Oh no, not another oil thread!

[Mike Poore]

The latest threads about oil viscosity and filters by MarauderMarc & Marauderjack, plus a bunch of emails with Joe Walsh and GordonB, and a phone conversation with GordonB, along with RF's post about filters sent me back to the oil filter study.
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

Read for yourself, but long story short, the WIX filter seems to be as good as they come. I went, on line, looking for a local distributer, and seeing none close, found that NAPA Auto Parts stores market several grades of WIX oil filters under their own brand name, NAPA Silver & NAPA GOLD. Also, because Motorcraft is manufactured by low bid contractors to provide a filter to meet Ford's specs, I decided against using the Motorcraft filter.

While talking with the parts counter guy at my local NAPA store I mentioned the study, and the various products, making a comment about Fram filters seeming a poor product. Want to see something, he asked, and led me to a display with cutaways of the NAPA GOLD and a Fram filter for comparison.

After seeing the Fram cutaway, I'll give this advice: Do not, I repeat, NOT, never, ever, use a Fram filter on anything;unless it's your hated brother in law's POS ricer, and he's called you at 5, no 4AM, on a Sunday morning to change his oil for him.

The NAPA Gold (WIX) filter by comparison was well made and engineered, of quality componants, and at about $5.50 I think a bargain.

[jimlam56]

The latest threads about oil viscosity and filters by MarauderMarc & Marauderjack, plus a bunch of emails with Joe Walsh and GordonB, and a phone conversation with GordonB, along with RF's post about filters sent me back to the oil filter study.
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

Read for yourself, but long story short, the WIX filter seems to be as good as they come. I went, on line, looking for a local distributer, and seeing none close, found that NAPA Auto Parts stores market several grades of WIX oil filters under their own brand name, NAPA Silver & NAPA GOLD. Also, because Motorcraft is manufactured by low bid contractors to provide a filter to meet Ford's specs, I decided against using the Motorcraft filter.

While talking with the parts counter guy at my local NAPA store I mentioned the study, and the various products, making a comment about Fram filters seeming a poor product. Want to see something, he asked, and led me to a display with cutaways of the NAPA GOLD and a Fram filter for comparison.

After seeing the Fram cutaway, I'll give this advice: Do not, I repeat, NOT, never, ever, use a Fram filter on anything;unless it's your hated brother in law's POS ricer, and he's called you at 5, no 4AM, on a Sunday morning to change his oil for him.

The NAPA Gold (WIX) filter by comparison was well made and engineered, of quality componants, and at about $5.50 I think a bargain.
No Frams for me, thank you very much. When I think about all the Frams I used in the past!
Good point about Motorcraft, guess I'll be driving the few extra miles to NAPA from now on...

[Todd]

I always use K&N oil filters but I may consider the Napa Gold next time....

[Hotrauder]

Mike, Great info. Thanks for the research and the post. Dennis:)

[Rider90]

We did a cutaway test on five name brand filters at the old homestead. Fram was the worst, Napa was the best, and I've always used Napa. Always will. I forgot which brands, but there were two brands that were 100% Identical inside.

[MarauderMarc]

SON OF A BIT*H!!!!!!!!! The small store I got my oil from was out of K&N filters, so , you guessed it, The only brand that had my size was a fu**ing Fram! Now I find out that not only is it bad, its the WORST!!! So now what? Dump it out and change it! I see now why I paid for oil changes. These past 3 days have suuuuucked! Oh well, I guess Ill never forget. Thanx for the 411 guys.

[Mike Poore]

SON OF A BIT*H!!!!!!!!! The small store I got my oil from was out of K&N filters, so , you guessed it, The only brand that had my size was a fu**ing Fram! Now I find out that not only is it bad, its the WORST!!! So now what? Dump it out and change it! I see now why I paid for oil changes. These past 3 days have suuuuucked! Oh well, I guess Ill never forget. Thanx for the 411 guys.

I think I'd replace the filter, but no need to change the oil. I mean, there's no more mess with oil in the crankcase or not. Just go to Wallyworld and get a Motorcraft FL820 and swap 'em. You're going to lose a quart of oil, at most. :D

[RF Overlord]

Also, because Motorcraft is manufactured by low bid contractors to provide a filter to meet Ford's specs, I decided against using the Motorcraft filter.Mike, where did you get that idea? Motorcraft filters are most definitely NOT made by low-bid contractors, they are manufactured by Arvin-Meritor, the parent company of Purolator, on their own assembly line which is overseen by Ford engineers. FWIW, the OEM filter (the one that came on your car from the factory) is made by Champion Laboratories, the same company that makes SuperTech filters for Wally World. Does this make the OEM Ford filters crappy?

You are correct, however, about WIX and NAPA Gold being the same thing. They are identical except for the paint on the can, and are very high quality. If a Motorcraft wasn't available, I would use a WIX or a NAPA Gold without hesitation.

Marc, I would get rid of the FRAM ASAP...FRAM's media has been shown to be weak and easily buckled or distorted. With the high oil pressure these motors are capable of, I wouldn't be comfortable with a FRAM for very long. Install just about anything else: Motorcraft or WIX/NAPA Gold being my first choices, but K&N, Mobil 1, and Purolator are also excellent. The new Valvoline Max-Life filters, which are made by Purolator, would be a good choice, too. In a real pinch, the FRAM XG (Extended Guard) filters are acceptable, but do not use ANY other FRAM.

[Mike Poore]

Mike, where did you get that idea? Motorcraft filters are most definitely NOT made by low-bid contractors, they are manufactured by Arvin-Meritor, the parent company of Purolator, on their own assembly line which is overseen by Ford engineers. FWIW, the OEM filter (the one that came on your car from the factory) is made by Champion Laboratories, the same company that makes SuperTech filters for Wally World. Does this make the OEM Ford filters crappy?

Those ideas about Motorcraft filter(s) were expressed, by the author, in the article to which I provided the link. He mentioned, as you did, the original filter, provided by Ford from the assembly line, was not the same filter we buy at the parts store, and expressed reservations and concern that one or the other, may be of lesser quality. I passed along the information as I understood it, right or wrong, from those articles. Given the choice and not knowing which is best, it seems logical to simply go to a known quantity, and use the NAPA Gold, since they are reasonably priced, and easily obtained.

You'll notice I suggested that Marc replace the Fram with a Motorcraft FL-820S, knowing he could obtain one today, Sunday, at Wallyworld, rather than wait until tomorrow when the NAPA store opens. The noton being, of course to get the Fram filter to the trash can, where it belongs, as soon as possible.

BTW, I'm not sure the author was all that impressed with the K&N filter, because of it's larger pore size, and high cost. Also, I had mentioned, in another thread, that we had been using Amsoil filters, for years, and now, it appears that they are WIX filters as well, only at twice the price. (of course)

[RF Overlord]

I'm familiar with Russ Knize's study, and although it's very comprehensive, a lot of the info is now old...and some of it was based on assumptions on his part. Under the Motorcraft FL1A listing, which I believe is the part you're referencing, he says (in part): "I have, however, seen that the Motorcraft line tends to change manufacturers. For a while they seemed to be Champion Labs filters, then they went back to Purolators." I didn't see anything that stated Motorcraft filters have ever been made by "low-bid contractors". My understanding, from a member of another board who used to work for Champion Laboratories, is that both the Champ Labs-made and the Purolator-made filters are very high quality.

Forgive me for not including AMSOIL in my short list of high-quality filters. AMSOIL filters ARE very high quality, although the oil-obsessed members of BITOG are still arguing whether they are of sufficiently high quality to justify their much higher price. My reason for not mentioning AMSOIL in my reply to MarauderMarc was simply because they're available only by mail-order, and I was recommending that he exchange the FRAM for something better in a hurry.

Mike, I'm not in any way knocking your choice of the WIX-made NAPA Gold filters, I just don't want people erroneously thinking there is something "low-bid" about Motorcraft.

*Disclaimer*: Neither I, nor any member of my family, nor any friends, relatives, or casual acquaintances works for, or owns stock in, Arvin-Meritor or Champion Laboratories or any of their subsidiaries. :D

[RF Overlord]

BTW, I forgot to mention ^^^

AMSOIL filters are made by Clarcor, the parent company of Baldwin/Hastings. The new AMSOIL EA filters are being made by Donaldson.

[Mike Poore]

BTW, I forgot to mention ^^^

AMSOIL filters are made by Clarcor, the parent company of Baldwin/Hastings. The new AMSOIL EA filters are being made by Donaldson.

I stand, properly corrected. :o

About Amsoil; I thought when last visiting the Amsoil site they were selling WIX filters, and thought, perhaps incorrectly, that Amsoil filters were indeed WIX manufactured.

BTW, if anyone, other than me, is confused by all the various manufacturers and the different oil filters they make, plus the folks who put their own labels on them; let's have an in-depth discussion of ....bedding and mattresses, sometime.

Meantime, I'll go with my original premise: WIX makes a superior product, that I can buy locally at my trusty NAPA store, under their own brand name (NAPA GOLD) at a reasonable price.

Plus they have a cool display that shows how smart I am for not using Fram oil filters. :D

[SideshowBob]

A little WIX trivia: WIX numbers are the same as NAPA's, except the WIX numbers start with 5. The last 4 numbers are always the same. Big A auto parts sold WIX under their brand as well, but I think their numbers started with 3. Anyway, if the last 4 digits in the number are the same, it's probably a WIX.

BTW, it has always been my understanding that NAPA Silver filters, their bargain line, is not made by WIX.

[RF Overlord]

All of NAPA's oil filters are made by WIX. They no longer have a Silver line, the current offerings are Gold, NASCAR, and ProSelect, with Gold being the top-of-the-line as before. The Gold filters are the ones that are identical to WIX's own brand, minus the leading digit as SideshowBob said, but here's what a Senior Technical Service Manager from NAPA had to say:

"The NAPA ProSelect line is what we call a value or price line. It is designed to meet minimum performance standards and be a low cost product. It contains a minimum amount of plain cellulose media that offers average efficiencies and capacities. This product is designed for the price conscious consumer.

Our Gold line, on the other hand, is a premium product designed with maximum performance in mind. It contains an ideal amount of premium, blended, high performance media with great capacities and efficiencies. The Gold line is truly a high-end filtration product. There is a huge difference between the way these filters perform."

Draw your own conclusions...

[PDMarauder]

im new here, so whats up everyone? im new to the marauder world but a 3.5 year ex mustanger. from other research and views i have also heard that the PUROLATOR PURE 1 is a great oil filter as well. however all seem to agree.......FRAM should be :banned:

[jabird56]

The NAPA Gold (WIX) filter by comparison was well made and engineered, of quality componants, and at about $5.50 I think a bargain.

Bought a NAPA Gold, cost was $11.03 but with AAA discount it was actually $5.85. Did oil change and finally installed the oil deflector also. WALMART is still selling MOBIL 1 5W20 here.

[MENINBLK]

The NAPA Gold (WIX) filter by comparison was well made and engineered, of quality componants, and at about $5.50 I think a bargain.

I buy my K&N Oil Filters from AJ USA and at 6 at a time the price is only $3 more.

[mclemore102]

No info on Bosch:(

[Marauderjack]

Anyone want my oil deflector thingy.......Thank God I don't need it anymore!!!:beer:

PM me and send 5 bucks and I will Priority Mail it to ya!!;)

Marauderjack:bandit:

[merc6]

WALMART is still selling MOBIL 1 5W20 here.Guess if I ever need to go that way I'll take it into consideration since they aren't nearly as close as the other chains.



If I were to run past the 3k interval and venture into 5k or even 6k on unnamed full synthetic oil which filter would be ideal?