How To Identify My Oil Filter?
For many employees around the world, work revolves around diesel equipment. It includes everything from semi trucks, big agricultural equipment, construction vehicles, or other machinery types. For the many folks working with or on this equipment, keeping machines running smoothly and operating as long as possible is a top priority. That’s where diesel equipment filters come into play.
All of the filters in diesel equipment, including diesel lube filters, air filters, fuel filters, and more, contribute to the overall performance and longevity of a machine. Therefore, it’s important to know what filters you are currently using, what filters you should be using, and other basics about the different types of filters. To that end, in this blog we are addressing those talking points as they relate to diesel lube oil filters. Specifically, we will cover:
- Types of oil filters
- How oil filters are classified
- How to know which filter to use
- Which brands of diesel lube oil filters are the best
How Are Oil Filters Classified?
Oil filters can be classified by a handful of criteria. Two of the more common classifications are by filtration type and by filter media (i.e. the actual material doing the filtering). Let’s break down each in more detail below.
Filtration Type
There are 3 common types of oil filters regarding filtration methods. They are Full-Flow, Bypass, and Combined.
- Full-Flow Filtration: This filtration method works by filtering all of the oil pump output before reaching the engine. This means that the contaminants are removed between the engine and the oil pump.
- Bypass Filtration: This filtration method takes a proportion of the oil output and filters it more finely than a Full-Flow system. Then it returns the lube into the oil sump. Often, Bypass Filtration is used as a secondary oil filter in conjunction with a Full-Flow filtration system. If that is the case for you or your equipment, it likely means that you will have multiple lube oil filters that need to be monitored and maintained appropriately.
- Combined Filtration: As you might be able to guess from the name, this filtration method combines Full-Flow and Bypass into a single system. This can help limit the number of lube filters you have to keep track of, replace, or maintain.
Filter Media
Filter media simply refers to the material inside of the filter that is used to clear out the contaminants as the lube circulates. There are several types of filter media ranging in both price and effectiveness. Some types include:
- Wire Mesh Strainers
- Stacked Disc
- Pleated Paper
- Pleated Synthetic
Aside from these specific types of filter media, more general media categories include:
- Cellulose
- Synthetic
- Microglass
Typically speaking, cellulose media and filter material are used in disposable and lower end lube oil filters. High-quality diesel filters tend to use premium and innovative synthetic media, like the one we created here at Fleetguard. To learn more about our lube oil filters, check out our different types of oil filters pdf.
Now that we have addressed the classification of oil filters let’s look at some common questions operators and service providers ask about diesel lube oil filters.
What Is The Most Common Oil Filter Used In Diesel Equipment?
The most common type of oil filter used in diesel equipment and even smaller machines like cars is a spin-on lube filter. The pros of a spin-on filter include their ease of service and replacement. It’s important to note that with some spin-on filters, while the upfront price might be low, the overall cost of ownership can be more expensive. For example, cheap or disposable lube oil filters need to be replaced more frequently, or can even cause more significant concerns and damage that requires expensive repairs and machine downtime.
How Do You Know Which Oil Filter to Use? Does It Matter What Size Oil Filter I Use?
The short answer is you should use a filter that was designed for your machine. While bigger oil filters might be better generally, it’s a best practice to use filters that are designed to ensure compatibility, effectiveness, and performance. To that end, it’s important to use filters you can trust. That leads us to our final question.
What Oil Filter Brand is Best?
We believe that Fleetguard offers the best diesel filtration solutions across the board. With that being said, just saying “Fleetguard is the best brand,” doesn’t actually answer the question. That’s because Fleetguard also creates many products that are sold and distributed under the name of a partner or subsidiary company. For that reason, it is important to look for the quality of a Fleetguard filter, not just a Fleetguard logo. So what is Fleetguard quality? Let’s look at that next!
Fleetguard Filters…Quality That Speaks For Itself
At Fleetguard, our filters use a proprietary synthetic media which provides improved efficiency and higher capacity than standard disposable cellulose filters. Our multi-layered Stratapore™ medium was developed in-house. What’s more, our filters:
- Meet or exceed all original equipment manufacturer's quality and performance
- Are tested rigorously in laboratory and real-world settings
- Are designed with compatibility and effectiveness in mind
- Have longer service intervals than conventional alternatives
- Use only the highest quality material
- Lead to lower overall cost of ownership
When you put that all together, it’s no wonder that the Fleetguard name is synonymous with trust and quality. In fact, we have so much trust in our products that we’ve paired them with the best warranty in the industry. If your engine fails, we’ll pay to replace it. So, if you're ready to partner with filters you can trust, find a dealer today!
