Caterpillar 496-9846 Air Filter

The Element That Is Supposed to Stay Clean

Every service conversation about the 330 GC or 336 GC air box eventually reaches the same question: do I need the inner element as well? Cat's answer is in the grade it printed on the part — the 496-9846 is standard efficiency, not Ultra High Efficiency like the primary it sits behind. That is not cost-cutting. The secondary is positioned downstream of the primary, so in normal service it sees almost no dust. Its job is the exception: the ten minutes when the primary is out of the housing during a service, or the hours after a primary has been holed by a stone or a torn seal.

Because of that, the secondary is the element that fails silently. An operator who services the primary on schedule and never touches the inner element can run for years with a secondary that is either clogged from an unnoticed breach or dented from a careless refit — and neither shows up until the engine starts breathing dirt. When a machine comes in for a service and the primary is collapsed, dirty, or wet, the secondary goes in the bin with it. That is the only reliable rule.

Why We Publish No Dimensions for This One

Plenty of listings online will give you a size for 496-9846. What they will not tell you is where the number came from, and on a secondary element the measurement that matters is not the outside of the moulding — it is the sealing face where it meets the primary and the housing. Cat's own product page for this number gives the part name, the efficiency grade and the compatible-model list without a verification block we could read against a second source, so this page carries no dimensions instead of a number we cannot stand behind.

The practical alternative is the one that works: measure the element you take out. Send the height over the seal, the width across the body, and a photograph of the element next to a rule, and we match the replacement to those figures before it leaves Shanghai. That is slower than copying a number off a listing, and it is the only method that has not produced a return shipment.

Ordering It With the Primary

The pair is almost always bought together, and we box 496-9845 with 496-9846 as a set when the order asks for it. The rest of the service on a 330 GC is the 322-3155 lube cartridge, which is an element in the 322-3154 housing rather than a spin-on can, and the two fuel elements 523-4987 and 509-5694. Our 330 GC air filter guide puts all five numbers in one table, and the filters catalogue lists what else we hold for the C7.1 engines.

FAQ

Q: Which machines use the Caterpillar 496-9846 air filter?
A: Cat lists 496-9846 for the same model group as the primary it sits inside: 330, 330 GC, 336, 336 GC, 326, 326 GC, 333, 349, 352, 352 UHD, 355, the 707 wide-body truck, MH3040 and the 330 MHPU. The 330 GC and 336 GC are both C7.1 machines and take the pair 496-9845 with 496-9846. Confirm the air cleaner housing on the machine before ordering: C9.3 and C9.3B machines such as the 340, 345, 345 GC and 350 take a different element.

Q: How does the 496-9846 secondary differ from the 496-9845 primary?
A: The difference is grade and position. 496-9845 is the Ultra High Efficiency primary with the pre-cleaner built into the element and takes the full dust load. 496-9846 is a standard efficiency element that sits inside the primary and is only exposed to the airstream when the primary is removed or damaged. Cat's own description calls the secondary the last line of defence for exactly that reason. They are not interchangeable and the secondary cannot be fitted in place of the primary.

Q: What are the dimensions of the 496-9846 air filter?
A: We do not publish dimensions for 496-9846 because we could not verify them from a source we trust. Cat's product page for the number carries the part name, the efficiency grade and the compatible-model list but not a measurement block, and the supplier listings that quote a size for it use their own bounding box rather than a measurement of the element. Send us the measurement of the element you remove and we confirm the replacement against it before dispatch.

Q: Does the 496-9846 cross-reference to a HiFi or Fleetguard number?
A: One supplier listing pairs 496-9846 with HiFi SA 160082, and factory catalogues quote the code CA4969846, which is their own product code rather than a catalogue cross. Neither is confirmed by the filter maker's own publication, so we treat both as leads. If you need a cross number you can rely on, order by the Cat number and the measurements, and check the element against the housing on arrival.