Oil Filter Schooling

[alienturtle]

I want to say in advance that i am not posting this to get everyone going about oil filters like the stupid "my oils better than yours" crap. So with that said this is something to pick your brain then next time you go and get an oil filter for your "baby" Now i know this is a dodge part but its just something to think about.

My dad has been a Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep mechanic since he was 18. He has worked in dealerships his entire life and today he had school. They primarily went over things that headquarters has seen about engine failures focusing on the diesels. He said they had a huge talk about oil filters. He took these 3 pictures to show me when he got home.

In the first pic you can see 2 tops that have been cut off. The one on the right is a Mopar filter and the one on the left is one you would get from Kragen ect. (he didnt tell me what it was as they were all cut apart) As you can see 2 major differences. 1 being the holes are larger on the mopar filter. And 2 if you look at the threads you will about twice as many on the mopar as the "off" brand.

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Moving onto the second picture. The mopar filter is now on the left side and the "off" brand is on the right. As you first notice the "off" filter is held together by a piece of string and it looks like the filter is all spread apart. My dad said if you turn that filter around it looks like a normal scrunched together filter just like the mopar on the left. Because they are not glued together like the mopar one is they tend to come un raveled if you will and scrunch up on one side. Also they said that the string that is holding the "off" filter together has been known to deteriorate and actually come apart and plug engine oil jets. something to think about.

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Now for the last and final pic. this one is my favorite. You can see on the left the mopar filter has a nice spring for the pop off or bypass in case the filter gets too much pressure through it..this spring closes or opens (not sure) and it bypasses the filter and will return to normal when the psi falls below the set psi. Lets use 50psi as an example. As you can see the "off" filter on the right does not have a spring but a metal tin looking thing. The best part about this is how does a piece of tin return back to normal one its been "poped". IT DOESN'T..in this filter if it ever hits that "50 psi" it begins to bypass the filter and will NEVER return to normal filtering that its so posed to. Also you can see a nice sealing oring around the mopar filter. and the off brand doesnt so its possible to have leak by

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Just something to ponder about..i though it was kinda cool. I know iv always run mopar filter with my cummins and i wont change that.

 

[turbodiesel94]

I used to run fram filters on my old truck, but that was before i knew better. Now its been motorcraft on the IDI and wix on the Suburban.

 

[gandalf]

The oil filter is indeed a pretty important item. Don't skimp on it. A bad filter is barely better than no filter. It gives you a false sense of security.

There was a filter study done several years ago, which , I believe, has been updated since. It's pretty interesting.

Oil Filter Study

Some of the information may be dated, but I think most of it is still good.

 

[The Warden]

I sadly don't have any pictures of it, but I remember my high school auto shop teacher showing the class a collection of filters that were cut away so you could see the inside...I'm not going to preach about what filter you should buy (I generally go for OEM unless there's a good reason not to), but after seeing that, I will never install anything made by Fram, except an air filter and then only in an emergency!

 

[Jake_IN]

That off brand filter looks exactly like a Quaker state filter that i cut open.

 

[bird hunter]

Anyone ever cut open an FL 1995? I'd be curious to see how that compares with others. It's the one I always use.

 

[bab029]

I haven't used a fram in about 5 years singe I saw that link to the oil filter study. I've used mobil one filters in the pony car when they're on sale as part of an oil change deal, but I see they too have the less desirable flat spring. I generally try to run Motorcraft filters...

 

[MidnightBlade]

will have to cut apart my purolator when it is time for an oil change. id cut apart my old one but it has been beside the garage for 3 months now and i dont think theres much left in it.

 

[icanfixall]

When I first got my rig in 96 I ran Fram oil filters. I believed what I saw advertised all over the industry about how great they were... Pay me now or pay me later was their slogen.... I learned soon from these forums not to use them and mostly the reasons why.... The reasons are what changed my feelings towards advertisements... They are designed to sell you something... Not really fix or cure something.... Motorcraft 1995 is all I use now and have been for many many years....

 

[Brad S.]

Does anyone make a reuseable filter for the IDI engine? And are they worth the money & do they filter good enough?
I know at Summit there is section of "washable" filters, toyed with getting one for the wife's vehicle, pricey.

 

[stumpjumper3]

Thank you for that info on those filters. When i was in CATs training we went over oil filters as well. We cut open almost every brand you could think of, Amsoil, Mobil1, fram, carquest, napa, purolator, donaldson, baldwin, fleetguard, and of course CAT. I have to say, of all the filters, wix, donaldson and baldwin are by far the closest to CAT spec i have seen. The key to good filter is the spring for bypass, and CAT actually spirals a "glue" to the filter pleats from the bottom to the top. The result is the pleats never get stuck together and the filter is always filtering at maximum efficiency.

 

[alienturtle]

My dad was told the Fleetguard are the guys that make the filters for mopar.

 

[dsltech83]

Yeah cummins owns fleetguard.

 

[idiabuse]

No mention of filter efficency?
this is the most important aspect of a filter and should be the
the only reason to purchase a quality filter.

I use two filters on my truck
the full flow fiter is 98.7 percent efficient at removing particles larger
than 15 microns.
My other filter is 98.7 percent efficient at removing particles larger
than 2 micron.

Clean oil is vital to engine performance if your filters dont remove
contaminate in the 2-10 micron range your oil will need to be changed
more often.
Even when changing oil you wont get out all the oil, residual oil will be left behind
and this oil is contaminated with particles in the smaller ranges, these particles cause the most damage cause they are never caught.

Javier

 

[alienturtle]

No mention of filter efficency?

i dont know he didnt say anything about that..i posted this as more of a physical standpoint