Can an oil filter affect oil pressure?

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asked Sep 20, 2019 in Other-Cars/Transportation by YiopxWirtvy (300 points)
Can an oil filter affect oil pressure?

1 Answer

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answered Sep 20, 2019 by Mechanic21 (29,150 points)
Yes an oil filter can affect oil pressure and cause the oil pressure to even drop.

The oil allows oil to flow through it before it goes from your engine oil pan to your engines internal workings.

If the oil filter becomes clogged it won't allow oil flow to go through it properly so you can have low oil pressure as a result of that clogged oil filter.

Oil filters should always be changed every time you change your engine oil which should be between 3,000 to 7,000 miles.

If you have changed your oil filter and engine oil and the oil pressure is still low then sometimes using a thicker oil in your engine will sometimes help increase your engines oil pressure especially if your engine bearings are worn down and has resulted in an increase in the bearing clearances.

Your engine creates oil pressure due to the resistance between the bearings and the crankshaft journals.

When the clearances open up then it causes the oil pressure in an engine to drop even though the engine is getting oil to the bearings but it may not allow enough oil to get to the top of the engine where it's also needed.

Using thicker oil can help keep the oil where it's needed and create better oil pressure because the thicker oil will not thin up as much as the already thinner oil when the engine warms up.

As an engine warms up engine oil does naturally become thinner which allows the engine oil to flow faster through the engine which then leads to a drop in oil pressure.

Your engine normally should have 45 PSI to 55 PSI at highways speeds and around 25 PSI to 15 PSI at idle speed.

However some engines that get worn out will also naturally run at lower oil pressure.

If your oil pressure does actually drop to 0 PSI then you'll hear the lifters and valves clattering and you'll be able to shut the engine down before it causes any damage.

Also be sure to check your oil level because a low oil level can cause a drop in engine oil pressure as well or a faulty oil pressure relief valve on the oil pump.

Your oil pressure sensor can also go bad and show a low oil pressure reading when you really do have good oil pressure.

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