Cutting open oil filter

[DieselPower]

Yes. If I find any quantity of metal in the filter I will pull the unit out of service and start to diagnose the problem. I saved a Silver 60 Detroit in a local fire truck last year doing this. I didn't see any metal in the oil but upon inspecting the filter found a good bit of metal. Upon teardown I found a main bearing that was starting to go out. Polished up the crank, rolled in a new set of main bearing's and it went on it's way. If I had waited for 1-2 weeks to get the lab results back (which did show very high wear metal levels) it might have been to late and spun the bearing and wiped the crank.

So what did my wast of time do. It saved having to do a out of frame overhaul. They ended up only paying for a oil pan removal and rolling in a new set of bearing's.

 

[Dallas_Lilly]

. If I had waited for 1-2 weeks to get the lab results back

I do not know if this will help you but our local Caterpillar Equipment Dealer (Empire Machinery) can turn a oil sample around in allot quicker time than that, most of the time if we give them a sample in the AM we can have it emailed back by the following AM. You might want to check with your local Cat dealer and see if they can offer the same service?

 

[DieselPower]

But they are not free. My UOA's are free from the oil manufacturer.

 

[john_bud]

If ya find something in the filter, then what??

pull the pan and start really looking because just finding a little piece of junk in the filter doesn't do you any good.???

its kind of like finding powdered metal or one metal flake on the oil plug magnet.

are you going to take the engine apart to find out where or just keep running it if there are no other issues??.

some things are better left alone.

Uh, I guess with that philosophy, you must pull out the bulb from the "Check Engine" light?

Best left alone? I think not.


jb

 

[dberry]

Uh, I guess with that philosophy, you must pull out the bulb from the "Check Engine" light?

Best left alone? I think not.


jb

No need to pull that bulb... It will go out on it's own eventually.

 

[jsborn]

Every time my check engine light comes on I look and the engine is still there so I figure it must be ok.

 

[KICK]

Uh, I guess with that philosophy, you must pull out the bulb from the "Check Engine" light?

Best left alone? I think not.


jb

you remind me of a handwringer. worry,worry ,worry.


when a person is insecure about machinery they tend to compensate by becoming overscientific and belittling people who don't follow the same philosophy or do things the way they do.

"check engine" lite doesn't mean don't drive it.

in many cases it doesn"t mean very much at all, unless you are insecure about vehicles and will have to take it to a mechanic to get it fixed.

then it becomes a source of anxiety and fear.

same with looking in the filter.

get out the crystal ball and take it to Madame Cleo'.

 

[KICK]

Yes. If I find any quantity of metal in the filter I will pull the unit out of service and start to diagnose the problem. I saved a Silver 60 Detroit in a local fire truck last year doing this. I didn't see any metal in the oil but upon inspecting the filter found a good bit of metal. Upon teardown I found a main bearing that was starting to go out. Polished up the crank, rolled in a new set of main bearing's and it went on it's way. If I had waited for 1-2 weeks to get the lab results back (which did show very high wear metal levels) it might have been to late and spun the bearing and wiped the crank.

So what did my wast of time do. It saved having to do a out of frame overhaul. They ended up only paying for a oil pan removal and rolling in a new set of bearing's.

I like this story. it sounds believable but it opens up quite a few questions

why would a mechanic cut open someones oil filter during an oil change? or did the customer make some other type of complaint ? implication being that DP cuts open filters on every oil change which means his boss woulda been on his butt for wasting time.


explain how you can find a quantity of metal in the oil filter that is from the bearings.???


didn't that metal have to pass thru a pickup screen on the oil pump inlet and then the gears in the pump. making the assumption that the particles are so small that they can pass thru the clearances of the oil pump, one wonders how you could see them with the naked eye.

since the crankshaft is in the oil pan and oil washes out of the bearings during operation don't the small pieces go to the bottom???.

maybe some details are left out of the story, that the customer had a complaint and DP was looking for it.

so you got to be careful what you want to believe.

clarification of what I said earleir:::As part of a routine oil change I think it is a waste of time to cut open the oil filter, if you have a specific problem it qualifies as a cheap EZ test.

 

[patrick_g]

Gee, you guys are brutal! Every time a cautious citizen talks about doing something you don't do then that action is surely bad and wrong. I realize our vehicles and equipment aren't space shuttles and we don't have to have teams combing through everything with inspection scopes. Still, when someone has a filter cuter, just how difficult can it be to open the filter, squeeze part of the media, and take a look for "stuff" (with or without a scanning electron microscope or a Tricorder?)

I don't know the mesh size of all the oil screens in all the sumps of all the engines out there but my limited experience indicates that they pass stuff that won't pass the filter and the stuff they pass may be visible, sometimes as a single piece and sometimes in aggregate. If "stuff" couldn't make it from the sump, through the screen, past the pump, and into the filter, they why have a filter, nothing is going to get there unless it is so small it doesn't matter if it circulates, right? (Do I get to exaggerate a little or has the quota already been used up?)

Oh, this bulletin just in... I was just passed a note explaining how the check engine light is a scam perpetrated by the MFG to make service dollars and that oil analysis and filter media examination are manifestations of paranoid delusional behavior triggered from knowing too much science and engineering while maintaining concern for the probability and possibility of a loss of time and money due to a preventable failure that could easily have been averted by simple and inexpensive analysis.

Disregard the previous comments.

pat

 

[Egon]

Uhh -- If the gas cap rag gets found in the oil filter then you may have a problem!