A friend of mine sells Amsoil and I believe Hastings filters. He said for 36 dollars I can purchase a washable air filter for my 2001 7.3 diesel. Am I better off with a washable that will last a long time or should I keep using the paper filters?

 

Stick with the paper filters, they will keep out the dirt much better. Do a search for "Tymar" and "AIS" for two of the most popular aftermarket air intakes. You should also find information on a do-it-yourself setup that is similar to the Tymar.

 

I personally do not like washable filters on turbo or supercharged diesels.

 

I use washable filter, and so does a good friend of mine. I have 198K miles on mine and he is close to 300K. We both use the S&B round filter.

What ever you use, the key is a tight seal in the box, for a stock replacement. Even with the stock folter, you could seep dirt around the filter if not properly seated.

 

My thoughts on this subjuect are as follows: From the air filters perspective, an engine is an engine is an engine. It shouldn't matter if the engine is gasoline, diesel, or alternative fuel, as long as it gets adequate amounts of clean air. The only two factors to really consider are filtration ability, i.e., how small of particulates can the filter remove, and how much air flow does the filter allow without becoming restrictive. There have been many types of filter designs over the years, from steel mesh bathed in oil, to paper, to cloth and synthetic materials. I think the all have certain advantages and disadvantages over the others. While it's true that a good, well made paper filter was (and still is) a vast improvement over the old oil bath steel mesh that it replaced, it was done for a reason...cost. It cost the manufacturer much less to put in a paper element than it did to build an oil-filled can with a steel mesh element. Face it, paper is cheap! In addition, it also let the manufacturer see further sales down the road as the customer now had to replace the filter rather than servicing it. From the majority of reports that I've read, the re-usable filter do a superior job in the filtration department because the filtering medium can be designed especially for that purpose. This superior filtration of course requires that the user properly maintain the filter in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations. As for air flow, the re-usable filters do need to be a bit larger in order to flow the same amount of air as a clean paper element, but this is because they plug up quicker due to the fact that they are filtering out smaller particulates.

The bottom line I suppose then is convenience. If your the kind of person who doesn't mind servicing your air filter on a regular basis, then the re-usable design will certainly save you money over the long run. If however, your like me, (lazy) then I find it far less of a hasslt to just drop in a new paper element. Nothing to wash, no oils or treatments to deal with, just nice, fast and clean.

One other thing to consider: If you look at dirtbikes and ATV's, vehicles designed to run in the dirt and sand, you mostly see foam or re-usable elements being used. Why?? It obviously costs the manufacturer more money to put in this type of air filter than a paper one, so I can only think that there must be a reason for the added expense.

Just my 2 cents!

 

So how often should a reuseable filter be cleaned? Or at least reoiled, to protect the motor?

 

I would say that all depends on the conditions in which it has been operating. If your operating the vehicle out in the desert, it would obviously need cleaning more frequently than if you were driving around on pavement. Other factors would come into play as well, such as humidity, wind, smog, geographic location. Even though I live in Las Vegas, not out in the country, I can be sure that the particulates in our city air are much higher than say a small town in the Pacific Northwest. They would not be surrounded by thousands of miles of blowing sand and they get rain frequently which keeps the dust down. I would say a good place to start would be the manufacturers rercommendations, and then consider your particular environment and usage.

 

I have a 2003 FX4 with the 7.3 and a K&N filter. As far as how often to clean it I just check to see how dirty it is. I check the oil at least 2-3 times a week and everytime I check the oil I check all the other fluids plus the air filter that way I know when it gets to the point it needs to be cleaned. If it's not that dirty on a day to day basis I'll clean and oil it every other oil change. I have my truck on a very strict schedule. Every other oil change I send an oil sample in and have it analized, clean the air filter and change the fuel filter. Not to mention I keep all of my records for maintenance in a file so that I can track what has happened/ happening with the entire truck. Just my 2 cents.

 

[QUOTE=BigRed350]

Thanks for the great advice!!

 

Hello BigRed, with the above quote as the exception I agree with your statement. I too use washable filters in my ATC, and chainsaw, so I have no issues with those types of filters on most engines. But there is a difference between some of the engines listed. A turbo diesel of a given displacement will draw 10 times the airflow of a n/a gasser of same displacement, for a given rpm. It is this large difference in air flow requirements that I based my opinion of the washable filter not being the best for a very specific group of engines. Some might ask why not say the same for turbocharged gas engines, because of the relative low compression and boost levels the air flow is not even close. Another point is is that when using oiled filters in turbo diesels the oil analysis will show elevated silicon levels as opposed to those from a paper filter.

 

That is interesting, I did not know that. I can't understand why the engine oil would contain higher silicon (sand) levels when using an oiled reusable filter. I would be interested to know where you came across this data.

Thanks

 

Hey BigRed, here is something else interesting. Look up silicon in your dictionary, it should be two words below silica (sand).

Your Welcome

 

Actually, it is 13 words below silica, but all that proves is that we have different dictionarys! To quote Websters though:

Silica: The dioxide of silicon, (SiO2) A hard, glassy mineral found in a variety of forms, as in quartz, sand, opal, etc.

Silicon: A nonmetallic chemical element occuring inseveral forms, found always in combination, and more abundant in nature than any other element except oxygen, with which it combines to form SILICA.

So, what's your point? Silicon has a single atom of oxygen and silica has two. So now that we have determined the actual difference between the two, let's get back to my original question. I would be very interested in knowing why the motor oil from an engine using a re-usable air filter would contain higher levels of SILICON than would the oil from an engine using a paper air filter? I'm not familiar with this particular study, but would very much be interested in the reasons why this would be the case and the particulars of the testing procedures.

Thanks again!