2010 F-150 FX4 | Napa Gold | 5.4L | 57,170 miles

[CarbonSteel]

I had an a uptick on the silicon on my last UOA (up about 2-3PPM above the average I had over the last 31K miles) and so I had planned to change at the end of my 15K run of M1 AFE. But, during my annual smog inspection, one of the idiots from the lube side of the business saw fit to open my air filter housing to show me how dirty my filter was (despite the fact that no one asked him to do so). So I am changing it a little earlier because I doubted the seal would be as good as before he removed it. Although the element still appeared to be in great shape, the rubber seal was quite a bit harder than the new one and so the seal was indeed more or less "lost".

At any rate, here are the photos...enjoy!

Old:

New:

 

[Brybo86]

good idea, that thing needed to be changed for sure

 

[NMBurb02]

Is the new one a Fram Tough Guard with the oiled cellulose media?

 

[SatinSilver]

Any benefit to rotating the air filter since once side seems to load up more than the other? What say you guys...

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Any benefit to rotating the air filter since once side seems to load up more than the other? What say you guys...


Rotating as in flipping it over? Bad idea because when you flip it over your engine will be sucking the dirt into the engine..defeats the purpose of a filter at all.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Rotating as in flipping it over? Bad idea because when you flip it over your engine will be sucking the dirt into the engine..defeats the purpose of a filter at all.


No, not flipping it. If you look at the picture the top part of it is dirtier than the bottom. Rotating it 180 degrees, same side.

 

[JOD]

You're going to ruin your engine for sure--good think you got that out of there!!

On a more serious note... I had to take my car into the dealer to have a recall/computer re-flash performed. I put zip-ties around the clamps on my air filter box, just to dissuade a "helpful" mechanic from opening up the air box.

 

[901Memphis]

Where's the pictures of the clean side of the old filter? Looks like it's doing a fine job from this side. We need a saying that you can't tell anything from the looks of an air filter, this dirty filter could still be flowing perfectly fine with better efficiency.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
Is the new one a Fram Tough Guard with the oiled cellulose media?

No; both old and new are Napa Gold filters.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Any benefit to rotating the air filter since once side seems to load up more than the other? What say you guys...

I am a firm believer in not opening the housing except to change the filter. Since my Si PPM starting increasing, it was time to change it, I just was not quite ready to do so and the idiot opening the housing accelerated the change.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Where's the pictures of the clean side of the old filter? Looks like it's doing a fine job from this side. We need a saying that you can't tell anything from the looks of an air filter, this dirty filter could still be flowing perfectly fine with better efficiency.

The clean side was clean; it was changed due to an increase in silicon, not due to flow.

 

[901Memphis]

Well lets not jump to conclusions yet, your silicone could be coming from other sources, but if i know you, there are more UOAS to find out in the near future!

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Well lets not jump to conclusions yet, your silicone could be coming from other sources, but if i know you, there are more UOAS to find out in the near future!

Too right! But I would have to say that 57K was a good run and the seal was not very pliable. It will probably take a couple of UOAs to see if it made a difference.

 

[Jim Allen]

The increase in SI isn't due to the filter, unless it was compromised in some way. As the filter loads, it filters better. In reality, your silicon may go UP with a new filter because some 90% of the dirt that passes thru the average filter in it's lifetime occurs in the first 10% of use (that's a stat from an industry professional). And 901 is right... there are other sources of SI, not to mention lab errors that will change the reading from one test to the next. 2-3 PPM is well within what I consider a 10-15% margin for error I see between lab tests. PPM = parts per million after all!

1) Get some filter grease and use it on the seals.

2) Install that restriction gauge and live by it.

3) Don't sweat 2-3 PPM difference on your UOAs ( : < )

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
The increase in SI isn't due to the filter, unless it was compromised in some way. As the filter loads, it filters better. In reality, your silicon may go UP with a new filter because some 90% of the dirt that passes thru the average filter in it's lifetime occurs in the first 10% of use (that's a stat from an industry professional). And 901 is right... there are other sources of SI, not to mention lab errors that will change the reading from one test to the next. 2-3 PPM is well within what I consider a 10-15% margin for error I see between lab tests. PPM = parts per million after all!

1) Get some filter grease and use it on the seals.

2) Install that restriction gauge and live by it.

3) Don't sweat 2-3 PPM difference on your UOAs ( : < )

I agree with what you are saying; I saw the increase first hand when I changed one of the MC filters. I saw a reduction when I installed the NG but that may be because it filtered better. Since the box was opened twice recently I am guessing the Si will be higher anyway.

PS...not sweat 2-3 PPM? But Jim, this is BITOG and thst is what we do!

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Any benefit to rotating the air filter since once side seems to load up more than the other? What say you guys...


Rotating as in flipping it over? Bad idea because when you flip it over your engine will be sucking the dirt into the engine..defeats the purpose of a filter at all.


Flipping it won't really get you anything because the air is just going to go through the path of least resistance anyway. So as it gets loaded up more and more in the position it was in, the cleaner areas would start getting more and more flow until they started clogging also.