What are Engine Oil Filters?

The engine oil filter of an aircraft or other vehicle type is paramount for standard operations, ensuring that contaminants and impurities are efficiently removed. Such materials can easily damage various internal equipment if left unchecked, thus necessitating the use of filters. Additionally, an oil filter also ensures that engine oil is kept within the correct area, furthering their benefits. As operations are carried out over time, the oil filter can slowly degrade or cause other issues as it continues to collect contaminants and impurities. To best protect such equipment, and thus your engine as well, it is important that the engine oil filter is regularly maintained and replaced.

In general, many engine oil filter assemblies are constructed like a mesh of synthetic fibers, allowing for all impurities within engine oil to be captured with ease. To prevent oil returning to the filter when the engine is shut off, anti-drain back valves are implemented in the engine assembly. To enhance the ability of a filter to capture extremely small materials, high-efficiency filter paper is commonly used for manufacturing.

 As filters may degrade over time and eventually necessitate replacement, it can be useful to maintain spare parts. When purchasing a new engine oil filter, it is important that it is stored properly to prevent rapid aging or deterioration. Furthermore, it is also crucial to match filters with the correct type of engine oil, preventing issues with incompatible products.

Removing an old oil filter of an aircraft is fairly simplistic, only requiring a single individual with no special skills. Before initiating the inspection, it is often important that the filter is drained of engine oil depending on how the filter is mounted. Once the filter is ready for removal, the safety wire is cut so that the filter may be unthreaded from the base. At this point, a new filter may be installed while carrying out proper lubrication for the rubber gasket. Using manufacturer specifications, the filter is then tightened and secured with wiring.

Once the old engine oil filter is removed, it can be inspected. First, the paper pleats of the assembly should be cut away, allowing for a single length of filter paper to be removed. Wearing gloves, the individual may then closely inspect the filter to search for potential carbon deposits. The most important thing to look out for is shiny bits, those of which may be ferrous metals. If there are numerous metals that each exceed a millimeter in size, then an oil analysis may need to be carried out to ensure that there is not a bigger issue present in the engine system.

Beyond the filter itself, other aircraft parts to look out for are the filter seal, cylinders, and rubber gasket. During the maintenance procedure, these components should be cleaned and checked over to make sure that they have integrity. Lastly, all other aviation parts can be checked during standard inspection and maintenance procedures to maintain the airworthiness of the aircraft.

When you are conducting maintenance and find yourself in need of various engine oil filter components and other related aerospace parts, look no further than ASAP 360 Unlimited. ASAP 360 Unlimited is a leading supplier of a diverse set of aircraft parts that cater to numerous applications, all of which are offered with competitive pricing and rapid lead-times. With the 24/7x365 availability of our team members, we promise person-to-person communication every step of the purchasing process to ensure that all your individual needs and requirements are met. If you have any questions regarding our services or wish to begin the procurement process, give our team members a call or email at your earliest convenience and we would be more than happy to help you however we can.