85SD oil filter question
 

I changed the oil for the first time this week. Found that the old filter had seperated into 2 fitlers in the car. Is this normal? What would cause it? What are the reasond behind the 2 differant types of filter that make up the unit.

thanks
Doug

The oil filter in your car should be one unit. You should be able to pull it all out by the small attached handle. It should look like a "coffee can"

Depending on where it was serviced last, someone may have installed a defective, already separated or who knows what, filter. Who knows? I doubt there is any problem with the car to cause this. If it is the first oil change, for you, replacement of the o-rings on the stem would also be in order.

The two sections are primary and bypass. I think it is a safety feature to ensure oil is available even with some sort of blockage in the primary.

Doug,

The MB Diesel oil filters consists of a full flow and bypass section. The full flow section filters all the oil going thru the engine. The bypass section filters part of the oil with a finer filter medium to filter out the tiny particles of carbon black that gets in the oil from burning Diesel fuel. The oil that goes thru the bypass section goes back to the oil sump, not into the oil passages in the engine.

Older MB engines had only a plastic disc with plastic mesh for the full flow part of the filter. They had a separate insert for the bypass filter.

The MB gasoline engines do not have this double filter, just a single full flow filter.

P E H

Cool, Thanks,
One mne more.
There was a bras washer in the kit, that was for the drain plug, what was the steel washer for?

Doug,

What the steel (probably aluminum) washer is for is one of life's great mysteries.

You should probably replace the 2 o-rings on the shaft of the oil filter cap. They get brittle after years in the hot oil and don't their job of sealing any more. Too bad they don't include these 2 o-rings in the oil filter kit.

P E H

What are the size of those o-rings?

thanks again

I have always wondered what the steel washer is for too........why would they include it if it had no purpose....?

A particular model of oil filter typically has many different applications. It fits your car, plus a number of others. Other applications may require hardware that your car does not need.

6mm x 10mm x 2mm

I believe the aluminum washer is for when you lose the copper one. :D

It always goes into my 10-year hardware box. In case you wonder what a 10-year box is, if you haven't used it in 10 years then you might throw it away. ;)

Doug,

I don't know the size of the o-rings but they are available from your MB dealer, Fastlane or other online parts suppliers.

P E H