Pulled out an old spare oil filter housing and noticed that its plugged,whats the purpose for this just curious?alot of my "chevy"friends tell me they plugged theirs too. Thanks
George, could the pictures be any smaller:grin: I think you are referring to the bypass valve in case the filter becomes plugged.
The idea is that by blocking the bypass there's no chance that it's opening at all, so 100% of the oil is filtered (unless your filter contains an internal bypass!). By design the bypass is only there to feed an engine with a plugged up filter, or allow a little more flow a bit more quickly on cold climate startups. Devon
Exactly as stated: When the filter can't flow enough oil, the bypass opens. The engine then gets unfiltered oil. This is good because unfiltered oil is better than no oil. This is bad because the unfiltered oil can damage bearing and lifters. "I" think it's better to leave the bypass alone. Other, experienced engine builders vehemently disagree; claiming that the only time the bypass is used is when Grandma goes eight years without changing the filter. There are plenty of engines running with the bypass plugged. None of them belong to me.
I've seen it rigged up to where people relocate the filter from the stock location and install an oil cooler hookup where the oil filter would normally be. Perhaps this would be a cause to plug the bypass? Just guessing. I have also seen the spring behind the bypass fail. It would certainly be cheaper to plug the passage than to purchase a new oil pump housing.
