I spoke to a Customer Service Rep. at Mann-hummel. The database that she had access too did not show the specific media used within the filter. She did comment that old style by-pass filters did use raw cotton back in the day.

I guess it met specs and did the job it was designed to do.

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-- Chris

'95 E300, 216k miles, Silver Surfer
'05 E320 CDI, 138k miles
'07 S550 4matic, 69k miles

Gone but not forgotten:

'76 300D, 350k miles?, SOLD in 1995
'75 240D, 300k miles, SOLD in 1991

Not worried at all about OP's filter. That looks fine, would run in a 617.. dont see the problem here.

I wonder what the filtering properties are of Mercedes diesel purists. Probably enough to filter out even the tiniest microbe.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

I know not everyone likes K&N on these forums, but they do have a r&d product request form that you can fill out. Never used a canister from them before, but their spin on filters were great, I use them exclusively.

Maybe if a bunch of us filled out the form, we could get another manufacturer making filters for these...just a thought.



Here is the link for the form.

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Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93

Wandering slightly (a lot) off topic, the oil centrifuges always seemed like a good idea - UK Defender has them fitted, not sure if it's supplements main filter or not.

US trucks have them too, again not sure if that's their only filtration or in addition to help extend oil change intervals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T501wnNVr70

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David


1996 Mercedes S124 E300TD - 129k - rolling restoration project -

1998 Mercedes W210 300TD - 118k (assimilated into above vehicle)

I last had a Frantz (toilet Paper) bypass Oil filter on my car but removed it about 2 years ago and never re-installed it (never got around to changing the Toilet Paper or outing on the new hoses that were needed). I also experimented with some others one that I made.
The problem is the cost of having the Oil analyzed is greater then an Oil change so I had no evidence that the Bypass Oil filter did anything or not.

Adding a bypass oil filter was my method of dealing with the filter issue. I have several types of Oil Filters for my Mercedes and will use all of them over time.

The Oil that goes into my bypass Oil system first goes through the Mercedes Oil Filter bypass section. That means what you are going to see in the blow up pic of what is a portion of a string wound filter element I made a housing for caught what the Mercedes bypass section did not catch.
The picture was taken After I drained the filter element of Oil for over 1 hours and the filter appears to have a soft coating of something.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Coconut hulls..We have to filter out sample intake stream for hydrocarbon analysis where I am employed. The media shown in those pictures looks identical. I guess it it has an incredible amount of surface area.

One problem with the toilet paper filters is that toilet paper is designed to fall apart when in contact with water. A paper towel roll would be better. Motor Guard makes a TP roll filter for air lines.

But the fact is hot oil does not cause them to fall apart.

2 things. If you got Water/Coolant in your Oil you have a serious issue just because of the water/coolant.

Next like all of the bypass oil filters I have seen the Oil goes back to the Oil pen even if it drips back into say a valve cover. The Oil goes back to pan normally by way of a skinny hose. (I used1/4" ID hose.)

That means if any toilet paper came loose it would likely plug up the hose before it gets to the Oil Pan. Also the Frantz Filter has a screen inside of it to prevent movement of the Toilet Paper.

That means the Oil has to be pulled through the Screen before it goes into the Oil Pump. In order to be pulled through the screen they would need to be tiny bits.
The tiny bits would pass through the Oil pump and get caught in the full flow filter.
The rest is how likely you think it is possible to plug up the screen.

I don't know if they are still around but there is a company that has a filter that uses as many as 3 rolls of paper towels. It caters Trucks and heavy duty equipment to include the filtering of hydraulic fluid.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Short trips / parking a humid environment can load oil with moisture, I'm not using an element that can fall apart when there are so many real filter options.

One major filter manufacturer had a problem with element disintegration due to some sort of manufacturing problem. Fuzz from the element would end up clogging piston oiler / cooler nozzles. Remember, when oil is cold the full flow filter is bypassed because of too much filter restriction so fuzz from the TP element could make it's way past the main element.

Old farm tractors / 50's car engines used bypass filters, I'd find a housing and run from there or even research low micron a spin on hydraulic return filter to polish the oil.

Small amounts of water/coolant go to the bottom of the Pan and or evaporate due to the hot oil and go through the blow-by system.

Your choice and your opinion. All of that has been argued over since people started making filter housings that used Toilet paper.

Here is a hoot for you. One of the companies that made oil filter housings using Toilet Paper is Motor Guard. People found out that they could use the Motor Guard's to filter out the moisture from the air used on welding units where compressed air or moisture carrying gasses are used. I will get back to that.

The founder of the Motor Guard filters got tired of the baseless arguments about his filter being used as an Oil filter and not only stopped selling them as Oil filters; modified the insides of the filter to use plastic parts that would not take the hot oil. Since then they have been marketed as marketed exclusively as moisture filters. But, he kept the Motor Guard name.

Pics for fun: First one is the Box of a Motor Guard Oil filter.

I had bought a few Frantz Oil Filters (I think I also have 2 Motor Guards) and also (for the man who has everything) a Deluxe Frantz Oil Filter that has the Toilet Paper roll inside and ready to go as a separate throw away element. You don't have to go through the work of removing and installing the Toilet Paper roll which is kind of messy.

I believe the mess of changing the TP roll and installing a new one is why people later disconnect them. I know that played a roll on why I did not put mine back on.

Also one of the Frantz Filters that I bought appeared to have been used to filter WVO. WVO has water in it. I am guessing that WVO is too thick to pass through the filter without heating it.

Attached Thumbnails

     

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

This is the company that has the paper towel type elements.

Gulf Coast Filters, Inc. Specializing in Bypass Oil filters, Fuel filters, Hydraulic filters and Custom filtering

Not that Gulf Coast and Frantz (which is still being made) sell elements for their filters. That would be a way to go if you are worried about common toilet paper.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I suspect we are jumping to the wrong conclusions as to the nature and or purpose of the material in question, mechanics would have reported clogged pick-up meshes long ago with resulting engines starved of oil.

Having used these filters for years, I have never seen the above or any hint of debris either in pick-up or pan itself.

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David


1996 Mercedes S124 E300TD - 129k - rolling restoration project -

1998 Mercedes W210 300TD - 118k (assimilated into above vehicle)

You beg the question of whether this design works at all.

If the bypass section was working efficiently, you would expect it to look like the photo in post 41 of this thread. You would also expect the oil to be cleaner, and not look like liquid darkness. But neither seems to be the case. The surprising thing about the photos in post 1 isn't the twigs and chaff, it's that the bypass element is so clean. It's gray and fluffy, not black and oily. By contrast, the full flow section is packed with nasty soot.

I'm of the opinion that the bypass section is poorly designed and ends up being ineffective. It may be because insufficient flow is routed through this section, or it may be that the protective "landscape" paper clogs and blocks flow. The reason sicks and bugs "work" in the bypass section is that the bypass section doesn't work. Only the little full flow section at the bottom is doing anything of value.

First off, there was no real question upfront. As I stated before, we have known for a long time that many of the filters are packed with this sort of media. There is no international incident here just because I opened up a new one and posted the pics.

I agree; nobody knows if it truly works at all. I suppose someone with good metal working skills could be brave, cut open one of these, remove media, and then do an oil analysis one cycle with the media, one without...

The reality is that these old IDI engines load a lot of soot in the oil, and so perhaps this may help... May not as well.

But the other reality is that it takes a very miniscule fraction of soot to make the oil black as can be. Put new oil in, start the car and idle it for a minute, then check the dipstick - its pretty black then, with no appreciable soot loaded.

That said, your final paragraph somewhat misses the mark, IMO. It may be ineffective, but that's not the role or function of the "landscape" fabric outer separator (which should be designed for maximum flow as the depth of the packing should be doing the filtering). Sticks and bugs neither do or dont work. They are just there. The only effect is an absolutely tiny reduction in the number of dense-packed fibers, and equally minimal volume in that part of the element that has the dense packed fibers.

BTW the Baldwin P102 is dual pleated media IIRC.

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Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)