A joint study by Detroit Diesel and AC Spark Plug resulted in SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Paper 881825, written by David R. Staley of General Motors Corp., and titled "Correlating Lube Oil Filtration Efficiencies With Engine Wear." The study concluded that
- The range of particulates most likely to damage engines are in the 2 to 22 Micron range
- The smallest particles that can be captured by the most popular full-flow filters are between 25 and 40 Microns.
- The finer the filtration, the more significant the reduction in the rate of engine wear
For more information or to read the study in it entirety, go to www.sae.org and search for Paper Number 881825. For related SAE studies, see Paper Number(s) 881827 and 95255
