one of those out of sight out of mind things

[6V92TA]

had this truck 2.25 years. 49,3xx miles
never once looked at the air filter.

 

[mwilson]

I’m not going to get up on my soapbox for two reasons.....

(1) I’ve done the same thing myself...

(2) People change Diesel air filters way too often anyways. In a perfect world they should be changed only when a quality air restriction gauge says so.

 

[TFucili]

And I'll bet that filter would still flow plenty of air on a flow bench. When I was in the equipment business, "over servicing" of air filters was a big concern. People introduced more dirt into the clean slide fooling with it than if they just left it alone.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Actually looks just as good as mine at 15-20k

 

[mwilson]

And I'll bet that filter would still flow plenty of air on a flow bench. When I was in the equipment business, "over servicing" of air filters was a big concern. People introduced more dirt into the clean slide fooling with it than if they just left it alone.

Same here, these guys with double air cleaners the size of a VW seem to think those need to be changed every couple months or so. Knock loose a pile of dirt everytime they pull them out that falls right into the inlet tubing....

 

[seafish]

FYI--Those air filters are rated to hold 540 grams of dust/particulates while still allowing adequate air flow and proper filtration. That's well over a POUND of dust it can hold and still function!!!

 

[6V92TA]

as it says on many a Donaldson Air Cleaner Housing " DO NOT OVERSERVICE THE FILTER ELEMENT".

I think I timed the service interval about right. LOL

 

[gsbrockman]

So much for reading the owner’s manual and abiding by the 30k service interval.....

 

[andymac]

Our filters are way worse than that at 5K miles. Our trucks have nothing but dirt roads and dust clouds all day long and fill that sucker up quick. Went through 40+ of those last year. Sounds like a bunch but these engines work forever if you keep er clean. What is "overservicing" an air filter? Cant see the harm in changing it every ten minutes if you want to.

 

[seafish]

What is "overservicing" an air filter? Cant see the harm in changing it every ten minutes if you want to.

Well let's do the math...6 filters per hour at $20 each is $120 per hour to operate your truck just for the air filters. Won't harm the engine, but don't see how you are going be able to AFFORD to run a truck based on that air filter service interval alone, let alone other service costs.

Don't get me wrong, I am a filter "geek"...I added both a fill sized hydraulic filter to serve as a power steering fluid filter and also a coolant bypass filter to my 2005, as well as the Mopar SDFK and GDP 2 micron fuel filter kits. In short, I LIKE excessive filtration capability and think that extra filtration capacity is important in the longevity of these trucks. That being said, extra filtration capacity actually EXTENDS the life of any individual filter so you don't need to change them as often.

 

[Busa Dave]

Our filters are way worse than that at 5K miles. Our trucks have nothing but dirt roads and dust clouds all day long and fill that sucker up quick. Went through 40+ of those last year. Sounds like a bunch but these engines work forever if you keep er clean. What is "overservicing" an air filter? Cant see the harm in changing it every ten minutes if you want to.

Absolutely! Vast majority here are on road guys who would have a stroke if they had to drive on the roads or non roads I do. Went to the ranch Friday came back Saturday 1026 miles round trip but had to take some pictures of oil producer damage and ongoing remediation to our ranch. 110 on Friday wind very light at 20mph. Sometimes wind is 60mph note the top of the damage picture that is my rig. The step bars are black but look white. Spent an hour cleaning the engine bay, AFE filter from my AFE intake and the heat exchangers out! To the OP my filters get much worse than that in just a single trip home through West Texas during a dust storm!

 

[andymac]

Yep similar situation here as well. Had two forest fires last year and turned that filter black in about 48 hours. When you have tractors and trucks that you depend on you quickly learn about the cost benefit of basic maintenance. I couldnt agree more on extra filter capacity to a point. You dont want to add unnecessary complexity when town is a two hour trip. Also, its certainly easier to change em out when you are doing it, but try training a whole gaggle of employees to also remember to check them. Hard enough time reminding them to show up for work.

 

[Newsa]

Yeah. Looks

Actually looks just as good as mine at 15-20k

As good as mine at 18k.

Now at almost 45k. But I've changed it every 2 years. And I'm at 4.75 years

 

[Busa Dave]

Absolutely! Vast majority here are on road guys who would have a stroke if they had to drive on the roads or non roads I do. Went to the ranch Friday came back Saturday 1026 miles round trip but had to take some pictures of oil producer damage and ongoing remediation to our ranch. 110 on Friday wind very light at 20mph. Sometimes wind is 60mph note the top of the damage picture that is my rig. The step bars are black but look white. Spent an hour cleaning the engine bay, AFE filter from my AFE intake and the heat exchangers out! To the OP my filters get much worse than that in just a single trip home through West Texas during a dust storm! View attachment 107505View attachment 107506

Here is cleaned up picture. Looks like the typical "Mall Crawler" that never gets off the pavement BUT if you look behind the front wheel notice that I missed putting on the tire dressing on the suspension. Oh well in 3 weeks it is going to look the same again most likely......

 

[Flash1034]

On a side note, what size tires and wheels are you running? Looks great.

 

[Busa Dave]

Thanks--those are Nitto Ridge Grapplers 35x13.50-20 and the Wheels are SOTA. The tires are just simply put some of the best I have used this is the 3rd set on 2 different trucks and they are load range F and for these I can air them up high enough to keep the sensors from tripping the TPMS. Road force balance is what I use and these take very little weight, couple of tires took less than 2oz the others less than 3oz. In West Texas smooth even at 90 almost as smooth as my sports cars lol...

 

[andymac]

Very nice truck BUSA. Mine was clean like that once. For about 20 minutes coming from the dealer.

 

[AEdelheit]

What is "overservicing" an air filter? Cant see the harm in changing it every ten minutes if you want to.

Its the dirt that gets into the intake when you pull out the filter that is the problem, not the filter itself.

 

[6V92TA]

What is "overservicing" an air filter? Cant see the harm in changing it every ten minutes if you want to.

Servicing Your Air Filter – to Change or Not to Change?
#ad


A major cause of over-servicing can sometimes be ‘better to be safe than sorry’ where users consider time or odometer readings rather than airflow restriction measurement to be used to determine when to service. In the case of air cleaners, more servicing is not better.

Servicing too frequently prevents the air filter from ever reaching its peak efficiency. In addition, the risk of engine damage increases every time the air filter is removed from the air cleaner housing.


https://www.donaldson.com/en-us/engine/filters/technical-articles/servicing-by-restriction/

 

[mwilson]

Its the dirt that gets into the intake when you pull out the filter that is the problem, not the filter itself.

Servicing Your Air Filter – to Change or Not to Change?
#ad


A major cause of over-servicing can sometimes be ‘better to be safe than sorry’ where users consider time or odometer readings rather than airflow restriction measurement to be used to determine when to service. In the case of air cleaners, more servicing is not better.

Servicing too frequently prevents the air filter from ever reaching its peak efficiency. In addition, the risk of engine damage increases every time the air filter is removed from the air cleaner housing.


https://www.donaldson.com/en-us/engine/filters/technical-articles/servicing-by-restriction/

What these guys just said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have attended various engine and filter workshops over the last twenty years...EVERY engine and filter manufacturer say the same thing....don't overservice the air filter element.

But for those that know better I stock and sell plenty of air cleaner elements!!!

Customer is always right........