Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Old Air Filters are good for your truck>??

[TnLRacing]

A friend of mine has a 2001 3500 DRW with the mighty Cummins. His turbo took a dump the other day , so off to the dealer it went for warranty work. They fixed it without any problems, but the service manager told him the turbo failure was caused by changing the air filter before the filter minder said it was time to. He actually went on to say that a new filter lets more junk into your induction system than a old dirty filter does... Is that a line of crap or what??

 

[darkhorse]

I believe that sevice manager was correct. The dust helps block more dust as the openings in the filter medium slowly fill in. Strang eh?

 

[TnLRacing]

I understand that , but a Clean filter is Harmful for your turbo... .

 

[bmoeller]

How did the turbo fail? Does he let it cool off before shutdown? Don't really think a bad air filter would have necessarily ruined the turbo. Could be wrong though, depending on the cause.



My boss owned a self-propelled field sprayer. The previous owner wasn't very good on maintenance. The air filter failed (in high dust conditions) and dusted the engine. It was overhauled at 980hrs. The turbo was replaced (dealer wouldn't guarantee the o/haul if it wasn't changed), but it felt just like new. Probably would've lasted quite a while longer. The blades on the compressor wheel were polished a bit, but didn't look like it was enough to be a problem.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Problem with old, dirty filters is, that while they might be filtering better, they ALSO grow more restricted, and operate less efficiently at passing airflow to the engine. That is one of the advantages to a filter such as the K&N oiled fabric type - it too becomes more efficient at filtration as it gets more use - but still maintains excellent airflow well beyond the mileage the stock paper filter become a serious problem to the engine...

 

[rrausch]

Ditto on the K&N. Not to hijack the thread, but I've run a stock-box K&N for almost 100,000 miles, and my Silicon numbers have always come back 3 or 4.

 

[TnLRacing]

No doubt he killed the turbo by shutting down hot, he never waits to shut down

 

[B.G. Smith]

[QUOTE... Is that a line of crap or what?? [/B][/QUOTE] Line of crap, yes. For best efficiency of the engine and of course for the turbo charger to operate at it's peak, a clean filter is necessary. The inlet to the turbo is fed by 14. 7 psi air at sea level. When the filter minder registers, it is indicating that less than that pressure is available. Any reduction in inlet pressure reduces the outlet pressure of the turbo which results in less boost. Oh, and by the way, you won't get as tired if you don't get up and go to work in the morning. bg