Vent: Thought premium oil filters were a scam until a CAT 3406 blew up on me

I ran cheap filters on my 3406 for 6 years. Saved maybe $30 per change. Then last March in Phoenix an oil line clogged from filter media breaking down. Cost me $4,200 for a rebuild on that CAT. My shop foreman showed me the cut-open filters side by side. The cheap one had chunks missing from the paper. Now I only run Baldwin or Fleetguard. Anyone else had a cheap part cost them big money?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.karen14d ago

Switched to Baldwin after finding bits of Wix filter media in my oil pan. Never had an issue since and that was 8 years ago.

elliot_johnson3113d ago

Yeah but come on, how much filter media are we really talking about here? A couple tiny specks you probably wouldn't even notice unless you were really looking for them. I've run Wix filters on my old trucks for years and never had a problem, not even once. I think people get all worked up over stuff like this because they read one horror story online and then convince themselves it's happening to them too. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're wrong or anything, but sometimes a little bit of debris is just part of normal break-in or wear, not a sign the whole filter is falling apart. Unless you're finding chunks big enough to clog an oil passage, I'd probably just wipe it off and move on with my day.