Oil and fuel filters, which are the best?

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
I trust only MANN for my TDI-PD because MANN is the man who made filter housings and is OEM supplier.
 

Marinel

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Location
Atlanta
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
I have always used oem/hengst/mann. Since ive been too lazy to stop by the vw dealership or order an oil filter online, I went to my local advanced auto parts and found a bosch filter made in germany and I was surprised at how good it looked. It looks like it has more pleats than the OEM. Ill change the oil tomorrow and compare them side by side.
 

RalphVa

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Location
Virginia
TDI
Jetta
I haven't done any checking re VW filters, but the Purolator filter made for the 240D seemed virtually the same as what I'd buy from my dealer.

I'd buy from the dealer if any doubt at all.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
The best fuel filters are the 1-micron or 2-micron fuel filters.

Nicktane sells filter heads for either one.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=262613

Lubrication Specialist (Greg Landuyt) sells a filter head for the Cat 2-micron filter.
http://lubricationspecialist.com/front/shop.aspx?catid=8&parentid=0&productid=26

I have the Lubrication Specialist system; it paid for itself long ago. I typically replace the Cat filters about every 60k miles but they can probably go 100k miles. If I did not already have an aftermarket fuel filter system, I think I'd go with the Nicktane system, but using the 2-micron filters because replacements are easy to find and cheap. The Nicktane system seems unlikely to have any problems with the thermostatic-T, which you can have with either an OE filter or the Lubrication Specialist system.

Also, there are no moving parts, so whichever you buy, you can use in your current TDI, and the next one, and the one after that, and then pass it along to your children and grandchildren.
 

Joe_Meehan

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Ohio USA
TDI
NB TDI, 2002.5, Silver
Define best! In my experience there are big differences between filters, but very little difference in the final results. Filter A may look flimsy, but that does not mean it is likely to fail or will filter poorly. Filter B may look great, but not not provide any meaningful difference in end results than A.

In real life very few stock cars don't have filter problems. My car with cheap filters is likely to last just as long as someone else's car with an expensive filter.

If you have modified your engine, then you may want to consider possible differences.
 

daedalus

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2005
Location
Pittstown NJ
TDI
05 Variant TDI Black w/Gray
I just replaced the stock fuel filter with the Stanadyne 5 micron filter system. An easy mod and maybe will help preserve the expensive injectors over time. Mow I found out they also have 2 micron filters but I stocked up on the 5 micron version.

Oil filter -- Mann is the man
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
Any clues what micron filter rating has the OEM fuel filter?
I think I've read about 10-15 microns for replacement filters for older-generation TDIs, and about 8-10 microns for the newer-generation TDI filters.
 

FowVay

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2000
Location
Georgia
TDI
2009 Jetta returned to der Führer
Any clues what micron filter rating has the OEM fuel filter?
This is a bit of a dated reply but the Mann PU936/2 has a rated filtration efficiency of >95% of particles in the range of 3-5µm with a flow rate of 125 liters per hour.

Mann provides a high quality product when you specify the OEM numbers.
 

zurgin1251

Veteran Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Location
Clinton, NY
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS TDI
Had a bad Meyle fuel filter the other day. Didnt realize it until it was in the car and prefilled with fuel. The port that accepts the thermo T was all jagged and the channels were to long and narrow for the T to seat properly. Now I will be spending the extra couple bucks to get Mann or Hengst filters
 

add2700

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Location
Denver
TDI
2005 Golf GLS TDI
I got the Meyle filter from one of the main vendors on these forums, and the T fitting doesn't sit right, so it's leaking fuel. dammit.
 

silverbox

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Location
Halifax Nova Scotia
TDI
jetta wagon 2003 silver
The best oil filter is not available for my 03 jetta, it is an amsoil/Donoldson filter, I believe they are called AeO filters. Years ago George Morrison tried to get a write in campaign going to get Amsoil to start making them for our cars, unfortunately this was not successful. They are said to be many times better than the Oe filter. I'll try to look up Georges old post on this later.
Found it, maybe we can try again to get Amsoil to make these for our cars. http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=169991&highlight=worlds+oil+filter
 
Last edited:

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
NAPA Gold oil filters, made by Wix, are also excellent.

I would say for our TDIs, the most important filters are air, fuel, and oil, in that order.
 

krystlelite81

TDIGUY Associate Vendor
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Location
Campbell, CA
TDI
2000 Beetle TDI
We use Mann for oil filters and Hengst or Mann for fuel filters (depending on the engine). We also you Mann for the air filters as well. Haven't had any problems with either!
 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
This is a bit of a dated reply but the Mann PU936/2 has a rated filtration efficiency of >95% of particles in the range of 3-5µm with a flow rate of 125 liters per hour.

Mann provides a high quality product when you specify the OEM numbers.
Better late than never! Glad I went with MANN last year.
 

Stevestyle67

Veteran Member
Joined
May 26, 2006
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI; 1972 Chevelle (Malibu) Convertible
Fram sucks. I've seen fram oil filter failure 2 times.
I've used Mann at 60,000/80/100 and will at 120k miles because they come with the filter packs, and used Fram at 10,000 mile intervals between.

The fram looks a bit better made IMHO, and I've never noticed any difference with performance. Also, my family has used fram filters on all of our cars for almost 25+ years, and never experienced a failure.
 

3516ACERT

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Location
Maryland
TDI
2010 JSW
Some filters are rated "nominal" and some are rated "absolute".

With an absolute rated filter, there is a distinct particle cut off at micron rating.
Nominal filters are always expressed in a wishy washy percentage removal of the target particle.

Cellulose filter media is cheap, and the cellulose media tends to "shed" downstream of the filter, so you could stop 95% of 10 micron particles only to get 20 micron pieces of cellulose downstream of the filter. Hot liquids (like oil) will dissolve the binding material over time, releasing previously trapped particles. Cellulose media can be white or a dark orange in color.

Look for filters made of impregnated fiberglass with a metallic screen backing for petroleum liquids. This media doesn't shed, and doesn't release trapped particles.
 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
If you need to save a buck or two then you should really take a bus instead. Don't be cheap.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
If you need to save a buck or two then you should really take a bus instead. Don't be cheap.
Excellent savings are available if you buy 6 or 12 filters at a time, from the online vendors who offer such discounts. For instance, www.fleetfilter.com sells the Wix 57210 oil filter for the ALH engine for $5.99 in bulk. NAPA sells that same filter for $9-10, I think, though I haven't actually priced them lately since I still have a good stockpile.
 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
If you need to save a buck or two then you should really take a bus instead. Don't be cheap.
K&N inflates the price of the Mann filter... so it must be better than a Mann filter, right?

or... maybe I should try to find a cartridge filter for my 2.0T (and other TDI's) that uses steel end caps....

Excellent savings are available if you buy 6 or 12 filters at a time, from the online vendors who offer such discounts. For instance, www.fleetfilter.com sells the Wix 57210 oil filter for the ALH engine for $5.99 in bulk. NAPA sells that same filter for $9-10, I think, though I haven't actually priced them lately since I still have a good stockpile.
Some of the online dealerships on the 'tex offers discounts over MSRP as well.
 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
Excellent savings are available if you buy 6 or 12 filters at a time, from the online vendors who offer such discounts. For instance, www.fleetfilter.com sells the Wix 57210 oil filter for the ALH engine for $5.99 in bulk. NAPA sells that same filter for $9-10, I think, though I haven't actually priced them lately since I still have a good stockpile.
Personally I wouldn't use this no-name filter in my personal car even if I got it/them free of charge. Just my 2 cents. I want to be sure so I usually buy well-known quality products.
 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
K&N inflates the price of the Mann filter... so it must be better than a Mann filter, right?

or... maybe I should try to find a cartridge filter for my 2.0T (and other TDI's) that uses steel end caps....
What's your point? To defend FRAM? Come on, go and use your FRAM.
 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
What's your point? To defend FRAM? Come on, go and use your FRAM.
1. No one says why steel end caps on the filters is better.
2. Since cartridge filters available do not utilize steel end caps, are they automatically inferior?
3. What's wrong with saving a buck or two for buying the same product?
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
Personally I wouldn't use this no-name filter in my personal car even if I got it/them free of charge. Just my 2 cents. I want to be sure so I usually buy well-known quality products.
Wix is not a no-name filter in North America. They are quality filters -- good design, good materials, and good construction. I am not surprised, however, that Wix is unknown in Ireland.

 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
I take my words back about Wix then.

Still, why buy a FRAM when you can buy MANN and sleep calmer?
 
Top