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

Who was it in the Subaru group that mentioned my low oil pressure might be caused by my using Fram oil filters?

There may be something to this.

I picked up yet another 1992 Grand Something-or-other (in this case, a Grand Caravan. The last two were V'gers...). It has 239,000 miles on it. I got it on eBay for $150 and had to go 135 miles to pick it up. To make a long story short, we had to cut and crimp one of the rear brake lines to get the thing to move without emptying the brake cylinder, and the plan was to drive it within 100 miles from home and call AAA..."It blew a brake line!"

No need. The crimp held and the thing ran so well I drove it the entire way home! Of course, I told "Jane" to avoid highways, so it was 92 miles through Providence and back into Mass and on to home.

All the way the oil press. guage was about 1/2 way up the guage, occasionally dropping a little below on a 68 degree November day in the middle of Providence. Other than that, it stayed right around the halfway mark the entire trip.

Today I gave it a 'service', oil change, air filter and tranny juice and filter. I used a Fram TG oil filter since if you bought a jug (5 qts) of Valvoline oil you got the filter $2 off. Maybe it's just on the Subaru?

NOPE! After I changed the oil and took it for a test, the oil pressure guage had dropped a whole mark off halfway! I don't believe it!

I'm going to wait until the next nice day, pull the oil filter and put on something like a Wix. Never had that problem with either OEM or Wix filters, and Wix got high ratings from Consumer's Reports.

Reply to
Hachiroku
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It's a known problem on the orange Fram filters. The problem is the anti drainback valves don't work. How much it effects the engine will depend on the filter mounting and position. I have two old Ford trucks, both with straight six engines. "300 and

240". You cannot use those Fram filters on those engines unless you like starting up with no oil pressure. I knew about this before trying one, but I happened to get one free, so decided to try it. At first I thought it was ok. But I came back three hours later to go to the store and had no oil pressure. And this is on a fresh rebuilt engine with a new oil pump. Not some wore out beater. I couldn't get pressure, so i cut it off. Then I tried it again and finally got pressure going. I dumped that filter right there on the spot and replaced it with a Motorcraft FL1A which is what I normally use. Never had the problem again. I wouldn't use one of those filters if it were free. Total junk as far as the anti drain valves. I wouldn't use one on any other car either just due to the problems I had, no matter if the mounting position was a problem or not.
Reply to
nm5k

Put a Wix 51515 on it and you won't have a problem again.

Daniel Bought a 95 Grand Caravan SE 3.3l with 223,000 miles on it for $800 and immediatly changed to a 51515 and Mobil 1 5w30 non-EP. I have 10k miles of my own on the van now and the engine is still going strong.

Reply to
Daniel Who Wants to Know

Let's see if I can remember that number! ;)

When I changed the oil and started the engine, there was what sounded like a bottom end knock in it...

I went for a 5 mile ride and the sound went awat...Thank You! Whew!

I had a Gr Voyager w/279,000 miles on it. It had had the trans replaced under warranty and never had a problem with it, excep the guy who gave it to me wanted it back! He ran it up to 324,000!!!

Reply to
Hachiroku

I am confident that the oil pressure pick-up point is after the filter. Therefore a restrictive filter can only reduce the measured pressure, not increase it.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

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

nate

Reply to
N8N

I also had a Ford 300 six. Same problem. Changed to NAPA best filter ( I think this is made by Wix) Problem solved. WW

Reply to
WW

But in the Consumer Reports test, Fram (and Lee Maxifilter - Champion) did even better and was not only top rated but also check rated, meaning they did significantly better than the rest. They removed something like 88% of the test particles (I think they were 20 or 25 micron particles, but I don't remember if the test was single-pass or multi-pass), compared to 70% or 75% for AC. The worst filter removed

50%, and I think it was a depth filter.
Reply to
larry moe 'n curly

Doesn't matter how well it filters if the ADBV doesn't work, and Fram's traditionally don't.

NB: I haven't used a Fram filter in 15 years or more because of this issue, so they may have rectified it - but why take the chance when so many other filters have been working well for years?

nate

Reply to
N8N

A Finnish magazine article from 1996 found no problems with any of the drainback valves tested, and Fram did not leak the most. Also how come you can blow into an orange Fram but not suck air from it? Money saving hint: doing that test in the store = free oil filter. :)

Reply to
larry moe 'n curly

That's nice, but personal experience trumps a test any day. Time from cold start to oil pressure light going out on my old Dart, >5 sec. with a Fram filter. 1 sec. or less with a Wix filter. Guess which filter I've used ever since.

nate

Reply to
N8N

But here's the problem - a filter that works really well will also plug up sooner. If you put a filter that removes fine particles an old sludged up beater that has been accumulating fine particles in the crankcase for years it will plug the filter in a short amount of time (sometimes very short) and that will show up as low oil pressure. Even if the engine has not been abused If it used a filter for years that is letting the fine stuff through you can expect a filter that catches fine stuff to to load up in short order.

If you notice the millions of new cars using Fram filters aren't the ones having problems. It is always the guys with the 30 year old beaters who tell of their the bad experience with the Fram filters.

That is not to say Fram filters are high quality. They are cheap filters, but they are good enough if you change the oil often enough.

-jim

Reply to
jim

Lee Maxifilter?!?!?!

How the hell old was this test?!?!?!

I used to use Lee Maxifilters in my Corollas. When I got the Hachiroku, for it's first oil change I went to get a Lee...GONE! I actually found one in a closet last year, but it doesn't fit anything I own. I must have bought it ~1982 or so.

If you find a Lee, let me know!!! ;)

BTW, that same test, from 1984, also said if you had a Toyota, you were getting the BEST filter made...

Reply to
Hachiroku

Every three thousand miles, regardless of age/condition of car...

Reply to
Hachiroku

LOL! Nice description!

Reply to
Hachiroku

Wix got rated very highly from CR, but AutoZone doesn't sell them. The CarQuest I used to work at (and got Wholesale from...) closed last year...they were turning the key to Lock when I went to get some parts for my Supra...there is another place that does have them. The Soob is due in a few hundred more miles....time for a Real World test!

Reply to
Hachiroku

But I suspect not for the reason you think. A lot of the problem is the position of the filter. And lots of older cars had the filter mounted where it drained easily. It's not due to the condition of the engine. Remember, I had this problem with a brand new rebuilt engine that ran great, and it never did it again after dumping the Fram filter. My engine was not a beater and the oil pump was brand new.

They filter ok, but like one said, who cares if the valve doesn't work worth a hoot, and it's a proven fact that they don't.

Reply to
nm5k

I'm afraid Lee filters are long gone. The last reference I could find was a magazine ad from 1986. The last one I bought was '84 or '85. I can't understand how they could go out of business. I was buying them 2-3 at a time!

I used them in my 74 Corolla, my 78 Corolla, my 80 Corolla. They were all high mileage cars, due in some part to the oil filter?

Reply to
Hachiroku

Yeah and I'm a talking dog. You change the oil every 3000k on a car you have only had for 100 miles?

-jim

Reply to
jim

Napa oil filters are Wix.

Reply to
Steve Austin

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