Installation of 90 degree oil filter adapter on 1FZFE

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Installed a Ford Racing 90 degree oil filter adapter (M-6880-A50) today on my 96 FZJ-80. Debated between a remote filter and this adapter but went with this one to keep it simple; the threads for the 1FZFE oil filter pipe are 3/4x16 inch, same as the Ford adapter.

Due to the adapter being designed with a skew to the left it cannot be oriented straight down, the power steering pump gets in the way when the filter is attached. But as the photos show it does fit if aimed at about 5 O'clock. In that orientation it misses the power steering pump on it's left, the harness connector directly below the filter, and the motor mount bracket and positive battery cable to the right.

I think the larger filter would also fit if the axle breather assembly were removed, didn't have time for that today.

I looked but could not find an adapter that dropped straight down or had a skew to the right; the latter would probably be ideal. There is an older adapter (AFAIK no longer in production) that might have worked but the banjo style bolt that attaches it to the block has a male threaded end, what is needed is a female type threaded bolt as in the adapter I used.

Reasons for doing this were to avoid the mess when changing filters and to keep the filter full at all times. IME with the oil filter in the usual orientation (horizontal) it eventually empties itself even with an anti-drainback valve when the trucks sits for X number of hours, days,---. So far there are no leaks and the oil pressure needle moves up at least as fast and to the same levels as before.

This site had the best price, now with free shipping:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-6880-a50/overview/make/ford
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Some more photos of the adapter. The holes in the banjo bolt for oil flow were straight drilled and not chamfered, there were also burrs on the edges. Using a cone shaped grinding stone on a cordless drill I opened the holes up a bit then took a Dremel tool using a smaller cone grinding stone smoothed the edges down some more. For the rough edges of the holes on the inside of the bolt I took a barrel type sanding disc using the Dremel and sanded the burrs off.
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Couple more photos showing the bolt after the burrs were smoothed off; didn't want them ending up in my bearings. I also scrubbed the heck out of the adapter using Dawn dish soap and hot water to remove anything possibly left over from the machining process before it was installed.

In the bottom photo you can see how the small filter fits without hitting or rubbing on anything.
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Hey Kernal, nice find and great price.

How will the access be from below to change the oil??
 
The filter can be grabbed by hand from below (on your back reaching up) in it's current position. If tools were needed the 3/4 inch bolt holding the adapter to the block could be loosened to allow the adapter and filter to swing down a bit more vertical. That might make it easier to use one of the cap type filter wrenches if the filter is stuck. The entire assembly (using the small filter) can also be removed by loosening the banjo bolt all the way and lifting it out from above with the filter attached.

I didn't get any photos of the two O-rings used on the adapter but in post #2 you can see the glands (grooves) where they are installed in the adapter. The larger O-ring seals between the adapter and the block just like the gasket on an oil filter. It measured approx. 70mm in diameter by 2.7mm (0.10inch) thick. The smaller O-ring seals between the flange of the bolt and the adapter, it measured approx. 37mm in diameter by 2mm (.08inch) thick. I applied some Dow Corning 55 O-ring grease before I installed the O-rings but engine oil would probably work as well.
 
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This is awesome! I hate having to put dry filters on during oil changes on vehicles with horizontal mounts. Just doesn't seem right. Thanks a lot for sharing this.
 
If there were enough people interested it might be worth it to see about getting an adapter made up that would fit a bit bitter i.e. coming further out away from the block ~3/4-1 inch to clear the harness connector (or move the connector) and angled to the right about the same (for the large filter to clear the PS pump), then it could drop straight down. Only thing that might still be in the way would be the stock axle breather assembly if using the large filter.
 
Main purpose was to get the filter in a position so that it would stay full of oil when the engine hasn't been run for awhile. Not the expert in this area (or any) but if I'm reading the oil flow diagrams correctly the oil goes in two main directions after the filter; one toward the bottom end and one toward the top; the flow chart seems to indicate the two oil paths are separate. The upper route includes the chain tensioner and the camshafts, valve lifters, etc. which in my experience can be the cause of start up rattle; mild if the engine sits hours or days (timing chain), very severe if it sits for months (?valve lifters/shims).
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Kateean2: not sure what you were asking. I didn't get any photos of the bolt before I opened up the four holes that direct the filtered oil flow coming back up from the filter through the adapter and into the engine. They were drilled straight in with no smoothing of the edges which left metal burrs from the machining process. I removed the burrs when I opened up and chamfered those holes seen in the photos above.

Update: when I started the engine today after it sat for 14 hours there appeared to be no start up rattle (I normally get about 1 second of rattle when the truck sits overnight). I'll check it again in a week when I get back from traveling. That will be a good test to see if with the oil filter in the current orientation decreases the usual rattle.
 
Permanent cure for start up rattle??

Bringing this back to report that after my 96 FZJ-80 sat for 10 days when I started the engine today there was no discernable start up rattle. Before installing the 90 degree oil filter adapter I got the usual one second rattle every first start in the morning but today there was none.
 
Any idea if this part came stock on any Ford vehicles? For someone like me on a budget it would be nice to find a used one at a recycler.
 
Sounds like a winner then! I too get the startup "rattle" just like you describe, so a pair of these will be part of my "to do" list for both the 1FZ's - I too never liked installing a dry filter or the ergonomics getting the 1515 Napa filters down there, or the "rust preventative" you splash on the axle housing each filter removal.

Now I just need to come up with an extra $140.
 
This is really nice. People who have installed my CC bracket pretty much block access to the filter from above. This solves that nicely.

I've noticed quite a few trucks coming is with a bad start up rattle and it has helped to put in the small filter, this would likely eliminate it completely.
 
Again today on a cold start there was no rattle. I've become so used to hearing the rattle it is almost like something is wrong. Hope my experience with this isn't a fluke and others get the same result. FWIW I sent some photos to a machine shop supervisor to see if he could copy the general design of this adapter with some modifications. Don't know if it would be affordable however, he hasn't got back to me yet.

bmwjky: I'm not aware of any regular production Ford engines that came with this exact adapter. There were a few other vehicle models from years ago that had 90 degree adapters but during my research (and walking through a few salvage yards) none of them would attach to our blocks in the correct manner.

Below are a couple photos of the Ford 90 degree adapter but with a skew to the right I mentioned in the first post; this adapter would not work as the bolt has male threads. Lengthening a right-skewed adapter like this one to move it further away from the block would probably be ideal. In the meantime the M-6880-A50 cast aluminum oil filter adapter does fit if tilted a bit off vertical.
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The filter mount should unscrew from the engine. Many toyota engines use the same thread on both ends of the filter mount bushing, so if the Ford adapter also uses 3/4" fine thread it should screw in if the depth (length) is correct.

I'm generally not a big fan of additional pieces in the oil path due to likelyhood of additional leak points. However, this one is cleverly done, and looks very viable.

Good job!
 
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The adapter in post #18 could be an option because if you look at the second picture the threads for the oil filter have an internal hex that should allow it to be removed.
 
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