Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Filter Minder

[JR]

Any thoughts on where I can source a filter minder for my air cleaner? Ive tried the dealer, local auto parts stores and salvage yards with no luck.

 

[Sticks]

They are a common part on heavy equipment. I can't recall where we get them at work, but they are available. Try Caterpillar/Wagner, Mack (Class 8 trucks) Kenworth... any OTR truck parts warehouse, or just plug the hole and get rid of the thing. I never trusted them.

 

[JR]

Are all filter minders the same? I assumed they were engine specific. Ive got it plugged off right now, would kind of prefer to have one back in it though unless they are a rediculous amount.

 

[mwilson]

Are all filter minders the same? I assumed they were engine specific. Ive got it plugged off right now, would kind of prefer to have one back in it though unless they are a rediculous amount.

JR,

They all read in the same range, difference is in the connection and mounting. I'll see what I can find for you this morning.



Don't hold me to this, but I am thinking $20. 00 or so.



Mike.

 

[BigPapa]

Pretty sure they were available from Dodge less than a year ago. Mike's right, seems like it was @ $20. 00.

 

[MChrist]

They are all similar, but I'm 99% sure they have different ratings or readings. I just changed out one last night on one of our '07 Isuzus. New one said "Fram" and the red line to change filter was around 22" of water column. The one I replaced went red at 30" of water column. The old one got water in it, froze, split the plastic case and was allowing junk to get past it. Of course, the filter minder is placed between the filter and the engine, so that was just great...

 

[CKelley1]

it is wix 24801 seen one on amazon for $16

 

[JR]

I did check my dealer and they said they were no longer available. Mike, Im assuming your looking through Cummins? That would be great, thank you.
CKelley, I never even thought to check Amazon since they werent available through the dealer, thanks for the info.

 

[mwilson]

I did check my dealer and they said they were no longer available. Mike, Im assuming your looking through Cummins? That would be great, thank you.

CKelley, I never even thought to check Amazon since they werent available through the dealer, thanks for the info.

No, tried Dodge first. I went out to my truck and got the part number off of it. No longer available as you discovered. Cummins/Fleetguard does not offer that style with the grommet mount.



So I started digging and came up with a Napa 4801. That is the same as CKelly's 24801. Have been checking and found some as low as $9. 00 but shipping brings it right up to $18. 00 - $21. 00 in a hurry. I think that I would march right into my local NAPA and see what they would give you for a price.

If NAPA wont give you a decent price the most reliable source I found would be Rock Auto at $13. 57 plus $5. 37 in freight. Find one of those 5% discount codes that are floating around and it might make it your best deal.

If you try that just go into the Rock Auto site and do a parts search using the 24801 as the part number and Wix as the supplier.



And I did discover that there are at least two upper ranges, 20 and 25. I did not know that... ...



Mike.

 

[JR]

Its pretty amazing, the guys at Napa cant find their own parts but you can They were one of 3 places I tried before calling the dealership. can you elaborate on the different ranges?

Thank you for the leg work guys,



JR

 

[mwilson]

Its pretty amazing, the guys at Napa cant find their own parts but you can They were one of 3 places I tried before calling the dealership. can you elaborate on the different ranges?

Thank you for the leg work guys,



JR

That is the difference between a parts man that learned with books, hand written inventory cards and a tape measure in the pre internet days (or a hands on dude like CKelly) or a parts man trained on a computer using make, model and year... ... the filter minder you need is not tied to a Ram pick-up in any fashion in the NAPA parts system, therefore not easily found unless you are a crusty old timer...



All of the restriction gauges that we have at Freightliner go to 25, maybe the ones with a warning at 20 are for non-turbochaged engines. That is the only thing that I can think of. Went to 25 on turbo engines so the thing wasn't locked all the time as a result of temporary high boost/high draw situations.



Just my theory at least.



Oh, if you call NAPA again the line code is FIL. So you want an "FIL 4801". If you don't tell them that you may wind up with a wheel cylinder.



Mike.

 

[Tractorat]

Im not knocking NAPA here. For years and years and years, the napa stores Ive dealt with have all be reasonably knowledgeable. Mostly quite knowledgeable. But this weekend, I went to the local store and was quite amazed. The guy that was helping me must have been very new. Maybe just a couple of days. (But he looked like he was in his 50's). I dont think the "boss" had worked there much longer. Maybe a week or 2. He was probably in his late 40's.

I was looking for some lug nuts for my TT. They weren't able to help me, no big deal. But they almost didnt know where to look. A kid came in (maybe mid to late 20's) who had an 85 ford pickup that he said was leaking oil. And he wondered if they had something that would stop the leak. The boss told him that the 1985 ford PU came stock with 5/20 weight oil (can that be true ?) and to put 10/30 oil in it. That would fix the leak.

I kept my mouth shut. I didnt ask him if the oil was leaking out on the ground, or what oil he normally used. (For all I know, he may never had changed the oil, and is just now noticing the oil level is going down)

Anyway, I felt sorry for the kid if that is where he is getting advice from. He did buy some 10/30, but I hope he asks someone else about the problem.

 

[Ozymandias]

Bought mine from stevewhiteparts a couple of months ago, original Mopar. Cheap.
3. Gen has also the mount with the rubber grommet.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DODGE-RAM-C...220&pid=100005&prg=1088&rk=1&sd=181035435369&

Or is this part different from the 2. Gen?

 

[mwilson]

Im not knocking NAPA here. For years and years and years, the napa stores Ive dealt with have all be reasonably knowledgeable. Mostly quite knowledgeable. But this weekend, I went to the local store and was quite amazed. The guy that was helping me must have been very new. Maybe just a couple of days. (But he looked like he was in his 50's). I dont think the "boss" had worked there much longer. Maybe a week or 2. He was probably in his late 40's.



I was looking for some lug nuts for my TT. They weren't able to help me, no big deal. But they almost didnt know where to look. A kid came in (maybe mid to late 20's) who had an 85 ford pickup that he said was leaking oil. And he wondered if they had something that would stop the leak. The boss told him that the 1985 ford PU came stock with 5/20 weight oil (can that be true ?) and to put 10/30 oil in it. That would fix the leak.



I kept my mouth shut. I didnt ask him if the oil was leaking out on the ground, or what oil he normally used. (For all I know, he may never had changed the oil, and is just now noticing the oil level is going down)



Anyway, I felt sorry for the kid if that is where he is getting advice from. He did buy some 10/30, but I hope he asks someone else about the problem.

It is kinda' sad, NAPA has millions of parts available but has always suffered from a lack of product knowledge in the counter help. Sometimes there is a shining star working there but you have to be able to identify and then separate him from the herd.



They have a ton of Class 8 stuff at their disposal, but have never hit it off in this area.

You need special counterfolk to deal with trucks.

They can steal part numbers off invoices to cross-reference and such to get by but when it takes know how they are dead in the water every time.



Mike.

 

[JR]

Generally the guys at my local Napa are pretty good. The 2 guys that own it are there everyday and are family. They are my 2nd choice, my first is a locally owned parts store (no franchise like NAPA) and he is awesome. If something doesnt show up in the computer, he knows how to find it. The DOT posts all come to him along with the the township and county guys. I generally ask for him but he wasnt around the day I called in. After everybody else had told me they couldnt get one, I really didnt second guess it.
Thanks again guys,
JR

 

[mwilson]

Generally the guys at my local Napa are pretty good. The 2 guys that own it are there everyday and are family. They are my 2nd choice, my first is a locally owned parts store (no franchise like NAPA) and he is awesome. If something doesnt show up in the computer, he knows how to find it. The DOT posts all come to him along with the the township and county guys. I generally ask for him but he wasnt around the day I called in. After everybody else had told me they couldnt get one, I really didnt second guess it.

Thanks again guys,

JR

I didn't mean to knock them in general, if things had turned out differently after High School I would have owned a NAPA store or two by the time I turned 30. I worked at and pretty much ran one my last two years of High School. My favorite tool was a dog-eared Balkamp book, there was everything in that stupid book.



If they upped the pay scale to draw heavy duty trained help they could really do some damage to truck dealers and the aftermarket. They don't seem to want to take that step and it costs them in missed sales.



Mike.

 

[JR]

Mike your totally right in everything you said. Theyre obviously not as up on the wheel as you are

 

[HBarlow]

Mike,

Would it be likely that the only thing that determines what pressure a filter minder is calibrated for is probably the spring inside?

 

[MChrist]

Mike,

Would it be likely that the only thing that determines what pressure a filter minder is calibrated for is probably the spring inside?

Yes, the spring is the resistance to vacuum. There are 10" water column filter minders also. So I've seen 10, 20 or 22, and 30. All seem around $20. Ones mounted under a hood are much more reliable than an external mounted one like our Isuzus at work. Yesterday I replaced a very fouled filter on one '07 Isuzu NRR whose filter minder said was fine. Today, I checked our other two Isuzus and found the same situation, just worse. One truck had 53,000 miles on the filter and it was so fouled that the light from a very bright (tactical) flashlight could not be seen anywhere when shone from inside the cylindrical filter to the outside. I really have no idea how the truck even ran.
53,000 miles doesn't sound like a lot of miles, but our trucks drive down many miles of dirt and gravel roads every day. 30,000 is when a working filter minder sucks down to the red zone for us.
I will no longer depend on them for valid information.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Generally the guys at my local Napa are pretty good. The 2 guys that own it are there everyday and are family. They are my 2nd choice, my first is a locally owned parts store (no franchise like NAPA) and he is awesome. If something doesnt show up in the computer, he knows how to find it. The DOT posts all come to him along with the the township and county guys. I generally ask for him but he wasnt around the day I called in. After everybody else had told me they couldnt get one, I really didnt second guess it.

Thanks again guys,

JR

Finding a good parts house is like a gold mine. The one that I used in Ca was good then the young man that I would wait for to get my parts left and the place went to hell in a hat basket. Here in MT the Napa guy is one of the best parts men I have EVER found he remembers your car,truck, tractor,lawnmower what ever you have and has yet even had to look up a part number and has NEVER gave me the wrong part ,the best part of the deal for me is that he is Retired Air Force and gives me a break on the price I told him that I would be happy to pay double KNOWING THAT WHEN I GET THE PART HOME THAT IT IS THE RIGHT ONE AND WONT HAVE TO MAKE A RETURN TRIP TO THE PARTS HOUSE.