Originally Posted by effin' speedracer

I have pictures of 2 different filters and the cleaner filter is from my Cobra at a 3000 mile oil change and the dirty one is from another engine with more miles on it.

Originally Posted by Nuke

Engine wear cannot be determined by looking at the inside of the filter. Oil analysis will identify the composition of the wear particulars which provides info on WHICH internal component(s) is the culprit. But it usually takes multiple analysis to determine what's going on unless, of course, you have something catastrophic occuring. Think of it as a doctor doing blood analysis.

Damaging particles can be too small to be seen by the naked eye.

NOW can I have my fried chicken, Shella?

Originally Posted by SaddleUp

Lol, no.....I would never know how to tear into one of those things....
I did hear, however, you could tell a lot about engine wear based on what the inside of a used filter looked like. I was curious as to what that meant. I suppose you would see metal flakes?

Your pictures show how much variation can be seen within the filters themselves. Very nice job.

I was wondering what would make you think "Boy, my engine is going to blow" just by looking at the filter.....does it look all black and nasty? Or is there more to it than that?

Originally Posted by Nuke

Engine wear cannot be determined by looking at the inside of the filter. Oil analysis will identify the composition of the wear particulars which provides info on WHICH internal component(s) is the culprit. But it usually takes multiple analysis to determine what's going on unless, of course, you have something catastrophic occuring. Think of it as a doctor doing blood analysis.

Damaging particles can be too small to be seen by the naked eye.

NOW can I have my fried chicken, Shella?

Originally Posted by SaddleUp

You're getting there Nuke Wait....I should tell you......I don't know how to cook.

Your explanation has good reasoning and logic...and helps me to understand better. Nonetheless....I do think a super nasty-looking filter with lots of metal flakes would be reason for concern. I think I shall hack into mine.

Originally Posted by effin' speedracer

Not so, I work on heavy equipment and when we suspect a engine problem we will cut open a filter (oil analysis is used too) and check for metal. The second picture I posted has metal particals that can be seen by the naked eye.