Brand Ranks air filter test

[odie]

I stay with O.E.M.. Their quality is consistant and the media of the after market are sometimes different than the original . Paper , etc..

 

[oil pan 4]

The whole "90% of particulate passing through the filter occurs within the first 10% of it's service" situation is why I switched to OEM air filters for my Honda. They come lightly oiled to trap that particulate before the filter is sufficiently loaded. I'm not sure why oiled filters aren't more popular.

K&N filter spray can make any air filter pre oiled.

Thread 'My new favourite thing: k&n air filter spray'

Sep 25, 2023

Good old K&N air filter spary, I wrote it off years ago and I was wrong.
I'm putting that shuff on everything.
I never bought into the k&n high flow rock catcher school of thought, they're probably fine for boats, maybe.
Having can of spray on air filter oil that I can apply to foam prefilters for small engines and engines equiped with throw away felt rock catchers is very handy.

• oil pan 4
• Replies: 16
• Forum: Engine Air Filters

 

[Fair enough]

Way back in the day, our member Jim Allen visited a filter production and testing facility (it was either Parker or Fram IIRC). He learned that (as a generality) air filters will pass 90% of the total particulate in their lifetime in the first 10% of their lifecycle. Meaning that air filters most certainly do load-up and become more efficient in a desirable manner.

And, we can take a corollary story which exists beneath the headlines ... That changing one's air filter frequently will most certainly lead to more particulate ingestion because of the aforementioned loading cycle. The more "new" filters one installs, the more often you're in that first 10% of high-occurrence particulate pass. And air filtration is at least as important to engine wear control as any oil filter; some studies show that air filters actually are more important to wear control.

The moral of the story is to not change your air filter too often. You're probably doing more damage to the engine with frequent air filter changes that any worry about brand selection would ever create.

Parker makes Baldwin filters. Good info about not changing air filter too soon. I tend to do that. Though an amount of whatever goes by the air filter gets expelled on the exhaust stroke. I imagine.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Though an amount of whatever goes by the air filter gets expelled on the exhaust stroke. I imagine.

After some of it has a chance of getting between the valves and seats, between the rings and cylinder and blown into to sump.

 

[bulwnkl]

...why I switched to OEM air filters for my Honda. They come lightly oiled to trap that particulate before the filter is sufficiently loaded.

Interesting. I have not detected oil on the air filters from Honda's parts counter for my J35.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

Interesting. I have not detected oil on the air filters from Honda's parts counter for my J35.

Do the ones you buy come in a sealed clear plastic bag and the filter media has a yellow tint to it?

 

[bulwnkl]

Do the ones you buy come in a sealed clear plastic bag and the filter media has a yellow tint to it?

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd posted.

I don't recall a particularly yellow tint to the media, no. The filters do come in plastic, though.

 

[bulwnkl]

You can read about fleece / fully synthetic air filter dust holding capacity here:

It's not that new, it's been in their air filters since 1998!

https://www.mann-hummel.com/content...ttachment.file/Artikel_Filterdesign_EN_V1.pdf

That is interesting. I'm not sure I find it comforting, though.

This thread suggests in part that the Wix air filter may be built for longevity, but consequently passes lots more total particulate.

The (admittedly-now-aged) M+H pamphlet on fleece media talks specifically about much-improved longevity (vs size).

Should we be perhaps especially-interested in a test of 'fleece' air filters, in order to see whether increased filter longevity in a fleece-type filter leads to far more particulates passing through them, as was the case with the Wix tested here?

 

[oil pan 4]

That is interesting. I'm not sure I find it comforting, though.

This thread suggests in part that the Wix air filter may be built for longevity, but consequently passes lots more total particulate.

The (admittedly-now-aged) M+H pamphlet on fleece media talks specifically about much-improved longevity (vs size).

Should we be perhaps especially-interested in a test of 'fleece' air filters, in order to see whether increased filter longevity in a fleece-type filter leads to far more particulates passing through them, as was the case with the Wix tested here?

It would have to be a real world long term test as the fleece always bests paper in just about any lab tests.
Once you make the test last hunreds of hours, always variable air speed, vibrations, hard knocks; that old-school thick restrictive paper appears to be better in higher dust environments.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd posted.

I don't recall a particularly yellow tint to the media, no. The filters do come in plastic, though.

Next time you install one, gently touch the filter media with the tip of your finger and see if there's oil on it. There probably is.