Fuel Filter Test Results

Processed the disel fuel source and "after the filter" today and the results were not good. The "after the filter" results showed double the amount of abrasive particulates compared with the pump fuel that went into the truck's tank! We either had a defective fuel filter or possibly a mis-seated filter. The fuel filter had a little over 8,000 miles on it and the fuel the truck has used is among the cleanest there is. A new fuel filter was installed this afternoon. The old filter was examined carefully and there were no readily apparent imperfections discernable.
The Duramax will be driven for the weekend and then re-sampled early next week. We will post the results here for all to see..
Continued.......
George Morrison, STLE CLS

george,

First of all I want to thank you for doing this testing. It looks like it's not something any of us could do properly.

Sounds like possibly the filter media itself is contaminating the fuel? Fibers? Where else could the particulate come from?

George,

Dennis, (the filter mfr you referred to me) has some sample data that he fwd, but I have yet to talk with him...

george morrison

originaly posted under "fuel filter replacement"

[if this filter is installed improperly ("O" ring rollover, etc.)fuel, as with water, will always find the easiest way through a channel which translates into just what our analysis indicates:]

The "O" ring roll over confused me, are you refering to one of the two "O" rings on the out side of the fuel canister or that large internal ring in the center of the fuel canister.

If you could expand on this subject it would be much appreciated

Regarding the "0" rings. The internal '0' ring specifically; however, the removed fuel filter '0' ring looked fine. All of the 0 rings were closely examined and did not reveal any cuts, roll-over or reason for by-pass.
Fuel filters are constructed by human beings (except for the CAT fuel/oil filters which are totally robotically manufactured and incredibly flawless) and can have an occasional mis-build and I mentioned previously, if there is a hole or poor glue, the fuel will find its way through.
We will just have to wait until the end of next week for another analysis result.
I forwarded the results to Jim/Diesel Page for posting..
Again, if anyone else cares to do a before and after fuel test, please contact me as I would be most happy to provide the fuel analysis kits for another test project before/after sample.
George Morrison, STLE CLS

George,

If in fact you find out there is dirty fuel reaching the injectors, what can be done about it? Is there a real world fix?

Greg, suggest adding a Racor 2 micron filter unit along side your frame between the tank and OEM filter.

John, is working on a filter fix of his own.

Baldwin makes a OEM replacement filter that is suppose to filter quite well. I am waiting on there feedback on the micron rating and efficiency.

Is there a solution now? My injectors are wearing away as we speak!!

Thanks for doing the test too!!

Regarding a 'real world'fix. One of the fellows on the 6.5 site portion ran a 'before and after' on a Racor "S" series and it was indeed a 2 micron 98% efficient filter, very similar in performance to the new CAT high performance 2 micron absolute filters. Our OEM Duramax is 'supposedly' the same filter medium, same performance level. This is what does NOT make sense with our first test..
If the OEM filter does not meet the 2 micron absolute performance level, we will source one that will!
It is absolutely imperative that we have a filter capable of 2 micron 98% efficiency as we need to minimze the 5 to 10 micron component. This is the particle size that creates high wear in our pump and injectors.
The fuel analysis that we are doing actually counts and calculates the number of particles per gallon for each size range from 2 microns to 5 microns to 15 microns, very accurately.
Plus it computes the amount of water being carried in the fuel in parts per million, so one knows exactly how much water is present, not a vague percentage.
We will now have to wait until Thursday or Friday for the second run fuel analysis reseult to be complete.
George Morrison, STLE CLS

Todd,

I wrote to Baldwin Tech support asking for nominal and absolute Beta specs on their BF7727 fuel filter for the Duramax and they quoted "2 micron nominal". Nominal is the Beta=2, 50% efficiency (filters 50% of 2-micron particles). They did not quote an absolute spec. So, if the RACOR is really 2 micron absolute, it would be better … at least on paper.

-thank you george for your efforts, will be watching for more information on this

Keep in mind that the lack of a lift pump will require a free flowing filter. A super fine filter as proposed can/will restrict flow and fill up quickly UNLESS it is adequately sized. The solution wil not be petite or pretty, but WILL be effective and low maintenance.

The ultra fine fuel filter restriction aspect is most interesting in that many times one can change from a 20 micron 50% efficiency to a 3 micron absolute rating and yet achieve a reduction in restriction AND greatly increased filter capacity enabling the ultra fine filter to actually last longer than the coarse filter. It sounds impossible but with the introduction of the new synthetic or micro-glass filters, filter efficiencies have been greatly increased.
Old tecnology paper/cellulose filters, due to the methodology of making paper, is a very inexact science. When a 'tight' filter was needed, say a 10 micron absolute, due to the manufacturing imperfrection of paper, sometimes as much as half a filter surface would be completely closed to enable a 10 micron rating! With the new 'manufactured' elements, the syntheteic or glass medium is made with 10 micron spacing throughout the medium, enabling 100% of the filter to flow oil.
I have replaced many 20 micron cellulose Beta 75 (50% efficient) filters with 3 micron synthetic media beta 200 (98% efficient) in hydraulic systems and had the filter life double over the cellulose.
The same is true with the Mobil Delvac synthetic media oil filters. They will easily go 50,000 to 75,000 miles between changes on the same over the road trucks that previously were changed at 10,000 to 20,000 miles. Yet the Delvac filter is a 10 micron beta 200 vs. the 30 micron beta 75 for the paper oil filter element.
We saw the same thing on our current VW TDI program to replace the paper fuel element (which is a 2 micron 50% efficient) with a CAT 2 micron 98% efficient. The OEM VW paper fuel filter drew over 8 inches vacuum requirement, while the CAT element was 2 inches vacuum.
Thus we have the possibility of replacing an OEM paper element with a synthetic or micro-glass element that will filter better, have less restriction and last longer!
George Morrison, STLE CLS

George
I will try and get some suction test results with the 2 Micron filter this week.
Greg

Does Racor make a OEM replacement filter that has the qualities we need.

I buy my filters from John and they are Racor brand called Interceptor. What are ratings on this filter?

Ya'll have me scared to death about my injectors. I plan to keep this truck for ten years.

Thanks for all the info guys!!

George: Thank you for the effort you are putting into this extremely important topic. I will be owning this truck for well over 15 years. 5 to 10 yr.. from now I do not want nor can I afford visits to the dealer for injectors, a pump, or anything that is going to get into the thousands to repair. I am very interested in the work you are doing for us. I don't speak up very often here, but believe me I read everything in this thread. I am sure their are many others like myself that really appreciate this. I just wanted to say thanks from all of us silent members out here.

I also thought about what JK brought up, but never thought about the results you get with a high quality low micron filter like Caterpillar, actually lasting longer.

Once again, thanks big time,
Steve

I have the Racor 2 micron on my 6.5TD and it is doing a great job. Not sur ejust how much restriction is there but I plan to find out this week. From other tests i have seen on other sights the restriction is actually less as George stated. Winter time might be a problem but the Racor is available with a heater and thats what I have.
Greg

If you get a filter that will mount to the frame and not stick below the frame it will have at least a 60gph rating. What would be the very most the Duramax under full load full throttle would draw? I can't think that it would be more than 10 or 12gph would it? If so you would be using a 60gph filter and it only has a pressure drop of .05 psi at full load, now that is not much restriction and if you are only using 20% of its capacity then restriction is almost nothing. Even if you had to install a lift pump it would be better than a few thousand dollars for new injectors. SOme of you need to do the fuel analysis and see just what you are buying, I think you will be disappointed. My fuel here is good quality fuel but its really dirty stuff. I plan to pull the injectors out of my TDI and 6.5 to see what shape they are in. Both only have 50K miles on them but I have been burning this dirty fuel for over half that time. George can tell you stories of injectors that only lasted 12-14K miles under those type of conditions. Of coourse this was on high pressure systems like the Duramax.


Greg

In talking with a Racor engineer last week, our Bosch pump is consertavitely rated 60 inches! Our current OEM filter draws less than 8 inches, so an additional filter is no problem; in fact GM is currently working on a primary to put in between the present filter and the tank. What do you think that is telling us
It can therefore easily handle a both a primary and secondary fuel filter, especially if one or both are synthetic or microglass media. Moreover, if it is 'clean' fuel that the pump is processing, THAT is the key to both pump and injector life. i.e. if the pump has twice the load, if the fuel is ultra-clean, the increased load is much better than processing dirty fuel at half the load..
George Morrison, STLE CLS

Okay boys

I'm on board here.
Who's going to build a kit to add a additional higher quality filter to the Duramax trucks. I'm buying as soon as it's announced.

Greg/JK who's build it??

How I wish we could post photos on this site! I have some incredible scanning electron micriscope photos of failed injectors at 95,000 miles; totally, completely destroyed. Due to dirt. Current diesel fuel regulations are for 1980 3,000 psi diesel fuel systems in which injector replacements were $28 each. Our current 30,000 psi fuel systems require ultra clean fuel to live. To meet current federal #2 diesel fuel standards, diesel fuel is only filtered to 30 microns when it leaves the refinery. The 7 micron particle is the Duramax fuel system killer. This is why CAT switched from a 20 micron nominal to a 2 micron absolute fuel filter for its Hueiu engines 2 years ago. Their fuel pumps and injectors were not lasting through warranty and the replacement costs were costing CAT millions of dollars until CAT switched to the new ultra fine filtration medium.
Continued....
George Morrison, STLE CLS

Well now I'm curious. Does anyone know how good the filters are on the Dodge and Ford diesels ? Do they have the same potential problems that we do ?

Tim B.

Regarding Dodge & Ford. That is a very good question.. They have the same high injector pressures, thus the same need for ultra-clean fuel and fuel filters capable of doing same. I have not visited those sites lately but would very like to develop data for those installations.
I am fairly certain that they probably do not have adequate fuel filtration. Every time I have visited the sites I see numerous posts regarding injector change-outs, problems..
George

George,

Who presently makes such a filter that we can use or install? I got 21000 miles on my truck and I want to hurry up and do something.

Do you think this filter GM is coming up with will be a TSB?

Todd
The Racor unit works great and replacement filters are reasonable. I use the 2 micron on my 6.5TD and it removed 94.6% of the 2 micron and larger particles and 96.4% of the 5 micron and larger particles. Plus these have a built-in heater as well. Give me a call.
Greg

Another good filter/separator is the Baldwin DAHL 100 (also marketed by AMSOIL). It's rated at 60 GPH and .76 inHg flow resistance. It also comes with an optional heater and uses inexpensive 2-micron replaceable elements. (http://www.baldwinfilter.com/products/dahl.html)
I bought it for my 6.5 (about $100 from Westfleet.com) but never got around to installing it so I'll be installing it on my new D/A. Looks like it will mount on the frame rail in front of the fuel cooler but I haven't decided how to best tap into the fuel line. Per George's comment that the Bosch pump can draw 60 inHg I think a need some pretty good hose and fittings. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hey everybody,
Anybody know anything about the Luberfiner LFF3786 which is listed as a replacement filter for our trucks. It is 39.99 at Autozone marketed under the Deutsch name? I know Luberfiner is owned by Champion Labs. Might be worth checking into.
Tony

[ 10-28-2002: Message edited by: Nut4Trucks ]</p>

To answer a quick question here as to the origin of the factory element:

I believe that there is ONE mfr making this element/housing, and all others are relabeled. I may be wrong here, but I doubt it...

Got off the phone with Technical Support at Racor and he tells me that the OEM filter we have is a 2 micron fliter at 99% efficiency. If that is true, then why are we having problems associated with dirty fuel?

He also told me he has heard that GM and Ford are coming out with a second add on filter like what we here are talking about.

I am waiting on George with his test but I am thinking of purchasing the Racor R460 with a R60S filter. I will have to make a bracket to bolt to the inside of the frame right in front ot the cooler.

Any thoughts?

Couple more thoughts:

1)It is VERY unlikely that the factory filter does as well as claimed.

2) Adding a better filter is a great idea, BUT the fine filter should be AFTER a primary filter.

I'm not rushing into this one...

Here's one more idea I got from a local Injection Service. One of the techs there suggest that the main problem is not dirty fuel but the lack of lubrication due to the reduction in Sulfur in Diesel fuel. He says add a fuel additive such as Stanadyne.

He also suggest that most injections systems can digest particles up to 10 microns with no problem.

When I had my 8 injectors replaced the Diesel tech said the same thing about sulfur content and lack of lubrication. However the shop manager opened a GM technical case and GM recommends against the use of fuel additives.

One thing to remember is 5-10 micron particles at 30,000psi will be like a sand blaster. Dirt does more harm to injectors than lack of sulfur. I beleive in fuel additives but it is not a cure for everything aspecially dirt. If we had picture posting ablities I could show you my fuel analysis report and it was DIRTY stuff.
Greg

The information I am sharing with respect to injector and pump wear is the result of a many hundred thousand dollar study funded by CAT relating to injector life, or lack thereof. In this very thorough injector wear study, it was determined that the 5 to 10 micron particle size content bears a direct relatonship to wear rates. The reduction in sulphur content had minimal measurable relationship to wear rates when compared with dirt/particle counts.
This is a rather long story but the short of it is that our fuel systems are basically hydraulic systems. 20 some odd years ago hydraulic system manufacturers found that fine particle contamination is what was destroying/reducing pump and servo valve life. They established a system of 'cleanliness codes'. For our fuel system pressure and componentry, we should be achieving a minimum of a 15/13/10 ISO cleanliness. For a garbage truck hydraulic system to live, it needs a minimum 18/16/14. The higher the number the more allowable particles in the size range of 2, 5 and 15 microns. Most diesel fuels from the pump are in the region of a 20/18/16 or even as high as 24/22/19... Not even fit for a 1,000 psi hydraulic system in a garbage truck much less a 30,000 psi fuel system!
Thus, if we have a fuel filter which is only 50% efficient in removing the 5 to 10 micron particle size, fuel injector and pump life is going to be short. The fuel system/injectors will no doubt make it through the warranty period but take a look at the posts on this site and the 6.5TD and you will notice a trend.
Dirty fuel was almost acceptable with the old mechanical, 3,000 psi injectors but with our high pressure, high precision injection, contaminants mean drastically shortened life.
In the next weeks we will know exactly how efficient our fuel filter is on the Duramax.
George Morrison, STLE CLS

I've been running Wix fuel filters from NAPA. I emailed Wix asking for nominal and absolute Beta specs on their 33810 part # filter for the Duramax. Here is the reply I received from them:

OE does not specify a nominal rating. The absolute is 2 micron and our 33810 part number meets this requirement.

Thank you for your inquiry

Chris Greeson
Senior Technical Services Manager

[ 10-28-2002: Message edited by: Micheal Tomac ]</p>

Ok George I am convinced the fine particles are our enemy. I am going to purchase a second filter for my truck. John suggest putting the fine filter after the OEM filter. I can't see where it would make a difference on the quality of fuel reaching the pump and injectors. I just see one or the other will need replacing sooner than the other. Any comments on where the additional filter needs to placed?

George I don't know what you do for a living but you sound like you know what your talking about.

This site is full of good resources!!!

Regarding additional filtration. I want to see exactly what our OEM filter is doing efficiency-wise. We have had several additional volunteers who are going to be doing 'before & after' tests on their pump source fuel and the after the filter qualities. Then we will know exactly what we are dealing with particulate-wise and can then make decisions based on this information. I would suggest waiting a few weeks until we get the data completed..
We will share all of the results with everyone here as the fuel analysis are completed.
George Morrison, STLE CLS

Last sentence in my previous post.

I might install some better filters inbetween my aux tank and the oem tank..and just fill the aux tank and transfer all the time..

I will wait for your results, of course..

Thanks for the Cat research..I have alot of friends who work at the Decatur Il Cat Plant.. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I guess a few more weeks won't kill me or my truck.

Thanks again George!!!

Hey George,

I got my second kit today and pulled the sample post filter or just before the cooler to be more exact. Used my new remote start to control the flow. I was actually surprised that the flow was as slow as it was. It really didn't shoot out at all. For the sample, I let the line hang down over a pan and just caught samples out of the stream. I filled, shook and dumped 3 times and kept the 4th sample. I will sent them UPS tomorrow.

I've got the test gauge that is used to measure vaccuum after the filter. My plan it to use this hose, along with an air hose/rag to create a slight pressure in the tank and push the fuel through the filter this way...