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Anybody ever use car oil filter on lawnmower engine? Why or why not?

RandyMac said:

Anybody ever use car oil filter on lawnmower engine? Why or why not?

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I have a Pure One Classic filter on my Craftsman LT 2000's B&S engine. Why? Much cheaper than the B&S replacement filter....bigger, too.

i use fram #3614 on all briggs and kolher engine without any problems, $3-4.00

all the local shops stand strong behind not using a car filter. the filter is much bigger on the car filters. lawn mowers are usually in dirty dusty conditions whereas cars are not. they say never to use an automotive filter. not trying to insult anyone. just passing on the information i was told

I use napa gold in my mowers and dirt track car. So what would dust have to do with it. The dust/ dirt should not be getting in your oil. Now every engine builder I have talked to says stay away from FRAM they restrict the oil to much

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Wix, Napa, Hastings, Purolator... Just about any Quality filter is going to be fine.. You can look up the cross reference tables... You will find that an auto filter will work fine, usually much better, (larger size filter media pack) and will cost a LOT less...
I also avoid Fram... :smile:KennyV

The reasons to not use a car filter is because the small engine filter has a anti drainback valve not found on car filters and also contains the pressure relief valve in the filter body, if the car filter would plug (not likely) it will starve the engine of oil because of no bypass feature if engine is full pressure lube system. a lot of the briggs engine still have a slinger system and all the oil pump and filter do is filter the oil. Has nothing to do with lube.

On the wix site you can check any of their filter specs...
It will give you micron filter beta, ByPass pressure and construction details including the presence of a anti drain back... Typical small engine spec filter info... Part Detail
Typical automotive & small engine filter spec... Part Detail
You can easily determine a cross reference by going to the look up site. WIX filters, WIX oil filters, WIX air filters, WIX fuel filters, WIX Heavy Duty Oil Filters : Filter Look-Up Then on the vehicle type select Off Highway Equipment... then just select equipment make OR engine in the drop downs...
Just a little bit of comparing specs will put you on a track to better availability & priced expendable parts... :smile:KennyV

So talking about filters, today I went to the MF dealer located in my area about 20 miles from my home. Anyway, when I got there I asked for an air filter for my MF2310. The first question was did you buy it here? My response was no. So he said he would check. When he returned he informed me that he did not have any filters and BTW, we are no long a MF dealer we dropped the line. Sorry we can't help you. I guess his supplier only has filter to fit the tractor he sold:thumbdown:

Keep in mind that I had recently checked at my local supplier he sells WIK's filters. He did not have any listing for my filter number. He did suggest a local Baldwin supplier. So from the tractpr dealer I drove 25 miles (back towards my house). The supplier is a truck parts and repair center. I was told a baldwin filter would cost $100.00. I responded not likely. Then on my way home I remembered that people on this site have suggested NAPA for supplies. The could get on and their price was $45.00 + tax.

I decided to wait and I'd check the internet. My filter is a AGCO I could not find my number. I also checked for a MF dealer I would need to go to NH maybe 70 miles from here:thumbdown:

Oh, I did order from NAPA. It will be in tomorrow.

All of this traveling was done with my Ford 250SD, 6.8 l, It loves gas.

Napa Filters are made by Wix. Baldwin # would be RS4804 , Both are excellent well made filters.

After reading this post I went to the WIX site to look up a replacement filter. According to the this site my tractor a MF 2310, takes a 49691 air filter. The Napa filter I got was the gold series 9691 $45.00 + tax. I'm hoping to find a little better price since I tend to change the filter often.

Around here it has been unseasonably dry making it very dusty requiring more filter changes:thumbdown:

ILENGINE said:

The reasons to not use a car filter is because the small engine filter has a anti drainback valve not found on car filters and also contains the pressure relief valve in the filter body, if the car filter would plug (not likely) it will starve the engine of oil because of no bypass feature if engine is full pressure lube system. a lot of the briggs engine still have a slinger system and all the oil pump and filter do is filter the oil. Has nothing to do with lube.

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MANY CAR FILTERS HAVE ANTI DRAINBACK VALVES I HAVE OVER 20 YEARS OF WORKINK WITH FRAM FILTERS AND HAVE RUN A PH3614 IN PLACE OF THE B&S FILTER THAT COST 10. 00
THE FRAM IS ABOUT 3.00 HAS WORKED FINE FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS ON MY B&S AND TECUMSEY , KOHLER TOO

Hello PEXON...

Your cap lock, on your keyboard appears to be stuck...

Fram filters "enjoy" a very Bad reputation... I doubt that is going to change any time soon.
Wix, Hastings, AC, Purolator, Baldwin or Any other filter will also be had at a much better price & can be a far superior part.
BUT just like with larger engines, small engines did Not have filters for Decades... Billions of hours with No filter at all...
You can now include a filter with your oil change on Most small engines... You can also now choose the quality of that filter... :smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

Hello PEXON...

Your cap lock, on your keyboard appears to be stuck...

Fram filters "enjoy" a very Bad reputation... I doubt that is going to change any time soon.
Wix, Hastings, AC, Purolator, Baldwin or Any other filter will also be had at a much better price & can be a far superior part.
BUT just like with larger engines, small engines did Not have filters for Decades... Billions of hours with No filter at all...
You can now include a filter with your oil change on Most small engines... You can also now choose the quality of that filter... :smile:KennyV

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the bad rep came from some knock off fram back in the 80s been useing real fram for more than 50 years some of my cars and trucks have over 200k and run fine but at the same time if i find a stp mobile ,k&N ect .. cheeper i will use them , what most pepole seem to forget is that it is a pypass filter only a small amount gets filted at a time and not all at once and yes i agree there are better filters out there but fram is what we sold at the store so fram is what i used

I always use genuine parts. Half the time its cheaper over here than using spurious.
Had too many failures over the years from dodgy filters.
Even down to the oil. Manufacturers test them so whatever they advise will do me.
Use Briggs oil, Honda oil.
Cant get kohler or Kawasaki oil but just make sure the oil i do use has the appropriate API rating.

Its not fram thats bad over here but cooper oil filters. Very bad reputation.

pugaltitude said:

but just make sure the oil i do use has the appropriate API rating

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That's it in a nutshell.

Want to know what the different oil filters are made of, just cut them open and look inside,
oil filters revealed
:biggrin:

pugaltitude said:

I always use genuine parts. Half the time its cheaper over here than using spurious.
Had too many failures over the years from dodgy filters.
Even down to the oil. Manufacturers test them so whatever they advise will do me.
Use Briggs oil, Honda oil.
Cant get kohler or Kawasaki oil but just make sure the oil i do use has the appropriate API rating.

Its not fram thats bad over here but cooper oil filters. Very bad reputation.

Click to expand...

i belive fram and cooper are the same company

mowerguy said:

all the local shops stand strong behind not using a car filter. the filter is much bigger on the car filters. lawn mowers are usually in dirty dusty conditions whereas cars are not. they say never to use an automotive filter. not trying to insult anyone. just passing on the information i was told

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They tell you that so they can gouge your arse!!!

I cross-referenced my Hydraulic filter on my Zero Turn to a Wix, the Wix was $6.49 and the OEM was $28. Now do you actually think the filter from the shop is that much better?

Lawnmower shops are the biggest rip off of about any business out there.

A few examples other than the filter above.

Deck belt for my mower at the dealer is $70, a Kevlar reinforced one from a industrial supply place is $29. I've watched a mower shop pull a cardboard sleeve off a belt before giving it to a customer so that they couldn't get a size off of it.

Spindle Bearings at the dealer are $26 ea., I bought American made ones for mine around $10.

I have no problem with someone making a living, but they won't do it by raping me.

I want to know how the dust gets in your oil

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