Why is FRAM oil filter so bad?
10-10-2002, 11:41 PM
#41
9 Second Club
Re: Why is FRAM oil filter so bad? Everyone should keep this in mind on the oil filter topic. There are two primary manufactures of filters in the US. Neither one of them is an Car OEM, an Oil company or an auto parts store. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />
There is ArvinMeritor (merger of Arvin Industries and Meritor Automotive-formerly Rockwell Automotive) which owns the Purolator filter brand and Honeywell Consumer Products (merger of Honeywell International and Allied Signal) which owns the Fram brand.
Generally speaking, these company's save their best products for themselves and not the parts they make for the OEMs, Oil companies or the auto parts stores. That being said, go out and get a Purolator PureOne PL14006 filter and cut that open to compare to any filter out there for the LS-1.
If your auto parts store or OEM box mentions that it was manufactured or packaged in Fayetteville, NC, then you've got a filter manufactured at the Purolator facility. It's a small site with a plant for oil filters, a plant for fuel filters, a plant for air filters and a plant for specialty filters. Why four plant you might ask? Each has an increasing level of building air filtration to insure the quality of the products they produce.
That's about 1,300 people turning out well over 80,000 oil filters a day not to mention the other types of filter products. They fill their warehouse and empty it every single day.
Rick
There is ArvinMeritor (merger of Arvin Industries and Meritor Automotive-formerly Rockwell Automotive) which owns the Purolator filter brand and Honeywell Consumer Products (merger of Honeywell International and Allied Signal) which owns the Fram brand.
Generally speaking, these company's save their best products for themselves and not the parts they make for the OEMs, Oil companies or the auto parts stores. That being said, go out and get a Purolator PureOne PL14006 filter and cut that open to compare to any filter out there for the LS-1.
If your auto parts store or OEM box mentions that it was manufactured or packaged in Fayetteville, NC, then you've got a filter manufactured at the Purolator facility. It's a small site with a plant for oil filters, a plant for fuel filters, a plant for air filters and a plant for specialty filters. Why four plant you might ask? Each has an increasing level of building air filtration to insure the quality of the products they produce.
That's about 1,300 people turning out well over 80,000 oil filters a day not to mention the other types of filter products. They fill their warehouse and empty it every single day.
Rick
10-11-2002, 04:17 AM
#42
TECH Senior Member
Re: Why is FRAM oil filter so bad? Rick, there are more than two, you're forgetting about Champion Labs, which makes Mobil 1, K&N, Ultraguard Gold, Walmart Supertech, Bosch premium and STP (plus others) Also, don't forget about DANA (which makes Wix and NAPA filters, plus in Canada they make the AC Delcos)
Just because a filter is made in the same place though, doesn't mean the filter is the same. Different brands built within the same factory can use a wide variety of filtering media and internal components.
Just because a filter is made in the same place though, doesn't mean the filter is the same. Different brands built within the same factory can use a wide variety of filtering media and internal components.
10-11-2002, 05:35 AM
#43
TECH Senior Member
Re: Why is FRAM oil filter so bad? There is also Hastings, which makes their own line of filters, plus the Amsoil (and possibly the Baldwin filters too)
03-09-2005, 02:58 PM
#44
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Sorry to spam your forums guys but this is why Fram Filters are so bad.
http://www.indygamers.com/vB/showthr...6185#post46185
They do not stand behind them when they fail.
http://www.indygamers.com/vB/showthr...6185#post46185
They do not stand behind them when they fail.
03-09-2005, 03:05 PM
#45
Damn... now this is a real thread fossil to dredge up. Judging by the date of the original post you had to dust it off with one of those brushes that archeologists use on old pieces of pottery... Now it says 2002, but I'll carbon date it to make sure.
03-09-2005, 03:40 PM
#47
How about we sume things up then.
1.) K&N
2.) NAPA/WIX, Purolator
3.) M1, Bosch Premium
4.) AC DELCO, STP, Supertech
5.) Fram/Pennzoil
That seem like it covers things from what I read. Where would Amsoil and Hastings fall in? When I was snooping around www.bobistheoilguy.com it seemed they fell into the Wix/Napa segment.
1.) K&N
2.) NAPA/WIX, Purolator
3.) M1, Bosch Premium
4.) AC DELCO, STP, Supertech
5.) Fram/Pennzoil
That seem like it covers things from what I read. Where would Amsoil and Hastings fall in? When I was snooping around www.bobistheoilguy.com it seemed they fell into the Wix/Napa segment.
03-09-2005, 04:04 PM
#48
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A guy at my job cut apart a Fram "Extra Guard" and the low cost Allied Signal "Defence" filter that is the cheaper Fram. They were idential inside. The higher priced Extra Guard simply came in a prettier, orange can for the added cost.
03-09-2005, 04:54 PM
#49
Originally Posted by SSCamaro99_3
How about we sume things up then.
1.) K&N
2.) NAPA/WIX, Purolator
3.) M1, Bosch Premium
4.) AC DELCO, STP, Supertech
5.) Fram/Pennzoil
That seem like it covers things from what I read. Where would Amsoil and Hastings fall in? When I was snooping around www.bobistheoilguy.com it seemed they fell into the Wix/Napa segment.
1.) K&N
2.) NAPA/WIX, Purolator
3.) M1, Bosch Premium
4.) AC DELCO, STP, Supertech
5.) Fram/Pennzoil
That seem like it covers things from what I read. Where would Amsoil and Hastings fall in? When I was snooping around www.bobistheoilguy.com it seemed they fell into the Wix/Napa segment.
03-10-2005, 02:55 PM
#51
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thanks for this information guys..... i almost bought a fram oil filter for my car.... good they they were out of them.... i thougth that fram would be high performance or somthing.... and they're more expensive!!!!!
i have always used acdelco.... they seem to work good...
i have always used acdelco.... they seem to work good...
03-10-2005, 03:08 PM
#52
Originally Posted by BADFNZ
A few engine builders have told me that the K&N filters too much and can lower oil pressure in some cases. Both told me to run Wix. Just throwing it out there.
If a filter is filtering too much, you would actually have more restriction, which means artificially high oil pressure... if the pressure is a little lower, or doesn't fluctuate as much, I would think it means it's flowing more oil, and filtering a little less.
03-10-2005, 04:52 PM
#53
walmart supertech all the way!!! i noticed a significant decrease in oil pressure when i switched over to these. and my oil retains its viscocity better when i use it. dont change whats not broken. although i may try the K&N once for the hell of it.
03-10-2005, 06:26 PM
#55
I have cut open just about every oil filter on the market. Purolator, Fram, K&N, AC Delco, Motocraft, etc.
Here's my conclusions:
Fram=garbage. All of them. Even the $10 ones are junk. They havent changed ONE BIT in the last 10 years. Stay away from them like the plague that they are to cars.
Purolator= GREAT filter for the price. The Pure-One series is one of the best filters I've ever seen. Only thing is that I don't know about the flow characteristics of the pure one, since they have so many pleats of material. The standard Purolator is a GREAT filter tho. Solid construction, metal end-caps, and a nice anti drainback valve.
AC Delco= Good filter, solid construction, but $ for $, the purolator is a better filter.
Motocraft= decent filter, fairly small opening (most taper down from the inlet), decent filter material. All in all, not a bad filter, but still, $ for $, purolator is gonna be the better filter.
K&N= what can I say? It's the Rolls Royce of oil filters. It has one heck of a strong case, great filter material, great oil seal, great drainback valve, excellent construction, and, of course, a huge price tag. BUT..... It _is_ the best oil filter I've ever seen, and I use them on every car I own, from my T/A to my GTP, to my RX-7.
So what have we learned?
If you want the best, go K&N.
If you want the best, but are on a budget, go with the Purolator Pure-One
If you want a good filter for the best price, go with the Purolator Premium Plus (their standard filter). Or, if there's an Advance Auto Parts close to you, ask them for a Power-Flo filter. They're the exact same filters as the Premium Plus, but cheaper price.
Also, the Mobil 1 filters are a great filter. They're made by the same people as the K&N and use a lot of the same technology. In the fitler world, the K&N is said to flow better, but the Mobil 1 filter is said to filter MARGINALLY better. My opion on this, both the K&N and Mobil 1 filters are great products, and get whichever you can find.
Phwew.. Sorry for the long-winded post, but once I get going on something like oil or oil filters, I just can't stop
If anyone has any questions about these filters, feel free to PM me.
Note--- I have no experience with any other filters besides what I listed above.
Hope this helps someone.
Dan
98 T/A
Here's my conclusions:
Fram=garbage. All of them. Even the $10 ones are junk. They havent changed ONE BIT in the last 10 years. Stay away from them like the plague that they are to cars.
Purolator= GREAT filter for the price. The Pure-One series is one of the best filters I've ever seen. Only thing is that I don't know about the flow characteristics of the pure one, since they have so many pleats of material. The standard Purolator is a GREAT filter tho. Solid construction, metal end-caps, and a nice anti drainback valve.
AC Delco= Good filter, solid construction, but $ for $, the purolator is a better filter.
Motocraft= decent filter, fairly small opening (most taper down from the inlet), decent filter material. All in all, not a bad filter, but still, $ for $, purolator is gonna be the better filter.
K&N= what can I say? It's the Rolls Royce of oil filters. It has one heck of a strong case, great filter material, great oil seal, great drainback valve, excellent construction, and, of course, a huge price tag. BUT..... It _is_ the best oil filter I've ever seen, and I use them on every car I own, from my T/A to my GTP, to my RX-7.
So what have we learned?
If you want the best, go K&N.
If you want the best, but are on a budget, go with the Purolator Pure-One
If you want a good filter for the best price, go with the Purolator Premium Plus (their standard filter). Or, if there's an Advance Auto Parts close to you, ask them for a Power-Flo filter. They're the exact same filters as the Premium Plus, but cheaper price.
Also, the Mobil 1 filters are a great filter. They're made by the same people as the K&N and use a lot of the same technology. In the fitler world, the K&N is said to flow better, but the Mobil 1 filter is said to filter MARGINALLY better. My opion on this, both the K&N and Mobil 1 filters are great products, and get whichever you can find.
Phwew.. Sorry for the long-winded post, but once I get going on something like oil or oil filters, I just can't stop
If anyone has any questions about these filters, feel free to PM me.
Note--- I have no experience with any other filters besides what I listed above.
Hope this helps someone.
Dan
98 T/A
