Oil Filter Question

Hate to break it to you, but GM and the others don't make their own filters. They send out orders to the various large companies (Fram,etc) who then either make it domestically and /or outsource the contract to their respective jobbers and suppliers. As to the quality, I don't think there's any difference. Your Wally World filter was probably made on the same production line as the AC-Delco. What I'd like to know is why the oil filter for my newer Avalanche 5.3 costs 3 times the amount of my old 8.3 Chev Truck

350, is at least 1/3 the size and has at least 1/3 less filtering area. And if my truck and manual is to be believed, lasts 3 times longer or more.

(Snip)

The truck I have is 2002 Silverado with the 5300 engine. The manual calls for the PF 59 that is no longer available and the PF 46 is about half the size and priced about the same.

The cosmetics I was talking about - the paint looks like it was applied with a pine top, labels were applied haphazardly - Makes me wonder what the inside looks like if they are happy with the outside appearance..

I wonder too. For a while, my wife had had 2000 Malibu with the Quad Four LD9 engine. The filter for this cost some ridiculous amount ($14 or so) and was the size of a cat food tin. Just be glad you don't have to go a Mercedes or BMW dealer to get your filters : -)

I haveposted it here before so some may remember. Fram sucks, and AC Delco are not made by them. There have been some reports of bogus filters ie knock offs of Motorcraft and AC Delco so it comes down to do you trust your supplier?

Whitelightning

I've seen that site referenced many times. If you choose your filters based on how pretty they are it's a good source of info. There is a reason ASTM developed various tests of filter media other then "how it looks". Most likely the reason some of the new smaller filters cost more is because to get decent filter capacity from a smaller sized filter they needed to use a more expensive filtering media. Either that or they are just screwing people.

If the end caps and the anti drain back and the relief valve suck, it doesn't matter how good the filter media is in a spin on oil filter. And the site definitely dispels Augustus's statement about there being no difference in filter quality between brands, i.e. one is as good as another.

Whitelightning

The site provides no info on how well the filters filter. LOOKING at things doesn't mean much. It may be that FRAM does suck but the basis for that is not because of how it LOOKS, its because many people have used FRAM's and had a start up knock due to their anti-drain back valves not working or not existing. If FRAM started using a really

*great looking* anti-drain back valve would that be enough to say it's good to go, or would you want to see if it actually worked and there was no more start up knock? I've heard the complaints about the end caps but having taken a FRAM, and some others, apart, I don't know why people think it's a big deal. Their end caps may not look like much but they aren't going anywhere. I don't think most people even realize that the pressure is holding the things in place anyway, I suspect many people think the oil it flowing opposite to the way it flows and it going to blow the end caps off. Bottom line remains that you can't tell which is a good filter by LOOKING at it's innards. Sure, its fun to look and poke around but other then finding gross defects it's meaningless.

working in a fleet sitation, testing used oil and filters in labratory as part of maintenance. it was concluded that hastings has the best oil filter with wix in second. lucas

Of course there's another option. Go to a Amsoil Bypass, or Remote Filter. This will cure all woes, but at a price. (Watch, I'll probably get the shit bashed out of me for mentioning this, as well as the three months of spam for posting on usenet) Mark

whats an "amsoil bypass"?

amsoil = brand name bypass = type of filter

Scott, an Amsoil Bypass filter is an external mounted filter, which keeps the factory filter in its usual place. (Rather than the kit they make to remotely mount a filter with an adapter that screws on your your Oil Filter Boss)

The Bypass can be as simple as routing into the Oil Sending Unit on the Engine Block with a Tee, thus running Oil into a much larger filter mounted somewhere in the Engine Bay. The Bypass Filter itself will have much greater filtering ability (In microns), and then running this filtered Oil back into the engine.

Depending on filter size, one would also gain the beneit of larger Oil Capacity for the engine.

I might have left out some finer points, but this is the basic principal of the Bypass Filter they market. Can be used on Diesel, as well as Gas Engines. My friend used one on his Dodge/Cummins with very good results. Mark

How do you get the oil back to the engine? seems this would drop your oil pressure too.

Usually the bypass output is dumped into the oil pan by putting a fitting into the side of the oil pan. The oil goes thru the bypass very slowly so it's not going to have a whole lot of effect on the pressure. It takes a while but eventually all the oil goes thru it and the much smaller filter openings filter out all the really tiny stuff and the oil looks a lot cleaner then with just the regular full flow filter. The ??? is, does it matter, it's just taking out the particles smaller then 10 microns which supposedly are too small to damage anything. Certainly it can't hurt anything.

Obviously this only works for engines that have excess pump capacity. An engine with a worn pump and/or loose bearings won't be able to handle this scheme.