The subject of which oil filter to use has been brought up here before. I watched an episode of Engine Masters on MotorTrend TV. They tested a bunch of filters on a 383 small block Chevy on a Dyno with an external oil filter setup. Synthetic 5W-30 was used. They cut open the filters to show and compare the internals - Fram was blasted on quality- particularly the cardboard internals. They tested : Fram PH8A, Fram Ultra Synthetic, Fram HP1 Race, Bosch Premium, K & N Gold, MotorCraft FL1A, Wix, Wix Racing and a stubby AC Delco. The crew were mostly interested in flow rate and oil pressure although the stated micron rating of the filter was mentioned. You can probably pull the episode up on You Tube. Engine Masters on MotorTend TV, Season 6 - Episode 5 “Oil Filter Shootout.”

 

Fram has been the subject of which oil filter not to use for quite some time now.

 

What has always amazed me about FRAM is that, for a company who got in on oil filtration early in the game, they allowed themselves to become such a low-quality outfit. I really think Allied-Signal did that to them when it acquired Bendix- which was FRAM's parent company at the time.

 

I agree. There was a time (not long ago) nobody would have questioned the decision to use a Fram filter. Now nobody with a clue would ever consider it.


I’ll never understand how a company can spend decades making a name for themselves, and allow it to be run into the ground in short time.

 

True, the Fram used to be top of the line. My dad was a pipeline welder for 50 years and used Fram exclusively on his Lincoln welding machines. These had the Continental flathead four cylinder engine that ran sometimes 12 hours constantly 6 days a week. He never had an engine problem. If he were alive today he would still be using Fram filters.

 

Mergers and acquisitions will do that every time. Even WIX and Purolator haven't been immune from that, though their current umbrella company, Mann+Hummel, hasn't cut corners on quality with them yet. Those along with filters made by Champion Laboratories are probably the best currently available filters. WIX, Purolator and Champion have been around since the 1930s and were all on the ground floor of automotive filtration.

 

A Lincoln Continental welder?🙂

Part of that longevity was the Continental engine itself, but yeah, FRAM then was a far cry from FRAM now.

WIX and Hastings Densite started out using tightly packed cotton thread waste as the filter media. The stuff worked and was cheap as the cotton mills needed a way to get rid of it. The local garage here used Hastings exclusively and the owner would often have his oil change customer hold a new Hastings filter, and then hold the filter that had just been removed from the car. Weight difference was substantial. Point being the Densite was doing the job.

 

The test did not focus on the filters ability to remove contaminates - it focused on flow rate and oil pressure. They declared the K & N Gold the overall winner due to its flow rate and 10 micron filter rating. The Wix was a close second. The Wix Race had a high flow rate but it’s filter has a 60 micron rating. The K & N, Wix and MotorCraft filters were all lauded for their quality construction and engineering. I think their test is meant to show flow rate under racing conditions - not under street use where I think filtration of harmful particles is more important. The best part of the episode was when they dissected the filters to show build quality, engineering and filter design.

 

As said, the Wix, Purolator, Baldwin/Hastings and any Champion Lab filter are good quality. Another thing to remember, only the regular Fram especially, the Tough Guard has better filter media but still has the cardboard end caps and the multiple part house filters simply rebranded should be avoided. The Fram Ultra Synthetic have steel end caps, an extra screen to trap particles and a superior drain back valve to the "Orange Can of Doom". If you can them get them at a competitive price, they should be considered. I believe they make the also decent Mobil 1 filters as well.

 

It would be easy to state these TV shows are by morons for morons. But that isn't succinctly to any point. When did TV shows hosted by actors with southern drawls and bad english become the new source for popular automotive misinformation? COVID boredom maybe? Why would anyone use a $10 filter by any maker on a $5k and way up engine in any event? The money is no object people who can use anything which exists in applications such as top fuel are still using Fram HP series filters, when they choose to use filters of any kind for lubrication.

I guess the mobs see these 'shows' with paid advertising and then get together on the net to congratulate each other on having seen it, and with zombie eyes and mob rule dynamics in place. These guys on TV don't know what they are presenting as fact, and yet people buy into it because it is their favorite automotive TV show or whatever. Fake news and news-like entertainment makes people prisoners of inertia.

 

NASCAR target audience influence. Though some of y'all may remember me saying years ago that when I talk, I sound like Ward Burton or Earl Hamner🙂. Both of whom to their credit never tried to lose their Vajenya Piedmont accent.

See any correlation there? Looks like FRAM got there first with the advertising and sponsor money.

I've used many different brands of filters, and have never had a filter or oil-related engine failure. I have seen spin-on FRAMs leak at crimps on an engine with normal oil pressure which I've never seen another brand of filter do, but that doesn't mean I won't. In meantime I'll stick with WIX, Purolator, Baldwin (hard to find here except in Diesel shops) and Champion Labs along with their associated brands.

 

1. Quote:

   Originally Posted by rocketraider

   Though some of y'all may remember me saying years ago that when I talk, I sound like Ward Burton or Earl Hamner🙂. Both of whom to their credit never tried to lose their Vajenya Piedmont accent......

Hey I've always wondered about that - Some of my youth happened in Starkey VA when my dad worked for the N&W railway before the merger. Accents were pronounced and localized. Words like 'years' were spoken as 'Yee uuhs', Danville was 'Dan vuhh'. Earl Hamner narrates with a mid-atlantic accent, like he never spent a day in VA in his life. Now it's possible the network looked down on such dialects and accents for nationwide TV programming at that time . But it sticks out like a sore thumb. People down there worshipped Hee Haw and the Porter Wagoner show, the streets were deserted when they aired.

Why doesn't it occur to anyone to follow the money in oil filtration? Fram filters are everywhere for sale. If they really were contributing to the early demise of any engine, our litigious society would have put them under with product liability lawsuits long ago. Bottom line it's a filter constructed in methods and materials reflecting it's price point. Maybe others are a better value for money spent, but that's not a 'whos best' debate.

My former1952 Pontiac I-8 had no oil filter, still running today on it's factory engine build.

 

I guess I moved away from Fram back when I was running diesels and the owners manual specifically called for the use of certain brands and PN's of filters and the use of any other voided warranty. Fram was not on that list of approved filters. They've had numerous recalls in the past 20 years.

 

i.e. Sears & Crapsman tools

I'll have to watch that episode. I don't use my Motortrend subscription enough.

 

The Sears destruction also resulted from mergers/acquisitions orchestrated by a hedge fund manager with no scruples, ethics, conscience or moral compass. A real narcissist slimeball if ever was.

 

He had a lot of help...

 

I watched the Engine Masters episode last night. It was well done, entertaining and informative. My wife and oldest daughter even watched it with me. My wife mentioned that she likes the presentation of Freiburger and the others even though she doesn't know anything about cars.

 

I guess I'm confused... just to be clear, you're calling Freiburger, Dulcich, and Brule "morons?"

 

Well,
I hate to throw a monkey wrench in to anybody's oil filter party But I think it's a bunch of CRAP !!!!!!!
I think we should all go the Charmin Route !!!!! " ENJOY THE GO " back in the day I actually saw that done !!
I would not have done it but there were people that did.

 

I've heard of old timers using a roll of toilet paper as an oil filter cartridge. I didn't know that aftermarket kits were offered that allowed you to do that.

 

He's obviously never seen the show and is equating it to your typical weekend morning advertising program. I've learned a bunch from Engine Masters, especially validation and debunking of old wives tales- all proven on a dyno.

 

Right... I just find it rather amusing that someone is calling the show hosts morons and making fun of the people discussing the show on the internet, when he's clearly never seen it and posting on the internet about it (pot, meet kettle...??)

Engine masters isn't without flaws, but it's one of the best shows out there because they're out trying to learn things themselves while recording it. I agree, I've learned a ton myself.

 

Road Kill Garage can also be entertaining and informative. Yes they can be goofballs at times but they know it and make you laugh. Something we can all use more of. Plus they show some ingenuity, unlike some other shows where the fix is to drop a crate motor in the car.

 

I would call Freiburger much more but why not respect some boundary of decorum. I recall when he tried to fit in with the rat rod crowd in the old days of the HAMB before it morphed in to what it is today.

Modern journalists fit in to the those who can't do, teach slot for me.

 

Spying on me are you? Glad you have learned something from the show, since you are 'obviously' starting at around zero.

 

Is that you, velcro shoes?

 

He has been missing for awhile.