Oil Filter Videos

[Lorrin Barth]

Surfing on You Tube the other night I ran across videos on oil filters. Of course I viewed the rants on Fram filters. And then there are the men who cut open filters to see what’s inside. The funny thing is some of these people don’t know what they are looking at once the filter is open, calling the various parts by various names.

I use Purolator and was pleased to see it has a decent looking bypass valve in the bottom of the filter (in bottom I mean the end opposite the threaded end). Then I came across a gentleman who cut open three filters. He pointed out that with the bypass in the bottom, if the bypass opens, then all the deposits on the outside of the filter media are flushed to the engine. I didn’t like hearing that. A few filters have the bypass at the threaded end.

Then I started noticing, as I went from video to video, the same brand of filter would be constructed differently. Maybe this has to do with application but I doubt it. Then I viewed a video made by a Japanese man who was again cutting open filters. He had three of one brand and all three had the exact same part number (and box) and each filter was completely different from the other two.

So I am beginning to think that if I want to know what the filter is like I am putting on my car I need to buy two and cut one open. Any comments?

Topic

[Bill]

I have watched the same videos on oil filters. All filters have their pros and cons and I believe the differences in the same brand of filter is due to the design for different vehicles. I have cut filters apart myself but for other reasons besides the build quality. Since I am a little anal about filters and lubricants I have my own opinions.

Many years ago (fifties to sixties) Fram made the best filter hands down as far as ability to filter. I have seen actual tests on various brands.I don’t know for sure but they still might even use the same type of filter media. Fram was the most popular filter on the market. Today I wouldn’t install one on my worst enemies car. Over the years I have installed bout every brand of filter out there and have formed my own conclusions.

The biggest problem I see with most filters today is the anti drainback valves don’t seal on the lower priced filters that most repair shops and quick lubes use and they empty out back into the pan after sitting overnight.

I have been using Napa/CARQUEST WIX Brand and I was not impressed with having to wait 15 seconds on a cold start before the engine got oil pressure.

The last time I changed my oil I paid 3 times the money on a Mobile One filter and I can let my van sit idle for 3 days without any drain back.

I guess you really do get what you pay for.

[Lorrin Barth]

[quote=”wysetech” post=84383]I have watched the same videos on oil filters. All filters have their pros and cons and I believe the differences in the same brand of filter is due to the design for different vehicles. I have cut filters apart myself but for other reasons besides the build quality. Since I am a little anal about filters and lubricants I have my own opinions.

Many years ago (fifties to sixties) Fram made the best filter hands down as far as ability to filter. I have seen actual tests on various brands.I don’t know for sure but they still might even use the same type of filter media. Fram was the most popular filter on the market. Today I wouldn’t install one on my worst enemies car. Over the years I have installed bout every brand of filter out there and have formed my own conclusions.

The biggest problem I see with most filters today is the anti drainback valves don’t seal on the lower priced filters that most repair shops and quick lubes use and they empty out back into the pan after sitting overnight.

I have been using Napa/CARQUEST WIX Brand and I was not impressed with having to wait 15 seconds on a cold start before the engine got oil pressure.

The last time I changed my oil I paid 3 times the money on a Mobile One filter and I can let my van sit idle for 3 days without any drain back.

I guess you really do get what you pay for.[/quote]

I want to get what I pay for. But, parts (not all) I used to to buy at any parts house I now purchase from the dealer because brands I trusted all my life have become junk.

I am old enough to remember when changing an oil filter involved putting a new cartridge into the permanent housing. You saw what you would be using. With parts factories moving to sundry parts of the world, I am installing a can with something in it. This looks like the perfect place for an unscrupulous businessman to shave costs.

[Bill]

It’s funny how everything goes full circle. Some of the newer cars have gone back to a cartridge filter.

I’m not sure even a dealer filter is the answer as G.M. and Chrysler filters are made by Wix. I understand that Honda filters are made by Fram now.

[Lorrin Barth]

I understand AC Delco is one to avoid too.

My wife wanted to change the oil in her car. I was thinking when she suggested that – this is going to be fun. BTW, she drives a WRX. I checked her work and the drain plug was tight and the filter was tight but afterward I keep smelling oil. So, I raised the car and checked (taking off the undercover is more work than the actual oil changing) and there was oil on the side of the filter. Again, it was tight. It still smells so tomorrow it gets another filter.

[Rudy Wilmoth]

🙂 When you start a discussion about the pro’s and con’s of oil filters or anything else, you have to factor in a conscious or unconscious bias about the subject. There is a wonderful website called :
BOBISTHEOILGUY.COM and you can go there and research about all things oil and oil related. The busiest forum is about oil filters. You can go there and read and look at pictures of old and new oil filters from all around the world. You will read about the good and bad of every filter out there.
As with all things in life, the answer always is you get what you pay for. If you install your OEM or original equipment part you will get what the manufacture designated for the quality of the part and it will meet the standards of the warranty. When you use after market parts, the quality and performance of the part is supposed to meet or exceed the manufacture’s standards. The price of the OEM part may or may not be as expensive as the aftermarket part, but in today’s world, it is believed that the more expensive any part is, the better the part is supposed to be. This is why we have oil filters that cost 5 dollars or less and oil filters that cost nearly 20 dollars. You would believe that the 20 dollar filter is better, but it may have better parts or a nice look, but it may not work much better than the 5 dollar filter. Independent testing of oil filters is not simple or cheap, so there are not much real life data except from the manufacture.
This where the bias about oil filters or anything else works it’s way into the discussion and fuels pages of argument or discussion about any subject. It can be seen even here on threads and it is something that needs to be considered when you believe or disbelieve something written anywhere. Try to understand that there will always be bias or opinion about everything, it is to what level do you believe the opinion that someone offers about a subject.
You should use OEM from the dealer if they still exist and you will not have any problem. Anything else and you risk not getting the same level of performance as the OEM part will give you. This is also America and you have the freedom to do what ever you want to do. So there…… 🙂

[Lorrin Barth]

Well I’ve been around car forums for twenty years and in that time I’ve had to endure many oil and oil filter posts. Nobody seems have any real knowledge but that doesn’t stop any and all from having and expressing an opinion. But, when going from video to video and seeing the insides of the same filter and they don’t look the same, I suspicion oil filters are in a state of flux.

My car is approaching oil change time. So, rather than internet searching on oil filters I just bought two, one for the car and one to cut open. I shall see what I am getting. At next oil change I expect to do the same. These days things can change and change quickly and the cost of an extra oil filter is not much.

[Lorrin Barth]

Following my own advice I bought two Napa Gold oil filters and cut one open. The other will go on my car. I requested filters for a 1995 Dodge Stealth which is my usual practice. The filter specified for my car is tiny – the same size that fits my 5 hp walk behind John Deere lawn mower. My thinking is a 270 hp automobile engine should have a larger filter than a 5 hp lawn mower.

My findings:

Likes
1. Sturdy can
2. Filter element with metal end caps and metal center reinforcement
3. Coil spring in the bottom
4. Bypass valve at the threaded end with a another coil spring and a rubber seal that looks like it would seal when closed
Dislikes
1. Sourced from Mexico
2. No seal between the bypass valve and filter element. This looks like a leak source that would cause a small amount of bypass anytime the engine is running. A simple rubber washer would fix this.
3. Filter element that is surprisingly short for the size of the can
4. Uneven pleats
Don’t care
1. Drain back valve – the filter mounting on my car is vertical

[Author]

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