I ordered 2 K&N Oil Filters from Amazon a few months back. Changed my oil today - filter model is HP-2003. ‘70 W-30. The filter only spins on half way up the oil filter housing and then becomes difficult to turn. I stopped and made sure the threads were clean on the housing and the filter - both were clear of any debris. I tried the 2nd filter - same thing happened. I put the old filter back on - WIX 51258 - screwed back on with no issues.

The K&N catalogue states this is the correct filter. I should have stuck with WIX. Waiting for a new WIX filter to come from O’Reilly.

Anyone have or hear of similar issues with K&N filters ?

 

Personally I'm not a fan of K&N filters, but that's just me. I use Wix pretty much exclusively. Hint: Wix 51049 is the filter to use on an Olds. It's about an inch taller than 51258, providing more filtering media area. It fits just fine unless you have an aftermarket header clearance issue.

 

Thanks for the tip Joe.

 

I'll add that I use the 51049 on my 350 with full length Heddman headers and there is plenty of clearance, which may not be the case with other brand headers.

 

I believe I read on here that NAPA Gold is the same as Wix. I have always used Wix but there is a new NAPA close to me.

 

I recall that too and we also have a NAPA nearby. Anybody know the NAPA equivalent number to the Wix 51049?

 

Napa 1049

 

Just an FYI, you can go online to O’Reilly Auto Parts. If you order 2 or more (Wix 51049) they offer free 2 day shipping but that might be zip code dependent.

When using the larger Wix filter (or NAPA equivalent) are you good with 5 quarts of oil or do you find that you need to top it off ?

 

Yeah, either the Wix/Napa 1258/51258 or 1049/51049 or Baldwin B9 or B39 are best usually US made filters. I used a K&N without issue a few months back.

 

I use 5 quarts total with the 51049 filter. No issues since 1980-ish.

 

The trick with NAPA Gold oil filters is to just drop the leading "5" from the Wix part number. 51049 = 1049, 51258 = 1258, etc.

With fuel filters it's the leading "3" that gets dropped. For example, I use the Wix 33033 3/8" inline metal fuel filter in a lot of my vehicles. The NAPA number is 3033.

 

Excellent and helpful as always, Joe.

 

I very recently sliced apart the Wix 51258 and the corresponding Napa filter and can confirm they are identical. Center cut sheet metal shears work great for the task.