it in in place of the oil pressure switch that runs the dash gauge. Just temporary to see what your oil pressure really is. Blowing up oil filters is not a common occurrence. There has to be some serious pressure to do that

 

[xblitzkriegx]

That has to be at least 200psi, wow. It's not the oil, there's either a restriction/blockage or internal failure in the pump itself.

 

[CobraBob]

Be sure to keep us and this thread up to date.

 

[BigBart33]

The Wix filter has been fine so far but I’ve been avoiding starting it in the freezing cold. I’m gonna pick up an oil pressure gauge this week and see what it reads at on a cold start at around 40 degrees outside temperature.

Speaking of, what is typical oil pressure? Think I read somewhere around 60-80 PSI when cold, 20-40 when warm?

 

[cobracide]

I've seen 18-20psi posted for warm after startup on idle.

Consider a 0w oil grade maybe.. This will be the thinnest at startup in the cold. Amsoil makes it, I used the 0w-30 without issues. Now that Amsoil makes the recommended 5w-20 I use that but considering a change to 5w-30- since I am in a warm climate.

That shouldn't stop you from diagnosing the issue properly first.

 

[gt347mustang]

Mmr probably blocks off the relief.

Id stop driving it until you get the pressure under control or ambient temps come up. Keeping a filter together will only further stress the rest of the oiling system.

 

[01yellercobra]

Very odd indeed. Not sure what's causing it, but I bet a breather would keep that from happening.
Still though, you need to find the cause.

A breather would release crank case pressure. It wouldn't help the pressure in the oil system.

OP, were you driving your car or just wanting to start it to let it warm up?

 

[BigBart33]

I’ve only been driving it in much warmer temps but yeah I will check oil pressures asap.

It happened immediately after starting it up. The first time I didn’t notice until I started backing up and I spilled a shitload of oil over the driveway and road. Very unfortunate. Engine still sounds solid so I imagine the residual oil was still lubricating it sufficiently for the 30 seconds I had it on.

Car came from PO in CA so this is the first time the car has been subjected to these temps.

 

[lOOKnGO]

Mmr probably blocks off the relief.

Id stop driving it until you get the pressure under control or ambient temps come up. Keeping a filter together will only further stress the rest of the oiling system.

He has an MMR oil pump? I hope not.

 

[Bullitt1448]

MMR oil pump could go a long way to explaining the problem

 

[4sdvenom]

Jumping on here to see what turns out to be the issue.
Good luck!