jleonard
Guru
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2008
- Messages
- 5,063
That's interesting because around where I am (Connecticut) Fleetguard is easy to find and one of the lower cost filters. I had Cummins trucks and marine engines and always used FG.
Oil Filters
- Thread starter timjet
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
That's interesting because around where I am (Connecticut) Fleetguard is easy to find and one of the lower cost filters. I had Cummins trucks and marine engines and always used FG.
OP
OP
timjet
Guru
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2009
- Messages
- 1,920
Local Napa dealer sells the NAPA 1607 equivalent to the Fleet guard LF 3894 for $13.50. Cummins Fleetguard LF 3894 at Cummins power south is $18.40. In the end it's not so much the price but the convenience. Napa is right around the corner, Cummins Power south, one hour drive round trip. As long as the quality is roughly the same, sounds like NAPA filters are similar in quality to Fleetguard.
jleonard
Guru
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2008
- Messages
- 5,063
That's cool I use NAPA (or CARQUEST, both made by Wix) for lots of applications.
We have a local truck parts chain "Fleetpride" in my area that sells Fleetguard and they are about 3 minutes from where I work. Convenient plus they sell at lower prices than a Cummins dealer. I have also mail ordered them from a Dodge/Cummins website. That's another option.
Stirring things up a bit
On recreational low hour per year marine diesels, of what use are oil samples?
As well as fuel in the engine oil. Fuel can show up if the engine is not being loaded enough.
Had this show up on my tractor engine running at about 1600-1700 RPM. Went up to 1800-2000 RPM and the problem went away. It also happened on my truck engine when I was having to take a certain route that left me stuck in traffic. Roughly 10-15 minutes in traffic in a one hour trip would put fuel in the engine oil. Most of the trip was constant 55 mph driving. In both cases, the amount of fuel was in spec but just barely.
It is constantly repeated that one can run an engine underloaded and then burn it out by running at higher RPMs for an hour or so. That does not work based on my experience, or if it did, it still left fuel in the oil which implies there was more fuel in the oil that was burned out.
Later,
Dan
Stirring things up a bit
On recreational low hour per year marine diesels, of what use are oil samples?
Certain of the tests are still beneficial in a stand alone basis, while others have meaning only from the point of history in those circumstances. If you see changes or trends you may find those to be warning signs.
sunchaser
Guru
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2008
- Messages
- 10,196
- Location
- usa
- Vessel Name
- sunchaser V
- Vessel Make
- DeFever 48 (sold)
I indeed understand what can show up on an oil analysis. My question though is reality based, who has done what based upon an oil analysis on their recreational marine engine?
Soot for example - assuming one changes engine oil as required by the book, what else is there one can do?
Coolant - you surely would note problematic coolant losses well before your oil analysis results are in every fall.
Heavy metals above spec - what to do here?
Fuel oil - surely one would note their oil level is rising or smells funny well before the oil analysis is due.
I am with a background of putting hundreds of diesels big and small through thousands of oil analysis. In each case we had a good history, warranty considerations, manufacturer guidelines and high hour use.
The recent engine maladies I recall on TF had to do with bad belts and a leaky rear main. No issues or questions raised by an oil analysis. Just curious who has really seen something from their oil analysis that causes them to take action.
I will say that if I had an older Cat 3208 I'd be tracking coolant in the oil given the wear out cycle of some head gaskets. But external visible leakage can occur with the 3208s before coolant signs in the oil.
Anyway, as I said, I'm just curious.
Last edited:
Fuel did not show up on the dip stick in my two engines. The amount of fuel in the oil was under 5% but it should be 0%. The tractor has a Yanmar engine which does not use oil but I did not notice a volume increase on the dipstick. The truck uses a quart or so of oil every 5,000-7,500 miles so a little fuel in the oil would be easily missed.
My truck engine has been loosing coolant but then it stopped loosing coolant.
I will be changing oil soon and see what the UOA says but I suspect the missing coolant is from the coolant pump. I seem to remember this as being a known issue for this engine.The truck engine had a bump up in metals in the UOA. Not bad but not good compared to the long term trend of the engine and other engines. This has been going down since that UOA. WHY did this happen? I let the oil get a bit low.
What to do about it? Don't let the oil get low. 
At least that is my theory and the next UOA will be interesting. If the metals get worse I will talk to the lab and see what they have to say. I run extended drain times on these two engines so UOA confirms my usage. With the exception of the fuel in oil issues, I have been tossing perfectly good oil. The truck oil is run 12,000-14,000 miles vs 5,000 by the book. Oil is still in great shape when I change it out. One year the tractor was changed after three years but very low hours.
Did not mean that much time to pass but stuff happens some time. The oil was just fine and I got rid of perfectly good oil that was three years old. According to the Internet, that engine should be a smoking wreck. 
Still runs just fine with no oil usage or wear problems. 
For me, UOA has highlighted a specific problem I could fix, ie, the fuel in oil issue. Just as importantly, UOA has shown that I do not have issues with the change and use periods I am doing with the engines. The wear problem might/should go away, which the UOA will show and UOA will show if I have a coolant leak in the engine vs the water pump. That is good to know since it tells me what needs to be fixed.
Later,
Dan
BerettaRacer
Senior Member
Stirring things up a bit
On recreational low hour per year marine diesels, of what use are oil samples?
Re-sale value.
You have hard evidence of past engine history for surveyor and/or new buyer.
Yes you are being anal. The answer is no. But an engine is an engine. I have also not done any work on a land engine due to UOA either.
But DOING work on the engine is what I am trying to PREVENT by performing a UOA.
Spending a bit of money on UOA is worth it to me because:
- UOA HAS caused me to change how I operate my engines to PREVENT problems.
- UOA allows me to know that how I am operating my engines is NOT harmful.
The GOAL is to NEVER have to do work on an engine due to a problem found by UOA. Hopefully, UOA allows me to prevent the problem in the first place, or worst case, before the problem gets really bad.
When we have a marine engine I will do UOA. Cheap information to have available.
Later,
Dan
