TESTIMONIAL FROM AUSTRALIA (1985)

My first experience with a Trasko was at a small local motor show. There
were a myriad of small stalls trying to sell all sorts of things related to motoring, but one stall really caught my attention. Two gentlemen were demonstrating a new engine oil filter from Japan. It went by the name of Trasko Refining System. What interested me was what they were filtering. They had added a black printers ink to engine oil, for demonstration purposes, and were filtering it through an after-market pleated paper oil filter. The oil remained black after leaving the pleated paper filter. They then flicked a valve and diverted the oil through a separately mounted Trasko full depth tissue unit where it emerged clean and without a trace of the contaminant. To show its effectiveness they then ran the oil backwards through the Trasko. The oil was re-contaminated as it back-flushed the Trasko to show that it
was indeed the Trasko filter that was removing the contaminants. They then reversed this flow again and directed the now dirty oil through the Trasko in the proper direction, where it emerged clean again. The filter was removing the contaminants and filtering them in the tissue element. I was informed that the ink particles had a diameter of about half a micron. For comparison a human hair is about 60-70 microns in diameter. The remarkable thing was that this filter was effectively removing particles too small to be seen even under a high powered light microscope! They were smaller than microscopic.

That was in early 1985. And I was hooked, I had to own one. I was the first paying customer in Australia to own and use a Trasko unit. I have
used Trasko filters almost continuously since then and have covered a
distance of about 650,000 kilometers (km) on city roads, highways, dirt
roads, and four-wheel drive tracks using five different vehicles; a Suzuki Swift 1.3 liter, a Suzuki Sierra 1.3 liter GX (USA equivalent is a Suzuki Samurai), a 2 liter twin-cam Toyota Camry (I loved driving that car), a Peugeot 505 GTI, and a Peugeot 205 Si. Not once has the Trasko filter failed me. When I got a new vehicle I simply unscrewed the Trasko filter from the old car, changed the element, put on the correct threaded T nut (the Australian distributor was kind to me and I got spares), and replaced the new vehicles OEM oil filter with the trusty Trasko.

The Trasko has always given me a smoother and quieter engine and seems
to make the vehicle more responsive to the throttle. This as particularly evident on a vehicle that has a few "miles on the clock". It quietens down the engine noise that creeps in to the vehicle with age. The whirs and whines of the motor bearings and cams are greatly reduced after the Trasko is fitted. All engine oil and filter changes occurred at the manufacturers recommended intervals. When changing the oil after 16,000 km it is still dark brown in colour but is not loaded with dirt and visible combustion products etc. However, from personal experience I have found that it is still necessary to change the oil at
recommended distances, though synthetics can go about 25-50% longer. The
filter tissues will eventually clog if not changed regularly because they are very more efficient at trapping particles than pleated paper elements, and the oil becomes contaminated and thickened by colloids (colloids are too small to be filtered by ANY engine filter). Eventually the detergent package is exhausted and oil oxidization starts to occur. The end result of this is eventually you get a tar-like sludge sitting in your sump.

I also like the way that you can see what is caught by the filter. Disposable pleated paper filters don't allow you to see what they have trapped. The Trasko does. I have been glad of this twice, when on two separate occasions I have had a slowly leaking head gasket. After the gasket was changed the Trasko element was replaced and on both occasions the element was soaked with engine coolant. The Trasko had removed most of the coolant water that had leaked into the engine oil and had held it inside the tissue element. The oil showed minimal signs of emulsification with water and even this vanished after a short drive when a new filter element was fitted.. No pleated paper element on the market today can do this. In fact the 3" filter element in a Trasko can hold about 100 ml's of water.

The Trasko's also seem to be effective as an auto transmission filter. I have joined in a remote mount kit to the auto transmission fluid return line where it left the radiator after cooling. The auto fluid would then pass through the Trasko and back into the return line on its journey back to the auto transmission. The result of this was a quietening of the transmission noises, an improvement in gear shifting (smoother changes and more responsive shifting) and removal of all the visible contamination in the auto transmission fluid. After checking the fluid for about 60,000 km with regular filter changes, no sign of discolouration or contamination was evident. The filters were changed at 20,000 km intervals to keep an eye on them, though they could have gone a lot further. The recommended interval for an auto transmission fluid drain and top-up on this vehicle (1985 Peugeot 505 GTI) was 20,000 km.

The filters seem to work their best in slower or stop/start traffic. After being caught in slow traffic the vehicle always seems even a little bit more quieter and smoother than normal when the traffic speeds up. After a highway journey however, it is not unusual to see a small amount of contaminants in the engine oil . I have put this down to the bypass valve being open more as the revs rise, and hence the oil amount of oil being pumped, at higher speeds. This contamination quickly disappears after a few kilometers in the city and is never a problem.

I have recently purchased my third Trasko. A smaller unit to fit my second-hand Peugeot 405 SRDT, and yes, I am having the same results of quieter and smoother engine with greater response, and have only driven on this new filter about 300 km to date. I don't have any long term thoughts on the filters performance yet as this is the first time I have tried it on a diesel powered vehicle. I am very happy though with the results so far and expect it to perform just as well as its predecessors.

Brett Robinson
Toukley
New South Wales, Australia

brobin "at" aussiemail "dot" com "dot" au


Disclaimer:
This testimonial is based on 20 years of personal experience of trial and error with the Trasko Oil Filtration system. All results discussed above are based on the facts as I can recall them. I do not have any official qualifications in relation to motor vehicles or their systems. They also involved a degree of judgmental thought and risk assessment; and assuming all responsibility for the outcome of what I did to my vehicle(s) fully on myself and not anyone else. I won't be held responsible and/or liable if anything adverse happens to your vehicle by following and/or duplicating what I have tried for myself, even though I have not personally had any adverse consequences happen that I know of. Please use common-sense and caution when trying anything new and weigh up the risks yourself (...if any) before deciding to proceed. If you
want to try anything that I have, then you assume the risk involved fully on yourself, and do not involve and/or blame me. Don't expect miracles to happen because they won't. But if they do...then you can
thank the Trasko Oil Filtration System.


Index to pic's (Sorry about the quality as I am a very amateur
photographer) :(

Pic 1: This filter is my second unit purchased in 1990. It has worked
for about 400,00 km and is still in full working order. I will use it on
my wife's new Hyundai if it fits OK.
Hint to users: Don't clamp your Trasko in a bench vice to undo
the T nut or you too will be buying a second unit.
Pic 2: Metric (M20) T nut.
Pic 3: Internals, note polishing of inside canister walls with long term
usage.
Pic 4: Close up of M20 T nut showing bypass holes. Note only a very
small amount of wear on valve stem after about 400,000 km.
Pic 5: Wear mark on T nut stem indicating where rear of valve travels to
as as the bypass valve opens at highway speeds.
Pic 6: Valve has been removed and replaced numerous times but thread
wear is negligible
Pic 7: This top mesh filter is from my first Trasko purchased in 1985, a
bit tired around the edges but it still works fine.
Pic 8: Same as Pic 7.
Pic 9: Even a sizeable chip from a stone has not stopped the filter from

Pic 1: This filter is my second unit purchased in 1990. It has worked
for about 400,00 km and is still in full working order. I will use it on
my wife's new Hyundai if it fits OK.
Hint to users: Don't clamp your Trasko in a bench vice to undo
the T nut or you too will be buying a second unit.

Pic 2: Metric (M20X1.5) T nut

Pic 3: Internals, note polishing of inside canister walls with long term
usage.

Pic 4: Close up of M20X1.5 T nut showing bypass holes. Note only a very small amount of wear on valve stem after about 400,000 km.

Pic 5:

Pic 6:

Pic 5: Wear mark on T nut stem indicating where rear of valve travels to as as the bypass valve opens at highway speeds.

Pic 6: Valve has been removed and replaced numerous times but thread wear is negligible

Pic 9: Even a sizeable chip from a stone has not stopped the filter from

working perfectly

Pic 7:

Pic 8: