Tractor Oil Filter?

[Saiyan]

Help and advice needed.

I have a small Kubota L18o2 DT-M 4 wheel drive and I want to do a simple service and oil change. The problem comes when trying to buy a new oil filter. The old one has a number Donn-6714-B and the sales person tells me this filter is no longer being made and gives me a different one with no numbers on it only C.R.R. Product, Oil filter, on the box it says Part No 02 and part name กรองเครื่อง ลูกสั้น หัวสิ้งห์ .

OK so this is the problem, the new filter is only half the length of the old filter, I just can’t seem to get my head around this one, as even the body work on the tractor is arched for the oil filter and with this new short filter it does not even extend as far as the body work.

Can the experts tell me if this is possible before I make the mistake of fitting the new oil filter?

Thanks in anticipation.

[Maizefarmer]

Saiyan

Yup - what you more than likely have is an OEM product (Original Equipment Manufacture) product - an alternative in other words - so no prob's there at all - but here's my concern - can you post up,or send to my message box a digital picture of the filter its self and any packaging box it came with: I have a sneaky suspicion that while the size difference is no issue, you may have been sold a counterfit i.e. what folk call a "copy" [filter], and not withstanding whatever the OEM spec's for the particular filter type/part number/model should be, if you do have a copy it's not going to do the job it's mean't to do - the element inside will be inferior, consisting of little more than a poor quality incorrectly sized folded mesh paper, which will break down within a few hours and you won't be aware untill next time you change the oil (which will by then be pitch black and full of metal particles - the result of poor lubrication and surface on surface rubbing of moving parts) ..... then the service bills will start to mount.

I retail genuine Kubota, Iseki, Yanmar and Ford consumables, so I never have to purchase retail for my own use, but my advise to all folk (Thai's as much as ex-pats) is: when it comes to things like filters (which can easily be "reproduced" off a production line setup in any shop-house backroom) only buy from an authorised retailer - or if non-branded, invest in 2 filters and break one can open to check out the contents.

The likelyhood of been sold a counterfeit filter element (air - diesel - hydraulic ...whatever type) in Thailand, especially from rural hardware and spares shops is around 40% - that is how common they are on the Thai parts market.

A common giveaway to counterfieted spare parts? - check the graphics on the filter element can and/or it's packaging - very good chance you will find a spelling error in silkscreening if it is in English (and a good chance if in Thai as well - though most ex-pats will miss the latter).

[Gary A]

I know I pay over the top for my oil filters but there are a lot of very poorly made filters available at small garages and shops. I buy mine from the dealers for the tractor, car and truck.

[Saiyan]

I know I pay over the top for my oil filters but there are a lot of very poorly made filters available at small garages and shops. I buy mine from the dealers for the tractor, car and truck.

Thanks for the reply Gary,

As it turns out the agent that sold me the filter is a Yanmar agent as well and the one sold was of a very good quality. The real lesson in what MF and you are saying is not to save/cut corners with any filter, which I am now aqutely aware of.

Thanks MF for the help.

[finner]

I have an old 24Hp Hinomoto tractor that no amount of searching on the internet could produce a cross reference to a local oil filter so just took the measurements to the local parts dealer and got an Izusu one that fits. 90 Baht. All the thread sizes are the same for tractors (and pickup trucks) as far as I know, 3/4" x 16UNF or 20mm x 1.5mm and for a small tractor like this one, physical size is not an issue. Be very careful about the gasket size though when buying this way.

After what Maizefarmer said about fake filters (and has said in the past), I'll be keeping an eye on that sucker!

Here is a great website dealing with oil filters. Be sure to click on the "Opinions and Recommendations" website at the bottom of the page.

http://www.knizefamily.net/minimopar/oilfi.../reference.html

Edited December 22, 2009 by finner

[Gary A]

Most western countries have a Society Of Automotive Engineers. (SAE). Oil filters must be approved before they can be sold. Here in Thailand you may buy a can with newspaper or a rag stuffed in it or maybe nothing at all in it. I once had a Toyota pickup truck serviced at a small garage and noticed oil on the ground after I got home. Where the can was roll sealed to the base had a leak.