Is it worth getting K&N oil filter over OEM?

 

Oil filter, I don't think so, not over OEM. Scroll to the bottom of this page, they are related links to your question on this forum but for other models.

 

IMO replacing the oil plug with a magnetic one that captures filings or metal dust will do more good than worrying over which brand of oil filter is better.

 

Anybody know a good magnetic plug for the LR2?

I bough Gold Plugs for all of my cars and NONE of them fit. Threads were right, but the flanges were too wide.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MAGNETIC-Oi...-/273351500985

 

Since I got a vacuum extractor to change my oil, I'm thinking more about the change interval and related items. After a little research, one thing I learned is that the oil filter makes a big difference.

For the 2008-12 LR2, I have been using a MANN HU9254Y cartridge filter, which I believe is the OE equivalent for LR001419. Oil filters have performance specs. I could not find the specs on the MANN website (a bad indicator), but one Canadian auto parts retailer listed it as 99% filtration @ 40 microns. This means it stops 99% of particles that are 40 microns and larger. Some percentage of smaller particles remain suspended in the oil and circulate in the engine.

The best filters are 99% at 20 microns. The risk in ultra-fine filtering particles smaller than 20 microns is flow restriction which can cause other problems.

The MANN OE filter I have been using is mediocre at 40 microns! I have been focused on the oil itself and never gave much thought to the filter. This is an ah-ha moment. Is anyone else thinking "planned obsolescence"?

On my next oil change, I'll be trying the Fram Tough Guard TG10415. It has good specs of 99% @20 microns and is even a couple dollars cheaper than the MANN. I might even change the filter twice as often as the oil. It will be interesting to see if my oil gets darker (dirtier) as fast.

 

If you are going to do that I would strongly suggest you monitor your oil pressure closely.

 

IIRC there's no oil pressure sender so you'd have to find a place to port one. I think it's been done.

The vehicle detects low oil pressure by monitoring for excessive valve timing signal. The variable timing is driven by oil pressure, so lower pressure requires more input signal. Too much signal required for a given RPM means excessively low oil pressure. IIRC.

 

I use a Garmin Mechanic device connected to the diagnostic port under the dash. It connects through Bluetooth to my Android phone and talks to the Garmin Mechanic app. It can monitor oil pressure, and I get a reading from it. But you are correct, I cannot find a mention of an engine oil pressure sensor on gasoline engines, only on the diesel ones (a switch below the oil filter housing). The service manual says that the engine oil level sensor generates the warning on gasoline engines, but I have no clue how it does that. Very weird. Even weirder is that the service manual indicates the correct high and low oil pressure specs but there is no real way to measure it??

 

I tried to find the oil pressure using my Autel scanner but it's nowhere to be found. I did find the oil temp in the PCM, but no pressure sensor.

It was a good suggestion anyway. I was going to record a baseline and then compare after installing the new filter.