Thread: Donaldson dual filter

I replaced the Donaldson filter (outer) on my 4BD1T last month. I could certainly see dust in concentrated areas on the inner!, it looked like three small, dry mud splatters. This would otherwise have gone into the engine via the turbo, not a pleasant thought!.

These engines may give the impression that they are bullet-proof, and will outlast most others in these types of applications, but one thing that will cause an early rebuild is dust injestion. Removing the inner may give a slight performance increase........

Why would you want to risk it????

Makes sense, I don't do a lot of dusty off road stuff, mostly towing boats and the ocasional dirt road. But if I was going to do an extended dirt road trip I'd throw the emergency element in for that very reason.

Originally Posted by 1103.9TDI

These engines may give the impression that they are bullet-proof, and will outlast most others in these types of applications, but one thing that will cause an early rebuild is dust injestion.

I've been there and it's not pretty. As well as causing bore wear, it causes severe erosion of the turbo compressor wheel. The aluminium blown off the wheel also gets fed into your engine.

thanks for the replies everyone.

why would the meter suggest the filter is blocked when its had next to no dust conditions? The inner & outer filter still look new.

cause they will be blocked with road grime or something similar, I bet if you were to gently knock the outer filter element against the tyre crud would fall out.

have you reset the meter?

Thanks Dave will give it a go over the next couple of days.

I did blow them out with the compressor. Nothing seemed to come out.

rar110, mate, are you using a precleaner of any sort?, how new are the filters?, is there anything that may constrain the air going through the filter, do a thorough check of the inlet system prior to the filter, something is limiting the airflow to your engine.......

Gerry I also thought something was restricting air supply so checked the inlet hose as something might be nested in there. But all clear. No precleaner. Inlet hose only runs to engine bay. There is nothing that I can see.

I blew out both filters and put them back in and reset the meter. The meter immediately indicated a restriction. I removed the inner filter and the meter was fine.

I only got the 110 on the road Nov last year after 5 yrs. The filters are new off the shelf from 13 mths ago. Of course I don't know how long they were sitting around. They look ok.