Oil Life Extension on Engineering Unboxed

Gale Banks explains how adding a high-quality bypass filter system to your diesel pickup can greatly extend the oil life and protect the engine.

For start, Gale takes us back to back in the day when he was building Oldsmobile boat racing engines. The racer consisted of a 455 engine and it was aptly named “Nice and Easy” and was driven by Barry Lieberman.

Gale shown in his shop building a marine engine for Oldsmobile which brings us to the discussion of oil filters that can increase oil life.

Shortly after the marine racing project was over, Oldsmobile decided they wanted to build a diesel engine for use in cars and GMC pickups. Naturally, they consulted with Gale. One of his first recommendations was to do a roller tappet camshaft. The suggestion was made because the soot in the oil destroys the zinc dithiophosphate in the oil package. Zinc dithiophosphate is an extreme-pressure lubricant additive developed in the 1940s. Soot eliminates oil life expectancy.

All this brings us to Gale’s 2019 Ford Super Duty and the corresponding owner’s manual. The oil change chart says that if you do “severe” work like moderate to heavy towing or driving in mountainous conditions, you should change the oil more often. This is because the extra work causes more soot and depletes your oil life.

Today’s conventional oil filters only filter out 20 microns. Gale has been hearing about bypass oil filtration systems for 60 years, and today he finally tries one. The guys over at Amsoil sent over plenty of boxes for Gale to Unbox.