Engine What's so special about a small engine OIL filter?

[MowerPilot]

I have a Scag with the 24 HP Honda engine. I was comparing the oil filter with one from a Saturn car. They look and fit identically.
The original Honda oil filter is a FPE15-10N-18. Is the automotive PH2835 or the QS3614 that much different inside? Some web sites call this FPE15 a hydraulic filter, but that's what my Scag book calls for along with a list of other filters. Flow rate, pressure bypass, anyone know for sure?

 

[ILENGINE]

The main difference is the small engine oil filters have a bypass built into the filter, were the auto filter may or may not. Will this cause a problem in most cases. Not likely. Most small engines don't have a pressure regulator, or bypass in the pump, so the filter acts as the bypass. If in the event that the filter clogs, you could in theory starve the engine of oil.

 

[Rivets]

IL put it about a plan and simple as possible. The only thing I would add is that there is a difference in the material used to filter the oil. The specs for amount of filtering material and how porous it is, is different in every filter manufacturer and the engine manufacturer sets what they want for their engines.

 

[motoman]

IMO manufacturers market oil filter names just like other things. I note that poor Sears is on verge of collapse. Strolling through their outdoor equipment section reveals "Craftsman" oil filters for $12 to $15 when the auto filter sits at $4-$5. The owner's manual warns that such "genoowine" filters are necessary to protect against heat of air cooled engines. IMO it is hype. My (now) reliable Intek uses auto filters. Sears has killed itself with markups that worked in the WWII era, but have not convinced the public that repainted chinese jackstands, for instanct, are worth twice the price.

 

[bertsmobile1]

IMO manufacturers market oil filter names just like other things. I note that poor Sears is on verge of collapse. Strolling through their outdoor equipment section reveals "Craftsman" oil filters for $12 to $15 when the auto filter sits at $4-$5. The owner's manual warns that such "genoowine" filters are necessary to protect against heat of air cooled engines. IMO it is hype. My (now) reliable Intek uses auto filters. Sears has killed itself with markups that worked in the WWII era, but have not convinced the public that repainted chinese jackstands, for instanct, are worth twice the price.

So you found a catalogue that listed the mesh size, flow rate & bypass valve pressure rate for the filter on your mower and also the ones for the car filter you are using and checked they were both the same or close enough to the same ?

oil filters are like every thing else that gets made it is all about volume, volume , volume. Thus the most popular car filter will always be a lot cheaper than the most obscure mower filter.
As a general rule most car oil pumps shift about 10 times the flow rate of mowers at much higher pressures than a mower pump car oi runs at a fairly consistant 80 deg C whereas air cooled oil can oft get up to the 150 deg C mark.
A lot of car makers put the bypass valve in the oil filter housing so their oil filters do not have a valve in them which makes them a lot cheaper no vertical shaft lawn mower engines do this.

If I was selling oil filters for 351 chevies I could easily for off several thousand a month so I can make a reasonable living on a much smaller mark up.
If I was tryig to make a living selling intek oil filters I would be lucky to sell 1000 a year so naturally the mark ups will be higher as I will have stock sitting on my shelves for the better part of a year.

Next companies like Sears who you seem to delight in their downfall spend a lot of that exorbant mark up on things like service & keeping parts lists & service information available.
So next time you go to your cheapest possible car parts shop, ask them what pto belt fits your lawn mower, how to fit it and when can they get you one .

 

[motoman]

Easy there, mate. I go way back with Sears and bought my Craftsman Intek there. There is no delight in watching a business model fail. But watching overpriced chinese goods in gimmicky (non green ) paint does grate a little. I wish Sears could succeed with non-competitive goods, but looks like they won't. They were famous years ago for the best retirement and bendfits programs, but probably can no longer sustain that.