Baldwin BF1212 Fuel Filter

[WMW0505]

Cut open a Baldwin BF1212 fuel filter today. It came off of a Ford F250 with a 7.3L Powerstroke. Filter was in service for approximately 15k miles. This is a fuel filter / water separator.

Plus a picture of the factory fuel filter that's downstream of this filter. Same service intervals.

 

[WMW0505]

Looks like two pictures didn't make it into my initial post.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

looks pretty clean for 15K miles IMO. Must have some good clean fuel in your location.

Just my $0.02

 

[slo town]

Interesting to see.

Scott

 

[WMW0505]

looks pretty clean for 15K miles IMO. Must have some good clean fuel in your location.

Just my $0.02

I rarely fill up directly at the pump. The vast majority comes from a farm tank with its own filter / water separator.

 

[53' Stude]

Looks like two pictures didn't make it into my initial post.

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Great photos and nice cut and post. Thank You

 

[fantastic]

Curious to see if there were any particles in the primary filter pleats after spreading them open.

 

[WMW0505]

Curious to see if there were any particles in the primary filter pleats after spreading them open.

 

[fantastic]

Yeah, that don't look bad at all for the primary filter. Since you have this Baldwin catching the big stuff I doubt you'll see anything in the fuel filter on top the engine. Just to make sure I understand the filter media you spread out, is this the Baldwin spin on or do I have it backwards?

 

[WMW0505]

Yeah, that don't look bad at all for the primary filter. Since you have this Baldwin catching the big stuff I doubt you'll see anything in the fuel filter on top the engine. Just to make sure I understand the filter media you spread out, is this the Baldwin spin on or do I have it backwards?

This is the Baldwin. The Motorcraft filter in the valley didn't want to come apart.

 

[fantastic]

This is the Baldwin. The Motorcraft filter in the valley didn't want to come apart.

Understood

 

[NashNative]

I rarely fill up directly at the pump. The vast majority comes from a farm tank with its own filter / water separator.

Definitely use a stage 0 (bulk tank) filter on those applications. The more you can do to capture contaminants and remove water at the fuel source, the better you'll help extend life and performance of any stage 1 or stage 2 filters.

 

[WMW0505]

Definitely use a stage 0 (bulk tank) filter on those applications. The more you can do to capture contaminants and remove water at the fuel source, the better you'll help extend life and performance of any stage 1 or stage 2 filters.

Agreed. I have pump fuel going into a transfer tank which has a filter, going into a bulk tank which has a filter and then into the truck tank. And you can still see contamination in the primary.

This truck was purchased new by my father and I fully intend it to be my son's. Three generations of ownership demand top tier filtration.

 

[johnmyster]

Agreed. I have pump fuel going into a transfer tank which has a filter, going into a bulk tank which has a filter and then into the truck tank. And you can still see contamination in the primary.

This truck was purchased new by my father and I fully intend it to be my son's. Three generations of ownership demand top tier filtration.

Thanks for sharing the results. If I may ask, why the BF1212?

Not a bad filter and certainly a commonly available model, but isn't the BF1268 (or Cat 175-2949, Donaldson P553201, Donaldson P550847, etc) regarded as a better first pass filter? I think the four I listed are all synthetic media. As far as I can find, all similar flow specs, appropriate for a suction side primary.

I think the specs on a BF1212 are 4/20 micron and 4/13 for the BF1268. BF1268 and Donaldson P550847 are <$20 at my local dealer.

Not trying to be critical, just in it to learn. I recently went through filter trials for our truck. The FASS pump would loose prime when parked. Ultimately found standpipe Filter/WS units as the primary (BF1258, Donaldson P551001, etc) were the problem. BF1212 (no standpipe) solved the issue but I would like to catch as much crud there as I can without choking the pump, rather than passing it to either of the two downstream filters.

I'm not really that familiar with sensitivity of 7.3 HPOP and HEUI sensitivity to clean fuel. I worked in the factory that made the 6.0 HEUI and was aware that it had...issues.

 

[WMW0505]

Thanks for sharing the results. If I may ask, why the BF1212?

Not a bad filter and certainly a commonly available model, but isn't the BF1268 (or Cat 175-2949, Donaldson P553201, Donaldson P550847, etc) regarded as a better first pass filter? I think the four I listed are all synthetic media. As far as I can find, all similar flow specs, appropriate for a suction side primary.

I think the specs on a BF1212 are 4/20 micron and 4/13 for the BF1268. BF1268 and Donaldson P550847 are <$20 at my local dealer.

Not trying to be critical, just in it to learn. I recently went through filter trials for our truck. The FASS pump would loose prime when parked. Ultimately found standpipe Filter/WS units as the primary (BF1258, Donaldson P551001, etc) were the problem. BF1212 (no standpipe) solved the issue but I would like to catch as much crud there as I can without choking the pump, rather than passing it to either of the two downstream filters.

I'm not really that familiar with sensitivity of 7.3 HPOP and HEUI sensitivity to clean fuel. I worked in the factory that made the 6.0 HEUI and was aware that it had...issues.

The BF1212 was the filter that shipped with the pre pump kit I installed. I tried a Donaldson filter after the 1st filter change and saw a pretty dramatic drop in post filter fuel pressure when under load with the new Donaldson. I switched back to the BF1212 and problem solved.

The kit is from driven diesel, they are pretty active on some of the diesel boards and this very question has come up several times. They always reply that the BF1212 was the best filter they could find for this application. And in my limited experience, I tend to agree with them.

Generally speaking I much prefer Donaldson; that's what I use for oil, transmission, and coolant filtration.

The injectors on the 7.3 need relatively low fuel pressure compared to today's standards. I have a Riffraff FRX which solves the dead end fuel line issue and allows for me to bump up fuel pressure a bit. My fuel pressure sensor is between the factory filter and the injectors.

I have a 65 psi fuel pressure spring installed in the return. With brand new filters I read 67 psi. When I drop down to 60 psi or hit 15k miles I'll change out the filters.

When the day comes that I need / want to upgrade injectors I'll likely scrap this whole filter set up and move to a regulated return with frame mounted primary and secondary filters.

All that said, there have been many 7.3s rack up some serious miles with nothing more than the factory fuel filter and changes every other oil change.

 

[WMW0505]

Edit: Duplicate post.

 

[johnmyster]

The BF1212 was the filter that shipped with the pre pump kit I installed. I tried a Donaldson filter after the 1st filter change and saw a pretty dramatic drop in post filter fuel pressure when under load with the new Donaldson. I switched back to the BF1212 and problem solved.

The kit is from driven diesel, they are pretty active on some of the diesel boards and this very question has come up several times. They always reply that the BF1212 was the best filter they could find for this application. And in my limited experience, I tend to agree with them.

Generally speaking I much prefer Donaldson; that's what I use for oil, transmission, and coolant filtration.

The injectors on the 7.3 need relatively low fuel pressure compared to today's standards. I have a Riffraff FRX which solves the dead end fuel line issue and allows for me to bump up fuel pressure a bit. My fuel pressure sensor is between the factory filter and the injectors.

I have a 65 psi fuel pressure spring installed in the return. With brand new filters I read 67 psi. When I drop down to 60 psi or hit 15k miles I'll change out the filters.

When the day comes that I need / want to upgrade injectors I'll likely scrap this whole filter set up and move to a regulated return with frame mounted primary and secondary filters.

All that said, there have been many 7.3s rack up some serious miles with nothing more than the factory fuel filter and changes every other oil change.

Good info, thank you. I've seen some conversations about the driven kits.

Do you know which Donaldson it was that you tried? The BF1212 and Donaldson P558000 are both regarded as very low restriction which can be good for picky suction side applications, but my flow is only 100 gph, so...

Edit: I'm common rail, so even after the factory (third) filter I'm only aiming to supply 5-10 psi at the back of the pump.

 

[WMW0505]

Good info, thank you. I've seen some conversations about the driven kits.

Do you know which Donaldson it was that you tried? The BF1212 and Donaldson P558000 are both regarded as very low restriction which can be good for picky suction side applications, but my flow is only 100 gph, so...

Edit: I'm common rail, so even after the factory (third) filter I'm only aiming to supply 5-10 psi at the back of the pump.

 

[WMW0505]

I don't remember the part number on the filter I tried. I may give that one a shot the next time around.

I think the flow rate for this fuel pump is quite a bit less, 50 or 60 GPH if I recall.

 

[JHZR2]

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That filter could have gone a long time further.