The last car I had with this type of Filter Housing (Paper Element in a separate housing) was a 1962 Austin A60 Cambridge and that too was a right pain to change !!.
Haven't a clue just what Euro engine it is other than it's a 81kw CFHA. I have had the car from new. (June 2012)
Regards. Mike.
Ha ha! Changed many a filter on an A60. My Dad had a string of at least 4 of them in a row, 5 if you count the Pininfarina styled A55 Cambridge that preceded the A60. They made a great “farmer’s car”. Built like a brick sh1thouse, provided you ignored the rust. Boot lid that opened right down to the bumper. You could fit two standard hay bales in the boot, or two standard egg crates. But not all 4 at the same time. :smile: Whip the back seat out (easy enough) and you could also fit a sheep in the back for an ambulance trip to the vets. With a 10-year old (me) to hold the sheep quiet during the trip. I was the farm’s machine maintenance monkey right up to him retiring properly and finally packing up for a life in the village.
In fact all the B-series engined cars from BMC had the same filter body design. As did the A-series, just a smaller replica of the same thing. And many tractor engines of the era, their’s a bit bigger. A long bolt through the centre of the light alloy housing that surrounded the paper element and held both to the filter head. So as you unscrewed the bolt, you got a nice dribble of hot oil down your arm. The only other hassle I can recall was removing the old rectangular profile o-ring from the filter head, prior to fitting a new one. But with a strong nappy pin to spear the old o-ring and withdraw it, that became a doddle. People used to ask why I had a nappy pin through the lapel of my work overalls. That was so I always knew where to find it. :wink: Aligning the filter body with the o-ring slot as you bolted up the element and body was important. But not too difficult, just needed care.
Back to the Yeti. The black plastic, domed top cap, with the 32mm hex “nut” on the top, threads into the filter body, via a 20mm deep, threaded outer rim. The filter element withdraws upwards, with a wiggle past the EGR pipe, staying attached to the plastic head unit. In fact the element is a push fit onto a long plastic “stalk” that runs through its centre, and is permanently attached to the plastic filter head. The stalk is at least 40mm longer than the filter element. It’s tip slots into a hole in the base of the filter housing. To help ensure correct location when re-fitting the new filter. (If you’ve ever seen the the alignment structure that NASA developed in the 60’s to help dock the moon landers with the command module, to get the two perfectly lined up as they came together. It’s a lot like those, only a lot smaller. Once the filter element is out you’ll be better able to tell if the surrounding housing is alloy or plastic on your car.
There should be three o-rings in the new filter box. The smallest, only about 12mm diameter, goes on the end of the stalk, just above the tip. That one is a little tricky to fit, being so tiny. But small, flat blade screwdriver (e.g. as used for electrics) is a good help to ease it onto the stalk. The next is about 15-20mm diameter and fits onto the shank of the stalk just below the base of the filter element, when that is fitted. The last is approx 60mm across, the full width of the filter housing and fits onto the upper part of the filter head, between the top of the threads and the lip where the head locates onto the housing. I recommend removal and re-fitting all three o-rings after removing the old element, but refitting the new filter element. That avoids damaging the filter’s paper pleats while you fiddle with the o-rings.
Better quality filter elements, (such as Bosch, Mahle, Mann, perhaps?) are “ended”. Having a slightly wider diameter central hole at the top end, nearest the head, where the element fits over the shank, than at the lower end. This helps a snug fit and proper oil flow. The relevant end should say “Top” in faint lettering.
This more modern type of filter design is superior to the “spin on” canister filter idea with a metal, usually steel, outer body and central threaded screw on hole and locator. Those became popular on designs from the 70s to the turn of the Millennium. First seen on American designs. They were theoretically faster to swap. The big problems with those however were:
A) Very prone to over tightening or seizing themselves on while fitted. Which often made them pigs to remove in practice. Especially in engine bays with very little access room (like my old Renault Scenic).
B) Cost of manufacture and materials of the “throw away” whole thing. Filter element, casing and internal valving, etc. To be competitive on price, too often the hidden materials inside, the actual paper filter itself and more crucially the non-return valve (which prevented the filter draining all its oil back to the sump when the engine was off) were of such poor quality as to be almost useless and too prone to failure. Either that or were so expensive to buy, people didn’t. Hence the foolish idea it was worth changing the oil but not the filter.
The more modern designs have returned to the old idea of a housing that is a permanent part of the engine and a separate paper element or cartridge insert. This has several advantages.
1) You only buy the paper element itself each time. Not a lot of expensive metalwork wrapped around it. That you later throw away. Less waste in landfills too. The used paper element burns well in incinerators.
2) The non-return valving can be properly and more expensively engineered to be built into the housing and last the life of the engine. But you only buy it once. That makes the valving much more reliable and long lasting.
3) You can see the quality of the paper element you are buying. Cheapo manufacturers can’t get away with rubbish internals like with a canister filter.
4) The element is a LOT less expensive to manufacture. So maker’s can afford to use better quality filtration and still come out cheaper than a canister.
5) The consumer, you and I, only need pay for the parts we actually need to use.
Those newer designs are however somewhat updated compared to the 1960s. So a better quality, and in general easy to change. Apart from the VW EA189 installation where the EGR plumbing and other cables and connectors do get in the way of withdrawing the filter head.