Oil filters

For some reason, I always used Bosch and then I went to whatever "premium filter" was on sale - . My Honda dealership does 19.95 oil changes so on that vehicle I let them handle the dirty work.

My worst filter experience was on a used BMW that I picked up. The owner must have used a crap one because it came out in pieces. Only Mann/OEM for that guy.

I just use the OEM brand for whatever car it is. Motorcraft for Ford, Delco for GM, etc.

Tom_Spangler wrote: I just use the OEM brand for whatever car it is. Motorcraft for Ford, Delco for GM, etc.

Both of those brands are exactly the same, except for the paint. They're both made by Champion Labs in southern Indiana, on the same factory line.

Anything that isn't a Fram orange can (because they charge twice what they're worth) or a plastic center tube (because the media being unsupported like that freaks me out) is fine by me for short interval stuff. I mostly run Napa Gold and Denso on my stuff.

Cardboard end caps are no big deal. They work. Just don't run one for 15k.

I like the Fram Tough Guards. Ultras are good too, I used one recently for two oil change intervals(changed oil at 5k, reused filter until next change another 5k later). I cut the filter open last night when it got changed, no problems found.

I'm going to go back to using the Tough Guard series because frankly I just like changing the filter at every change, and the Ultra is way overkill/overpriced for doing that. In the winter time I may do a 10k oil change interval and I'll do that with an Ultra filter... but not when I'm doing a bunch of autocross runs during the summer.

Purolator PureOnes used to be highly regarded, but Purolator had issues with their filters tearing. I never experienced it personally, and honestly most people won't know about it. In a nutshell Purolator basically refused to acknowledge any problems with their filters when it was brought to their attention by people who do cut their filters open after use... So to be on the safe side I switched to using Frams. I will not use their cheapest Extra Guard line though.

From being on Bitog a little while, all I've really learned is that most of this crap doesn't really matter(manufacturing problems aside). Choose something good enough, don't extend the interval longer than you should, and use decent oil(basically anything name brand is fine) and you're fine.

Here's a cut open Purolator PL14612: Purolator Pureone PL14612 cut open after 5154mi

Here's a cut open TG7317: Fram TG7317 cut open after 5238mi

Every UOA I've ever sent off has come back with 0.1 insolubles... so no filter has necessarily performed better than another if you think a UOA is worth looking at for those reasons(may or may not be the case).

I'll probably give the new middle of the line Purolator filter a chance next time I change the oil.

Several years ago I installed a remote oil filter on a car. For whatever reason I grabbed a Fram filter from the parts store. The engine had almost no oil pressure and I spent an afternoon figuring out how a few hoses and a remote adapter could do that. Turns out the oil pressure magically returned after I switched to a non-Fram filter.

I never bothered to cut the filter and play detective but I'm sure something inside collapsed (pretty sad when this happens even after you pre-lube the filter). I don't care what the internet or Fram's marketing department says - never again will a Fram filter make its way on to any of my vehicles.

Purolator, Mobil 1, K&N, Wix, Napa - they've all worked just fine for me.

In reply to atm92484:

Do keep in mind that when you see a filter collapse internally it's more often than not because it was a filter without a built in bypass valve being used with no bypass valve in the engine (or a gunked up one). When those plastic center filters came out they killed a few Chevy V8s, because a common mod for whatever ill conceived reason is to delete the filter bypass valve in the block. That center tube is only deigned to handle a 10-30psi pressure gradient across the media.

Chrysler 2.2/2.5 motors have issues with Fram oil filters.

Every one I've seen (and they've been several hundred by now) that has had a Fram filter on it has had lifter rattle or worse. Everyone of those that has replaced the Fram with another, better, filter has had the noise lessen or go away.

These are on engines with routine oil changes, using good synthetics.

Fram will never touch an engine I work on. Period.

In reply to Stefan (Not Bruce):

Hyundai actually released a tsb about Fran filters. They would cause enough restricting to drop oil pressure to the point it no longer had enough pressure to live the top end correctly. Add to that the number of gram filters I saw with paper media poking out of the holes with but a few miles on then and the split cases from when I changed oil for a living one summer in college. Needless to say I've never bought another since then. They may be fantastic now but I'll never know. I buy oem and call it a day.

mad_machine wrote: what's the consensus on the Bosch filters? My choices at Pepboys are Fram, Bosch, and Mobil1

I use Bosch Distance Plus filters on the MS3. The filter media is pretty thick on them and is synthetic. They seem to have pretty good reviews within Bob is the Oilguy and other places. Plus Wallyworld sells them with the Mobil1 that I run.

The thing is, Fram filters might work most of the time. But it only takes once to ruin a motor. I'm not going to take that chance on a brand that has so many horror stories about it and that - just by looking inside the filter - you can see is more cheaply made than the competition. Why bother? To save $3? Not me.

Good discussion here. There is a lot of knowledge and experience shared on this board. Personally, I have never noticed a problem with any brand of filter, but I don't mind learning from the experience of others.

I tend to run Purolator Pure One filters in my daily drivers, but am not generally opposed to other brands (except Fram). The Neon gets a K&N filter, not because it's "better", but because it has a nut welded onto the end, so it is easier to remove. Before I started using them, I would have to pretty much destroy the filter to remove it, even though I was only putting it on hand tight.

Had a bypass valve go bad on my D90 one time with one of the black body Fram filters. Got stuck open and my pressure dropped stupid low. I'm just glad it happened right as I was doing the oil change, and I had my eyes on the pressure gauge. If that happened at highway speed it could have been a lost engine.

In reply to BrokenYugo:

It was a PH8A filter - it has a 12psi bypass. The sandwich plate had a small bypass and the engine also had a bypass.

In reply to Antihero: This should prove helpful Oil (and air) filter tests.