I personally have used
Fram filters for a long time, but have stopped a few years ago due to their poor quality control.
for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=XRRgw4B7R-I&NR=1
Now that was an interesting video, but let's look at some other ideas that probably never crossed your mind.
How to find a bigger filter
The guy at the parts counter can only tell you what filter is referenced in his database. So you can't trust him to help you get a bigger filter for your car. Get on a web forum focused on your car model and find out if anyone else has put a larger oil filter on their car. Find out what the filter number is. Still no luck? Go to the parts store and plan on spending 20 minutes there examining oil filters. The employees are usually really good at ignoring customers so you can plan on having all that time to yourself, which is what you'll need.
Attachment 5859
Photo Left: The left filter is referenced in the catalog for a Chrysler/Dodge 2.0L SOHC. The filter on the right is about the same size as what came on the car from the factory in 1995. The filter on the right fits without any modifications. I recommend using the Purolator L14670 filter for all Chrysler/Dodge 2.0L SOHC and DOHC engines.
Photo Right: The two filters from the top. notice the gasket is the same size.
Start by picking out the oil filter referenced by the guy at the desk. Then pick out a bunch of other oil filters in larger boxes. Look at the O-ring gasket. Find a few oil filters that match the O-ring gasket diameter and appear to have a similar threading. Buy all of the ones that potentially fit. When you're under the car later that day, dry-fit the various filters. Keep the largest one that fits. Take back the rest that don't. If they all fail, you'll still have the oil filter the parts guy referenced so the trip won't be a complete loss. Then get on that web forum and submit your findings to your fellow enthusiasts. Let others know how to do what you just did. The larger oil filter helps prevent oil pump grinding in the Chrysler/Dodge 2.4L turbo motors.
Attachment 5860
Above Photo: The filter on the left is the referenced filter in the catalog for the Chrysler/Dodge 2.4L turbo engine (Neon SRT-4 and PT Cruiser GT). The center filter, L30001 is the preferred filter. Use two filter adapter gaskets to allow the larger filter to thread on (Chrysler part number: 1-04884000AA $4.77 ea). The filter on the right is a Purolator filter made in India. The other two are made in the US. The filter made in India has thicker walls, is built differently, and the paint kept falling off in my hand. It's not going on my car.
Keep clearances in mind. If an oil filter dangles below the oil pan then a speed bump could tear it off causing a complete loss of oil within a few seconds. If the filter rubs on a moving part like an axle, then it's too big. In the case of the test car, a second filter adapter gasket required to push the oil filter adapter out about one eighth of an inch to make room for the larger filter.
Using an oil filter with a few more ounces of capacity has zero effect on engine longevity. Further- Many oil filters have a bypass valve inside them, on some engines, this valve is in the block. If you subsitute a filter with no bypass in it when it it supposed to have one, you could collapse the filters and ruin your engine. Further- No oil filter company will warranty an engine failure if you install a filter no catalogged for your engine. Bad advice.
Choose an Oil Filter by brand
Purolator, Mobil1, Motorcraft, Mann, and Amsoil.
(and Supertech which is the Walmart brand if you're really on a tight budget)
That's it. It's a short list. That makes it easy to remember.
Purolator Pure One and K&N oil filters are decent. However the media seems dense enough to impede the passage of oil. Those filters are built well.
MANN+HUMMEL &
Bosch own
Purolator as of 2006.
Purolator was previously an
ArvinMeritor product and considered to be one of the finest oil filters in the business.
MANN+HUMMEL also make oil filters for the German car manufacturers, BMW, Audi, and Porsche. I'm impressed by the construction of the
MANN+HUMMEL filter.
Bosch outsources their oil filters to
Champion Labs. And the
Bosch filters are awful.
Bosch no longer owns Purolator, it is owned by Mann. Champion does not make Bosch filters.
Hastings manufactures
Amsoil, Baldwin, and
Hastings oil filters. All good stuff.
Champion Labs produces oil filters under a variety of names. Those include
Fram, STP, SuperTech, Delphi, Bosch, Mobil1, K&N, AC Delco, and a few others too insignificant to mention. There's a lot of Good, Bad, and Ugly in there.
FRAM Filtration owns Champion Labs. They make STP, AC delco, K+N, Mobil 1, Amsoil, Royal Purple and many others
Cruelty in a Can
Some brands should be avoided like poisonous frogs. Fram, Bosch and WIX make the worst oil filters. Bosch oil filters let everything go through unfiltered. The Delphi and STP filters are identical to the Walmart SuperTech brand for double the price. The Delphi, STP and Walmart oil filters have no bypass valve so everything gets filtered. I don't know if the thing will come apart under severe stress.
More bad information, all oil filters have a bypass either in the filter itself or the filter mount, without a bypass the filter would collapse under certain conditions. FRAM filters are 96-99% efficiency at 20 microns, highest rating in the industry
Fram oil filters are notoriously awful in construction quality. The end caps are cardboard for crying out loud! Bits of cardboard flake off and bind up in engine parts causing damage.
The end caps in a FRAM filter (and many Nissan, Honda, Subaru, AC Delco, Bentley, Mann) are made of an engineered fiber much like the filter media itself. They are not structural elements of the filter and seve only to carry the plastisol glue that seals the ends of the media.
Fram also advertises that their filters are impregnated with PTFE (Teflon). Teflon is a solid plastic that melts together in the oil passages and forms a clot. PTFE is discusses in more detail on an engine oil web page.
FRAM made oil filters with PTFE in the early 90's for 18 months, they were discontinued when no benefit was proven
Fram oil filters are a proven way to ruin engines.
FRAM makes filters for multiple manufacturers, we make 250 million filters a year, if they "ruined" engines, we wouldnt be in business. Try reseaching facts at the filter manufacturers council website, the SAE and ISO websites instead of regurgitating internet tribal knowledge.
The WIX oil filters I've seen use undersized filtration media. If the WIX oil filter is cut open, about half of it will be filled by filter material media. The rest of the space may be occupied by a plastic insert. However, if the filter can is full of media it may be okay.
Oil Filter Tips:
Fill a new oil filter with oil before putting it on. Watch the oil in the filter for 10 seconds. It will start to disappear. The filter media is absorbing the oil. Keep filling the oil filter till it stays full. This will prevent a dry start. If the oil filter is mounted sideways, fill it halfway and expect some oil to pour out as you thread it on.
Run a few drops of oil over the oil filter gasket. This will ease installation and removal.
Always clean off the mounting surfaces before installing the new filter.
Oil drain pans that are completely open at the top are the easiest to use to collect the dripping oil under the car. Then pour the oil into a 5 gallon gas can or equivalent. When the 5 gallon can gets full, take that to a service station to get recycled. The same thing can be done with engine coolant.
Let's review:
Oil filters ensure an engine's longevity.
Shop oil filters by brand: Purolator, Mobil1, Motorcraft, Mann, and Amsoil.
Get the largest oil filter that can fit.
Ever Tried Filter Magnets?
There are several types of oil filter magnets on the market. I'm convinced FilterMags are the best. Simple fridge magnets would be better than nothing. But there's no way to guarantee that a weak magnet will stay on the oil filter while the car is in motion. Rare earth magnets are more than strong enough to not require mechanical fasteners to cling onto the oil filter. A strong magnet with a large area can pull iron particles from a fast moving stream of fluid much better than a small weak magnet.
Attachment 5861
The outside of the FilterMag is magnetically shielded. This means bits of metal, tools, bolts etc won't stick to the outside of the filter magnet. It also means the Filtermag won't leap off the oil filter and stick to a manhole cover.
Here's a look inside an oil filter with a Filtermag
bottom left photo. The iron filings inside the filter outline the magnets stuck on the outside of the canister. When the filtermag is removed, the iron filings stay in the removed oil filter and go out with the garbage.
Attachment 5862
The
top right photo shows a close look inside the filter canister with the fine iron filings separated from the oil. Filter magnets work. To separate the iron filings for the photo I used a simple round fridge magnet to hold the filings at the bottom and poured out the oil. What you see at the bottom of the canister there is what came off the engine during 3,000 miles of driving.
