Slightly kinked oil filter

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Strjock81

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What would happen if someone ran a dented oil filter? (of any kind, hydraulic, trans, motor)? If it is only dented in maybe 1/4-1/3 of an inch will it hurt anything? I figure a massive dent obviously would hurt performance. Is a small dent on the body (not the end caps) okay?

This actually occurred to me when I was taking the trans spin on filter off of my tractor the other day with a strap wrench and it got me thinking how it would affect the efficacy of the filter. (I smooshed maybe a 2 square inch area of the body towards the closed end of the filter, and it is depressed there about 1/3" I would say.) I was just replacing all the filters anyways so I was throwing it away but it got me wondering, then I find out my brother used a slightly dented (he dropped it on the shop floor when hanging over the engine) filter on his engine.
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Apparently it didnt hurt anything (yet).
 
I think it would take a massive ding, deep enough to crush and tear the media or even the center tube to hurt anything. Even if the side was pressed against some of the outside of the pleats, oil would flow in from top and bottom. There could also be a problem with the filters where the element moves toward the closed end for the bypass function.

I would not worry at all about a small ding. I doubt a larger ding would hurt, but I can pick up an undamaged ST at Wal-Mart for $2, or a fine OEM at Advanced Auto for maybe $4.
 
Just to add a bit of fun..

When we gave plant tours through engineering it is possible to show "base plate deflection" on an impulse fatigue test stand.

What this is, is the oil pressure hitting all that metal where the inlet holes are. Think of a stream of oil trying to get through those little holes coming in through a much larger opening.

The bigger the filter, the easier it was to see. So if one was looking at a filter that goes on one of the on highway trucks like a Freightliner or Kenworth..the easier it is to see.

Fortunately the gasket seals the filter to the baseplate and keeps the filter from being blown off.

This happens every time you start your car.. the oil is sent at high volume to the filter.

Now think of what happens when that pressure hits the "dented" area. No wonder the metal can "flexes" with the pressure.

Or in other words..don't use a dented filter can. Filter companies won't warranty a filter where the leak is in the dented area. They don't build them dented..
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I don't go out of my way to intentionally purchase slightly dented spin-on filters, but when I've gotten the ocassionaly dinged filter (my '73 Ford's 351 Cleveland V8 came with one!), there were no catastrophic events with filter or engine. Sounds to me more like a tempest in a teapot than an engine killer.
 
Neither of you have worked in warranty at a filter company is all I can say. You'd be surprised how many cracks there are in "dented" areas of filters.

Otherwise the Filter Manufacturers Council sure wouldn't waste a technical bulletin on the subject matter.
 
Uhm.... Actually, I work for a major filter company - you can probably figure out which one by where I am located. Was engineer in charge of the Liquid and Air Test Lab as a matter of fact - involved with the company's "Institute of Filtration Technology", too. Am now a Product Engineer and deal with the Tech Services Dept. on a regular basis dealing with these types of problems and claims.

A small, 1/4 inch dent, especially if it does not crease the can, and is on the body, will have no ill effect on the performance or integrity of the filter as a whole. The can is over-engineered to handle these situations on a properly operating engine.
 
I imagine those cans are "over-engineered", lots of things are. It takes care of manufacturing variations in engineering specifications- (hopefully keeping any errors on the "good" side of the line so-to-speak) and probably does help avoid lots of mishaps that never get reported. If a filter did crack in a dented area, I can see the warranty request coming back in the mail with a big red stamp on it-----DENIED.....
 
Herfnerd ..will your company warranty a dented filter no matter where the dent is, should the filter leak at the dent and cause some sort of engine damage?

And is Chris Greeson still there..
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Chris is still here.......

No, we won't warranty a filter that was damaged by the end user, but I still stand by my statement that a mildly dented can should have no real detrimental effect on a filter's integrity and performance. The filter is engineered so that it should withstand certain things like a rock being kicked up and denting the can.

And in the Institute, we show this by allowing the students to take a 51515 filter and take several whacks at it with a wrench - much more damage than simply dropping it. Than we run an impulse fatigue test and after 75k cycles, there has been no failure.
 
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