Who was it who mentioned Fram oil filters and dropping oil pressure?

Go away, you irritating man. Isn't there the underside of a rock just about your size?

LOL! But, adding to another part of this thread, whatever happened to Lee? I used them in all my Toyotas until ~1986 and had no problems at all with them!

That number sounds familiar... same filter as a 225 leaning tower of power maybe?

nate

The 51515 is AKA a Motorcraft FL1A. It is the filter specified for most Fords and is just a longer version of the 51085 that is speced for the Chryslers. The even larger version is the 51773 but according to Wix it only has a 30 micron rating whereas the 51515 and 51085 have a 19 micron rating therefore it may be useful for cleaning up a sludged and/or neglected engine.

Their quality "went south" in the late '60s or early '70s in a big way. That said, they were NEVER as good as a Wix or a Hastings / Casite even back then.

Yes, the FL1A is the same application as the Fram PH8A - fit Ford, Mopar, Toyota, and many other apps.

Someone volunteer to to put two accurate oil pressure gauges on something, say a 98 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder. One before the filter, one after. The pressure differential will indicated the amount of pressure drop when the filter is new, if the relief is working when cold, and the amount of resistance as the filter clogs up and if the filter media ruptures. Also need a couple of accurate flow meter to determine volume of oil in the different flow circuits and of course a temp gauge at the entrance to the oil filter, and a recording chart or maybe a software program and laptop to record all the numbers....... then come up with the specs on what a filter should do for how long and keep the cost under 4 dollars retail. PRESTO ! You have reinvented the wheel! Or you could do like I used to do with my old 73 Chev Nova SS 6 cylinder, carry a spare filter, the oil pressure sender on that one was after the filter, when the pressure dropped with a warm engine I changed the filter. Whatever, I use Fram, they meet factory specs and do the job for my kind of driving. If you are really worried about engine life, drive easy until the engine is warmed up, then keep driving easy and you should get all the designed life from the engine and probably quite a bit more. The national debt on Nov 20, 2009 was

12,010,561,742,215.21

My wag (wild ass guess) is that the prior owner had motor honey in it to prop up the pressure, and if I'm right all the filter changes wont help. I sure hope I'm wrong as a lower end is a bit more $ than a filter. Ben

Right. but no one here is going to do a meaningful experiment. What they will rely on is the partial evidence available ( the gauge on the dash board ).

If the engine is in good shape the fact that one filter offers slightly more resistance than another shouldn't make any noticeable difference on the dash oil pressure gauge. The pressure relief valve controls the pressure. It's only when the engine and/or oil pump is badly worn that you are going to see the effects of different filter media on the oil pressure gauge ( if the vehicle has a gauge )

-jim

"...15 years ago" - that's the problem with this whole thread. Everybody is arguing antique anecdotal evidence and apparently no one has any actual facts to contribute. For all we know from this discussion, they had one bad production run in 1994 and everybody is still talking about it.

Try this experiment - the next time you change the oil filter, up end the old one and see how long it take to drain out. I'll bet you find no difference from one brand to another, I know I haven't. Nobody's ADBVs work worth a damn.

The real issue is whether the filter media meets mfr's specs & that element seems to never enter into the discussion.

OK. I almost asked which side of the filter you called base. FYI unless you have a leak in the plumbing or oil pump, there should always be a syphon back to the pan even if the filter has the inlet facing up. If there is no check valve that keeps the oil from draining back to the pan it will syphon back.

My personal experience is that I know for a fact that large fleets of b-100 dodge vans with slant sixes were using Fram filters back in the

70's (early 80's too IIRC) without any problem. So I tend to believe mechanics that I know were handling Fram filters every day versus believing someone whose stated position is they never ever handle a Fram filter.

I recall there was an issue with the slant six oil filters. Sometime back in the 60's or early 70's they changed the size of the filter on some slant sixes to a shorty version (IIRC trucks had an extra heavy duty version). The problem was some people used the old long filters thinking that would give them better protection. What happened when the long filter was used in this application was the filter would have an air pocket trapped in the top of the filter. That air bubble would be compressed when the engine was running and the filter behaved more or less normally while the engine ran. But when the engine was turned off the compressed air bubble would expand and push the oil out into the engine. That meant when you re-started the engine it need to push that quart or so of oil back into the filter before the engine would get any oil pressure. An incorrect interpretation of what was happening under those circumstances may be how this superstitious belief about Fram filters and slant sixes got started.

-jim

Wow! A succinct answer!

But, if you're using the guage on the dash, it doesn't matter how accurate it is. It's relative. If it's off by a few PSI, chances are it's going to be off across the spectrum.

And, no, I paid $400 for the car 2 1/2 years ago, it's rusting and I don't know if I'm going to bother with it after this year. Maybe, I like it. But it's a beater, and I want to make sure it *gets* through this winter.

I may fix it because it is kind of a fun car to drive, but it is what it is. If I can do it cheap, OK. If not, the shredder is about 2 miles down the street.

When I do the oil change, probably sooner than the 3,000 miles I usually do, because winter is creeping up, I'm trying a different filter. If the oil p comes back up, good! If not...did I mention the shredder is about 2 miles away?

Tear one of each open and find out. They could be dramatically different, they might not be different at all. That's the whole thing about contract manufacturing. If the retailer goes to the manufacturer and asks for good, he gets good. If he asks for cheap, he gets cheap.

--scott

Just for kicks, here's a look at filters one guy did.

10 years old. But you could study a filter today, and tomorrow they change it at the factory. I've used all kinds of filters, and my practice is to dump their contents into the drain pan. They all dump their contents just fine. Some might glug a bit more than others. BFG. Never had a base down oil filter configuration. Most seem to have been base-up at about 45 degrees. My Ford 352 was the only one I can recall that was close to vertical - base up. Most of my cars have been GM. They'll dump some oil when removed. A rag is your friend. No big deal. How many here fill their new filter with oil? I never did. Never noticed any undue lack of pressure when starting up with a dry new filter either. I think most lifter noise at startup is because they are cold, not because they don't almost immediately pump up. Anyway I don't pay much attention to filters, except I don't buy Fram. Usually just go with AC. Not because I know anything about them, but because the raps against Fram filtered in long ago. Funny how a rep can stick, whether still deserved or not. Anyway, filter selection is mostly voodoo. Never liked the idea of toilet paper oil filters, will say that.

--Vic

You are forgetting ALL oil filters have an internal pressure relief value.

"Mike Hunter" wrote in news:4b0c299c$0$1863$ snipped-for-privacy@news-radius.ptd.net:

No they don`t, many of the cheep ones don`t have one to reduce costs. KB

About 4 years ago, just before I got rid of our 1988 3.0 liter New Yorker it got a Fram filter installed - and the lifters clattered on startup - about 30 seconds on a warm day, up to 90 seconds on a cooler day. oil pressure took longer to come up. I didn't leave it on for the full 5000Km - changed it to a Wix manufactured Napa filter and the clatter went away - immediately.

Not true. Some depend on the bypass valve on the car. Carvair was a case in point. Filter bypass is in the filter base.

You got that right!

meanwhile Wix, Purolator, and Champion Labs have NEVER had a bad run significant enough to register on our collective radar screens. 'nuff said.

nate