Major failure (Micro Tek 4651)

[Stelth]

So I recently bought a 1997 F-150, and I figured I should change the oil, since I knew nothing of the history of the truck, and I think it sat a while. I'm glad I did. You may want to get small children out of the room before you look at the pictures.

I crushed the filter slightly taking it off as it was very tight, but there's no way I damaged it this much. As you can see, the filter element was completely broken loose from one of the end caps, and partially detached from the other end. Hopefully the spring kept everything in place.

There's some evidence that the element had started to disintegrate, and I'm hoping that no large bits of this stuff got into the engine. The good news is that the engine runs quiet and smooth.

I've never heard of Micro Tek filters, and I can't find them on the web. Needless to say, they won't be at the top of my list.

 

[Barkleymut]

was the outer can as faded as the picture indicates? if so no wonder it fell apart on the inside. It is utterly amazing to me how some vehicles can just take flat out abuse and continue to run forever. Of course that thing is a FORD.

I doubt much if anything got into the engine, you may want to drop the oil pan and check it just to be sure. I would also get a new trans filter on it ASAP.

 

[hisilver]

I know you dented it upon removal, but that filter looks like it has been on there for ages judging by the can condition.

 

[ARB1977]

Sweet. Basically no filter protecting the engine. Would be nice to get a uoa.

 

[OneEyeJack]

That's what happens to a filter that's left in place for a couple of years. I'd change the oil a couple of extra times in the near future. It would be interesting to see what a rare earth magnet stuck on to the side of the next filter would pick up. I'll bet your're glad you caught this as soon as you did.

At an oil production site in N.Alaska they park some of there pickup trucks for the summer because they can't drive through the tundra. They wait until the roads freeze in the winter. When they change the oil and filter they use Auto-Rx to chase the sludge from the wet summer and the cold winter. Before they started using Auto-Rx sometimes the inside of the filter would look a bit like your filter. Their worry was that bits of the filter would go where they can cause damage. Now they don't have that worry anymore. This system has been working for about 5 years.

 

[daves87rs]

Scary...

 

[Nick R]

Wow.

 

[chet2]

it looks like a owner failure more than filter failure

 

[kasedian]

Looks like the OCOD has some competition.

 

[chet2]

3$ is certainly a lot to spend on replacing filter, i side 100% with previous owner

 

[caravanmike]

that thing could have been on their for 5 plus years. and most likely was in bypass for the last 3! amazing the lack of care from the previous owner!

 

[callbay]

I love these lack of changing oil stories. Do you knwo anything about the owner or how the truck was used?

 

[Hootbro]

To many unknowns to be laying blame at the filter.

 

[kemo]

i fear for the health of that engine after seeing a filter like that... ick... imagine how old that oil is!

 

[Clarence_Iba]

The 5.4 and 4.6 are bulletproof. Assuming it was one of those you're probably fine. Just change and throw a FL-820s on there.

 

[dickwells]

The 5.4/4.6 engine can fail if crud is washed up to the chambers where the oil flows to the cams. This can happen if the bypass valve is on the dome end. Use only a motorcraft filter on these engines.

 

[AMC]

Based on the coil spring and the center tube, it looks like a very old Wix made filter.

 

[Stelth]

When I took that filter off, I put in Peak 10w30 and an STP filter. Hey, it was on sale! But I figure I'll just run it for 1000-1500 miles and change again.

 

[kemo]

Originally Posted By: Clarence_Iba
The 5.4 and 4.6 are bulletproof. Assuming it was one of those you're probably fine. Just change and throw a FL-820s on there.


Bullet proof? I did a tour through Gopher about 6 years ago (reman facility) and they said they certainly aren't bulletproof engines. Shoot, they sell quite a bit of those... it was due time for ford to start phasing that engine design out... ick!

 

[Virtuoso]

Hard not to sell quite a few when they put 4.6's in everything and 5.4's in many others..