Please show me some specific data, and/or some proof of what you contend. I owned a company that had both tractor-trailer rigs and buses out on the road in the U.S. and Canada. And I've driven them too. I know from experience what I am saying is correct.
Fullers Earth? DON! Fullers Earth is so abrasive that it is used as a drilling media for starting oil wells! There is no way that stuff is in diesel truck oil filters! If you really hate someone, put Fuller's Earth in their crankcase, or fuel system and see how long their engine will last. The filters used in commercial vehicles are just like the ones that are used on all other vehicles. And those trucks idling at rest stops are doing so to keep the heaters and A/C running. No other reason. In fact, I know of several fleets where excessive idling time is reason for dismissal of a driver...
As for oil filters being heated by exhaust gases, just where did you hear that? The oil filters come nowhere near exhaust gas, and part of their job is to cool the oil, not heat it! The only pre-heating done to the oil system is done via block heaters that heat the cooling system in the winter. In fact, the massive filters you see on the outside of some older trucks are the air filter, and the oil coolers. Some even still have an oil bath air filter. But, the engine oil filters are actually in the engine compartment.
And as for 100 THOUSAND mile oil changes, I have been working with commercial diesel engines for over 30 years. No one goes 100,000 miles without an oil change unless they want to do an engine change real soon too. Oil is changed just as I have previously stated in my last posting. In fact, those extended oil drain intervals ae ONLY possible due to advanced formulation of engine oils. In the old days, the trucks required an oil change about every 6,000 miles. The difference in drain interval today is
strictly based on the properties of the oils. And when those filters are changed, the oil is also changed just like any other vehicle. Filtration is of no use to oil that has literally broken down, and worn out it's ability to lubricate. Once the oil has lost it's ability to provide heat dissapation, lubricity and cushioning to your motor, there isn't an additive, filter or act of god that will do what a simple oil change will do.
Please stop comparing 350 & 450 HP truck engines to Mercedes Benz diesels! THERE IS NO LOGICAL COMPARISON!!!!
You might as well compare a Palomino to a Zebra...
[Edited by longston on 04-21-2001 at 04:39 AM]