Question about Donaldson ELF oil filters

My father in law owns a 18 wheeler parts store and I usually get all of my donaldson stuff from him. I called him yesterday to order the ELF oil filter that fits our trucks and he told me that I shouldnt put it on my truck because he said that he has had problems with people running them and they clog up because they filter so much. I'm in the process of building my dual bypass oil filter and he said until I get that on the truck I should just keep using the regular donaldson filter. Anyone have any problems with this or what?

That is the filter all Amsoil dual filter setups run. I run an ELF as well(not on an amsoil system though)l. If you are changing your oil and filter every 3-5K no way no how you are clogging that or any full flow filter up. Even way past that I very much doubt it. But I have never gone past that, well maybe few times. Besides, bigrig and our trucks are very different when it comes to OCI frequency and how dirty the oil gets. Another reason is our motors lack a EGR and thus the only extra soot going into the oil is the very small amount comparatively via the CCV and then only if you have it stock vented back into the intake. 7.3s do not have but barely a small fraction of the soot newer engines or any one that is running a EGR system.

If there is an issue I have not had one. Maybe its something specific with ORT truck that are running dirty and have long OCIs.

Tarm I was going to ask you this in a pm then thought I would hope more people ran them. I have read your oil setup post probably a hundred times trying to figure out how I want to do mine. His big deal was he tried one on an old chevy 6.5 I think was what engine that truck had in it and he swears up and down that it clogged up the filter(he was using dino oil, I only run shaeffers 9000 5-40) I think I am gonna get one and try it. I usually get a oil sample at 3g and go off what the analysis says to do. Most of my changes happen at 5-6g miles. Thank you for your help and thank you for putting how you have set yours up for some of us others to try out!

If you look in my thread in the lube section over on PSN where I list all the fluids and fitlers in my engine I list the filter I run. It just barely fits without touching and adds 1 extra quart of oil and thus also that much more filtering material. I chose it because is also goes to 15 mic. Those old motors are know to be dirty beasts and if it was old had been out of tune etc its always possible some serious gunk got released. You shoudl see some of the crap I have seen under Valve covers and I have very little experience compared to someone that works on these things for a living.

That filter I am running just clears the sway bar at full bottom out on the bump stops. If you have any lift at all you will be fine as well. So try that one if you want. But the regular size ELF ones I have run plenty before and never had an issue.

I am also as you know running Schaeffer's 9K 5w40. In fact I run basically the entire Schaeffer's line now as I slowly changed products after careful review and trial of them. If you have been running it for a few oil changes then its likely you engine is cleaned up of any build up that MAY have been there from any dino or extended runs of OCI.

There is a thread over in the tech section here about oil aeration that may interest you as well.

7.3PokesFan said:

My father in law owns a 18 wheeler parts store and I usually get all of my donaldson stuff from him. I called him yesterday to order the ELF oil filter that fits our trucks and he told me that I shouldnt put it on my truck because he said that he has had problems with people running them and they clog up because they filter so much. I'm in the process of building my dual bypass oil filter and he said until I get that on the truck I should just keep using the regular donaldson filter. Anyone have any problems with this or what?

Click to expand...

The FL1995 is 18 microns absolute, the ELF7405 is 15 microns absolute so the bigger filter isn't THAT much tighter than the MC filter. But the ELF is at least a few times the size with respect to media, really I run it without fear of clogging. If you are clogging oil filters you have some serious engine issues or you are running OCI that are painfully too long.

ELF7405 are designed to run intervals that are four to eight times longer than ours (20 - 40k OCIs) on engines with over twice the oil capacity (3406 Cat takes 9 gallons of oil.)

That is what I figured as well. If you are clogging any filter and we are talking about old engines they are likely very gummed up. You know those ones where you pull the VC and it looks like black slug has by the shove full been dumped in there. LOL I am sure that woudl clog a filter or two. LOL

How much does these filters cost generally? You say that fit on a 7.3 or you need a bypass setup?

Sorry for the hijack

:whs: If this fits the 7.3 will it fit on a 2wd?

Well I put one on my truck today and it fits. Tight but it fits! It will probably fit on a 2wd dont see why it wouldnt just dont go offroad any! I talked with the inlaw today after I put it on and he cleared up his story, it was on an old 85 chevy 6.5 I think diesel engine that he used to have, anyways he sold the truck right after he put the filter on and he said the guy he sold it to called him the next day and said he had pulled the filter and it was clogged. :doh: When I called him and asked him about the filter he talked like it was an everyday thing that they clogged. Sorry for the misinfo but was wanting to make sure because I knew that tarm was running one of these filters!

No issues. you had a concern and asked about it. Now you have other peoples opinions and you can form your own now.

Thanks Tarm. Austin the filter is usually about 30 bucks. I know it sounds high but I plan on running it for at least 7500 oci. I am planning on doing an oil analysis at five grand and to from there but where I ended up buying the filter the guy said he runs it on his truck and he runs it for ten grand so I will just go off the analysis. Tarm I would like to talk with you about your bypass setup as I am collecting parts now and have a few questions on your setup!

Shoot me a PM. Be happy to help with what I can.

The big thing to remember is that it never hurts to have the flow restriction orifice smaller but larger will hurt things. Smaller you just get a bit less turn over rate and actually better filtration performance.