Installation for EZ Bypass Filter Kit for ALH Engines Only

This page includes detailed instructions on how to install the EZ Bypass Filter Kit, including; the oil feed line, bypass filter base and the Kynar clean oil return line. To install the EZ Bypass Filter Kit along with the oil feed and oil return you will need the all the items listed below, including the tools.

Dieselgeek Bypass Filter Kit parts list:

Tools needed:

  • 6mm Allen wrench or socket
  • 10mm socket for removing engine cover
  • 14mm open end wrench or socket
  • 9/16 combination wrench
  • #2 Phillips head screwdriver (medium size)
  • 24mm or 15/16" combination wrench (open end/box end)
  • 5mm Allen wrench or socket (VC return only)
  • 3/8" or 1/2 inch electric drill with variable speed control trigger (VC return only)
  • 21/64" or size "Q" drill bit (VC return only)
  • Torx T25 for removing oil baffle inside of valve cover (VC return only)
  • Center punch (VC return only)
  • Hammer (VC return only)

Supplies needed:

  • One quart of the same motor oil as what you are currently using.
  • Brake cleaner spray
  • WD-40 or equivalent light machine oil spray
  • Shop rags or paper towels

 

Installing Oil Feed Line and Bypass Filter Base

1.      Always work on a cold engine. Take a quick look at Step 10 before proceeding.

2.      First remove engine cover, if you are using one by removing the three mounting nuts with a 10mm socket. All Mid-1999 and most 2000 Golf and Jetta TDI use oil filter housings that have two oil pressure ports on the passenger side of the oil filter housing. Early cars will have a 5mm Allen plug on the oil filter housing. If your car has the second lower port available for use you may elect to use that port as your oil feed line attachment point. Skip to Step 7 if you are going to use the lower port.


2 Oil pressure ports
(2001 and later cars do not
have lower port.)


5mm Allen plug (up to 2001)

 

3.      Unplug oil pressure sender on lower left side of oil filter housing. There is a catch that must be depressed away from the sender in order to remove this plug. (Sometimes this step is easier after you loosen the sender with your 15/16" or 24mm wrench as it rotates the plug into a position where you can see the release catch.)


Unclip plug from the Sender


Loosen the Sender


4.      Unclip the oil pressure sender wire loom from the plastic keeper that holds it. This will give you enough slack to plug the sender wire back into the sender in its new position.


Unclip Oil Pressure Sender wire


5.      Place rags below the oil pressure sender to catch the motor oil that will run out after the sender is removed. Next, loosen the sender with a 24mm or 15/16" wrench. Remove sender and clean it with brake cleaner spray and an old tooth brush and/or a shop rag if it is dirty.


Loosen the Sender


Remove Sender


6.      Thread clean oil pressure sender into female side of "Piggyback" banjo bolt. Tighten to 18 ft-lbs. or "pretty snug". Use either in a vise or counter-tighten the sender into the banjo fitting with a 9/16" box end wrench and 15/16" (or 24mm) box end wrench.


"Piggyback" Banjo bolt


Thread Pressure Sender In


Either tighten sender in a Vice


Or Counter Tighten by hand


7.      Place one of the aluminum sealing washers onto the male end of the "Piggyback" banjo bolt or standard banjo bolt if you had one in your kit and you are using the lower port.  Next, slide banjo bolt through the banjo fitting (standard banjo image) of the supplied braided steel oil supply hose.  If you are using the lower oil pressure port, remove the Allen plug from your oil filter housing with a 5mm Allen wrench. Later oil cap return kits did not come with standard banjo bolts but you may create a standard banjo bolt by threading the Allen plug into the end of the Piggyback banjo bolt like this picture shows. With the modified piggyback banjo you may use the lower oil pressure port if your engine has one.


Aluminum Sealing Washer


Place one washer on the
Male end of the
"Piggyback" Banjo bolt


Or on the standard banjo
bolt if you are using the
lower oil pressure port



Slide bolt through hollow
oil line fitting


Standard Banjo Image


8.      Place the second aluminum sealing washer onto the male end of the banjo bolt (standard banjo picture) and hand thread the banjo bolt into the oil filter pressure port of choice. Leave the oil line slightly loose as you will be "clocking" it in Step 13. Your installed oil line will look Figure A if you used the lower port and it will look Figure B if you used the upper port. If you are using the lower port and you have modified your piggyback banjo bolt by threading in the Allen plug provided on the earlier ALH engines then your oil feed line will look like this.


Aluminum sealing washer
with other sealing washer
on the male end


Standard Banjo Image


Fig A.


Fig B.


9.      If you used the upper oil pressure sender port and "Piggyback" banjo bolt, plug the oil pressure sender wire back into the oil pressure sender once the sender and banjo bolt has been threaded in and is almost tight. Pull gently on the plug to make sure the catch of the plug is fully engaged. This plug and wire supplies a signal for the low oil pressure warning light and alarm in the instrument cluster.

10.  If you have not already done so, unthread the Amsoil bypass filter from the aluminum filter base. Make sure to fill the bypass filter through the center hole with new motor oil. The filter will hold nearly a quart of oil if you start filling 30 minutes before you need to lower the assembly into the engine bay. (Do not worry if you cannot fill the filter completely as the engine will finish the job for you when you start the engine.)  Next, rethread filter onto filter base. Make sure it is very snug and make sure to keep the filter upright after filling!

11.  Lower the aluminum base with pre-filled bypass filter onto the oil filter housing. The top of the aluminum filter base must be even with the top of the aluminum part of the oil filter housing. With a 6mm Allen wrench, tighten the Allen clamping screw to 10 ft-lbs. and be aware that over tightening this Allen screw can damage the filter housing.  Note that there are several degrees of adjustability (clockwise or counter-clockwise) in where you tighten the bypass filter housing. You may rotate the housing to position the bypass filter as far from other objects as possible.  Please note that the bypass filter will likely touch one of the coolant hoses running to the oil cooler below and it will also likely touch the fatter of the A/C lines but this is o.k.


Aluminum filter base
must be even with
top of the stock
aluminum filter housing


Allen Clamping Screw


12.  If there is an electrical switch installed into your upper radiator hose, loosen the hose clamp for the upper radiator hose at the switch housing and rotate the switch housing upwards by a small amount. This will prevent contact between the switch housing and bypass filter housing.

13.  Attach the braided stainless steel oil line to the filter bases conical 90 degree elbow by using a 14mm or 9/16" wrench (later BEW engine shown). Sometimes it helps to spray the fitting nut with WD-40 to allow it to tighten without twisting the braided oil feed line. Here is a top view of the fittings after they are attached. "Pretty snug" is the torque spec on the fitting nut. Do not over tighten as it wears out the conical sealing surfaces!


90 Degree Elbow


Spray Fitting Nut


Top View


14.  Tighten the banjo bolt at the lower end of the braided steel hose so that is "pretty snug". (18 ft-lbs is the official specification though getting a torque wrench on this is hard to achieve in such tight space.)  Do not over tighten! Also, make sure the oil line makes a nice sweeping curve as it rises to the top of the oil filter housing.


Tighten Banjo Bolt


Installing the Kynar Clean Oil Return Line

If you have ordered the version of this kit with the oil cap return all you need to do is install the oil cap and insert the provided Kynar line fully into the oil cap fitting and the bypass oil filter base fitting. Next, please review Steps 10-13 below. If you chose the Valve Cover return option, begin at Step 1 below.

1.      With a Phillips head screwdriver, remove the oil breather hose from the oil breather on top of the valve cover. Next, remove the seven valve cover Allen screws with your 5mm Allen wrench or socket. Set valve cover upside down on a clean work surface.

2.      With a T25 Torx screwdriver, remove the four screws which hold the oil baffle inside the valve cover. Set baffle and T25 Torx screws aside.


Remove four Torx 25 screws


3.      Locate the spot where you will drill the 21/64" hole on the valve cover. There is a flat area on the far right side of the valve cover and the acceptable range of the return port is shown by this picture though the perfect spot is marked with a yellow paint spot and is 1/2 inch above the valve cover mounting flange surface. Mark the hole location with a permanent marker and then place the point of your center punch on this spot. Hit the center punch smartly with a hammer, making a nice round divot in the aluminum surface. This divot will keep the drill bit from walking around when you drill the 21/64" hole with the electric drill. Hold the valve cover steady as you drill the hole. While drilling the hole make sure to keep the drill bit perpendicular to the surface you are drilling into. Clean around the hole after you drill it by spraying it with brake cleaner spray or blowing it off with compressed air.


Acceptable Range


Drilling Hole in Valve Cover


4.      Once the hole is drilled, swap the drill bit out for the 1/8-27 NPT tap supplied with the kit. Chuck up the tap on the smooth round part of the shank. Turn the drill motor on briefly to make sure the tap is chucked up correctly and spins smoothly without wobbling. Next, wrap the tap with Teflon tape while leaving only the last 1/2" exposed. (This Teflon tape is a depth guide for tapping the valve cover hole.)

5.      Next, spray the tap generously with the WD-40 or equivalent. Finally, while holding the tap perpendicular to the drilled hole, start the drill motor at 1/4 full speed and let the tap pull itself into the 21/64" hole. Once you have plunged into the hole up to the point where the Teflon tape is wrapped around the tap, stop and reverse the drill motor while making sure to keep the tap perpendicular to the drilled surface and run the drill in reverse at only 1/4 full speed, maximum. Clean the tapped hole with a few generous shots of brake cleaner spray and/or compressed air.


1/8-27 NPT Tap


Smooth part of shank
with Teflon tape
depth guide shown

Keep tap perpendicular
to valve cover face


6.      Wrap the threads of the single push-to-connect fitting about three times with Teflon tape. Next, thread the fitting by hand into your newly drilled and tapped valve cover hole. With a 12mm box end wrench, tighten the fitting until it is nice and snug. Here is a view of the installed fitting inside the valve cover.


Push-to-connect fitting
about three times with
Teflon tape


Thread Teflon wrapped
fitting in by hand


12mm Box End Wrench


Fitting Inside Valve Cover


7.      Replace the oil baffle and the T25 Torx screws. Make sure the sealing grommet on the baffle is situated correctly in its hole. This picture shows where this seal wanted to roll over.


Sealing Grommet


This shows where the
seal started to roll over


8.      With clean rags or shop towels, clean both the cylinder head gasket surface and the valve covers integral rubber gasket. Reinstall the valve cover with its seven Allen screws. You must install the valve cover screw under the return oil port first. The torque spec on the seven Allen screws is 10Nm / 7ft-lb. Three spare Allen screws were provided in case you damaged the Allen drive hole of a few of the screws. Finally, reconnect the oil breather hose with the hose clamp and Phillips screwdriver

9.      Installing the return tubing: You want to have a nice, smooth flowing bend on this line when installed between the valve cover and bypass oil filter housing. Connecting the opaque Kynar return tubing requires you to simply insert the line 15mm deep into the fitting until it positively stops (.600"). In the likely case that you need to trim the opaque Kynar return line, we provided a new razor blade for this purpose. To cut the line, first set the line on a hard surface. Grasp the blade with both hands on the thick end of the razor blade (duh!) and slice downward, making a nice flat 90 degree cut (right angle). (Please do not trim more than 1/8" inch at a time as 10% of our customers cut too much line the first time.)  Insert the trimmed line fully 15mm into both fittings (.600") and check whether the engine sound dampening cover touches the line anywhere.

Please make sure your Kynar line pushes into the fittings on both ends by .600" which is a little more than half an inch. There is an internal set of barbs inside the fittings that must be fully engaged to work correctly.


Smooth Flowing Bend


Make only 90 degree
cuts 1/8 inch at a time!


10.  To disconnect the line: push the outer chrome ring on the push-to-connect fitting toward the fitting while gently pulling on the line and the line will come out of the fitting. Trim the line further to reduce or eliminate contact between the return line and the engine cover. Please note that this Kynar tubing is very, very tough but you still will want to minimize the contact it has with any other objects. Also, try not to cycle the Kynar tubing in and out of the fittings too many times as seeps can develop at fittings that have been removed/reinstalled too many times.


Push Outer Chrome Ring


11.  Check all oil line unions to make sure they are tight and secure. Make sure you added the 1/2 to 3/4 quart of engine oil to the bypass filter and that the bypass filter canister is very snug.  Once both the stainless braided oil feed line and the return oil tubing has been installed you should have someone start your engine while you watch for leaks. You should see the opaque line fill with oil within 10-20 seconds of start up and no leaks should be present. If there are seeps or leaks, turn engine off and tighten the union which is leaking by a small amount. Make sure to clean it off with brake cleaner and test again.  If there are no leaks, take a short test drive and check for leaks again.  Also, give the oil a few minutes to drain back to the oil pan and with your dipstick recheck your oil level. Make sure to recheck the assembly for seeps a few times in the next week. Tighten fittings in small steps if there are seeps to prevent over-tightening.

12.  Replace the engine cover only after you have checked for seeps and all potential rub spots have been located and fixed. Leaving the engine cover off for a week or two is a good idea to keep an eye on things.

13.  If you have selected the oil cap return option you may use a Dremel tool to make a clearance window in the engine cover for the Kynar return line like this.

Servicing the Bypass Filter

1. When you need to change the bypass filter, reach in with both hands and loosen the Amsoil filter canister only to the point of your being sure you can finish loosening it when it is out of the engine bay.

2. Next, detach the braided stainless oil feed line at the top of the bypass filter housing with a 9/16 wrench.

3. To disconnect the Kynar line: push the outer chrome ring on the push-to-connect fitting toward the fitting while gently pulling on the line and the line will come out of the fitting.

4. Loosen the 8mm Allen screw (with 6mm Allen wrench) that clamps the bypass filter housing to the full-flow oil filter housing. Lift the assembly out of the engine bay and finish servicing the filter out of the car. Make sure to pre-fill the new bypass filter before reinstalling the assembly. On reassembly, please make sure your Kynar line pushes into the fittings on both ends by .600 of an inch which is a little more than half an inch. There is an internal set of barbs inside the fittings that must be fully engaged to work correctly.


To release line:
push on outer chrome
ring toward fitting
and pull line out of fitting.


Have any questions? Email me directly at jim@dieselgeek.com with any questions, suggestions, comments, or random superlatives...