My thoughts on a reason to stay away from FRAM oil filters...

[spalding1028]

I work in a walmart quicklube. Yesterday i had to pull all 3614 filters because of a recall. We've had several frams come off vehicles that would rattle if shook. I run wix on my truck. As far as air filters, look at the inside of your intake tube. If its dirty then your filter isn't doing its job. Nuf said

That's partially true. Wal-Mart's listing it as a recall, but according to FRAM, it's only a product retrieval, affecting ONLY '94-'97 Toyota and Lexus models with the 3.0L V6 (and it's only certain date ranges). Any other vehicle that calls for the 3614 is not affected by this.

 

[mr cribb]

Hey thanks for reply...I dk if there is an Az near me. I know there's a pep boys. Prob the same thing. My whole life I've been goi g to mom and pop parts store. Been good friends

Re screwing in that makes sense. I actually start it w hand and finish it off w oil filter wrench. Gets v tight. I try to do the specified number of turns After the contact w the gasket is made but I tend to overkill...

Joe Dirt already said it but here ya go:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=383539

 

[mr cribb]

After watching the videos, I seem to recall hearing a diesel-ing sound from my old ranger. I had always used what my dad did, (fram/ castrol guy).

I had noticed the rattling but I figured it's a 200k+ miles truck no biggie it's gonna rattle. Then when in my local AZ one day I noticed the 5qt motorcraft oil and filter combo was 18 something (damn short term promo), so I tried it. The strange rattling went away. With the motorcraft semi syn oil I noticed a lil better gas mpg in town from 19 to 21. So to this day my ford gets a motorcraft oil filter and oil change. I since traded the ranger for an explorer and still buy the same stuff.

I just skip the BS and think of it as if you took your truck in to the ford shop for an oil change this is what you'd get.

On another note I had an 03 accord and after putting on a fram filter it had a rattle too. I went to k&n and valvoline full synthetic on it the noise went away.

I have always pre-filled my oil filter within reason to prevent spilling. Dad said it's better for the engine, so I didn't dispute it.

 

[Awsum97]

cool thank you guys for the good advice motorcraft oil filters from here on out.

 

[JayT]

Might as well put me down as anti-Fram. My Ranger has a 4 cyl and I just figured they always made a ticking sound, but I read on these forums that people got rid of that sound by switching filters. This weekend I installed a NAPA Gold filter and the ticking stopped.

 

[rookieshooter]

I just never understood the debate about these things. I mean, the argument a lot of people make for some of these filters is "I can get x.. for $2 or $3 vs. $4 or $5, etc...

Seriously- if you kill an engine, your truck is dead. If you can't scrape up an extra $1-2 for a filter that you might replace 2-3x a year, reevaluate your choices on other things you spend your money on. I've never seen the logic of using a crap filter to save a couple of bucks. I just don't get it, especially when it costs ~$75 to fill the tank anyhow.

Well said.
I would love to see a test between two identical vehicles with all factors the same, except one had the Fram with fiber ends and the other a Motorcraft.
Then after regular oil changes and driven 100,000 miles each. Take out the rod & crank bearings and also check the cam lobes,cam bearings and sidewalls of the lifters. And check under a microscope for wear.
But I guess it will never happen. This would be the mother of all tests IMO
Be cool to do it in a controlled environment running day and night.

 

[mr_valingo]

Might as well put me down as anti-Fram. My Ranger has a 4 cyl and I just figured they always made a ticking sound, but I read on these forums that people got rid of that sound by switching filters. This weekend I installed a NAPA Gold filter and the ticking stopped.

Napa gold is a wix with a different sticker

 

[97xxxploder]

i dont think there is anything wrong with fram filters. i have used them in the past and put 3-5k on them with no problems. wouldnt u think that if all fram filters were junk that they would be out of business? u can find hundreds of fram filters at walmart. wouldnt u think there would be a recall or a warning advisory. i think people just have it in there heads that they r bad. dont forget that half of a vehicles problem is the person workin on them. i had an oil change done at pepboys and drove my car home and i just wanted to see how they did and WOW, i could tighten my oil filter with my hand! just goes to show its not always the product but the user. if there is all this proof of frams causing ticking sounds then i would say use one, let it blow ur engine (not likely) and then get a lawsuit on them? sounds like an easy way to get a new engine to me.

 

[Joe Dirt]

That's the point of the discussion- not ALL of them are junk. They're a crap design, that for most cases will probably stay in one piece. I'm just not going to chance the life of my rig to roll that dice that the one I got has all of the pleats attached to the core, or that the cardboard cap doesn't come dislodged.

To me, $1 isn't worth the risk. It's all up to the user though, I just don't think it's worth it, and I just have a hard time understanding the choice to use them when you see the differences. It's all opinion though, everyone is entitled to theirs.

 

[OffTrac]

If we're using the fact that WalMart carries something as proof of it's reliability, I think we need revisit some of our assumptions.

 

[Rick]

i dont think there is anything wrong with fram filters. i have used them in the past and put 3-5k on them with no problems. wouldnt u think that if all fram filters were junk that they would be out of business?

Great most people don't have a problem, but when someone does it's how a company treats their customer that makes all the difference.

When the end cap fell off on my Fram air filter allowing completely unfiltered air to enter the engine for thousands of miles Fram did NOTHING for me, not even send a replacement air filter after I FedEx'd them the bad filter for "investigation". The glue they used was faulty, the filter cap fell off, and the one thing a filter is supposed to do which is filter air, well it no longer did it...

You want to risk your expensive engine on a cheap filter made by a company that won't stand behind it's products? Be my guest, we all have to make our own decisions and live with the consequences.

 

[97xxxploder]

If we're using the fact that WalMart carries something as proof of it's reliability, I think we need revisit some of our assumptions.

walmart is like a sore dick, u cant beat it! i like walmart for most of my shoppin. cant beat those prices and they r basically a one stop shop. only thing i dont get from there is my dog food.

 

[OffTrac]

If Fram was significantly cheaper than the other filters, maybe I could see why people use them. Filters are not very expensive, though. It's funny that people will pay an extra dollar to super size the fat content of their value meal for $1, but $2 more for a different filter would just be a waste of money.

I don't buy anything from WalMart, let alone things for vehicle maintenance. I go into WalMart once a year...to get the current year's free hunting regulations.

 

[dpliner]

Fram is junk

Hi everyone,
I've been using the K&N oil filter for a few years now on my '03 "X". Cost is a little more but works great. It also has an integrated nut on the bottom to us a socket on to take off and on. Which on the V6 is very helpful.
Just my 2 cents

 

[ex man in van]

I bought my Ex, and it had a Fram on it. The dealer said the oil had been changed the month prior, and had the service ticket to prove it had in fact been changed, and the Fram filter installed also, and it looked good. After a month of driving, my oil was pretty dark. Thought this can't be good, but everything was fine. Plugs looked great, no soot in the pipe, compression and oil pressure fine. So decided on an early oil change with good ol' GTX 10-30, and a K&N Gold (What I always used on my Mustangs). I held on to the Fram to inspect later suspecting it was bypassing. When I opened it up i was shocked. The pleat seal was not holding anything. The material was wide open letting EVERYTHING through the engine.
Fortunately I did the early change and had not done any hard driving, but here we are on my second oil change with the K&N, and the oil looks as good as the day I poured it in.
I do still use their air filters as they seem to be pretty decent, but I inspect them like hell before they go in and they do trap a great deal.

I've used K&N air filters for years as well, but I've begun to steer away from them after some recent reports and personal observations, but I'd recommend their oil filters above all others. they are more expensive, but compared to premature internal wear, it's a drop in the bucket, and as far as I'm concerned cheap insurance compared to the alternative.

After all these years of obvious manufacturing deficiencies, I find it hard to figure how they can continue to produce potentially harmful products.
For you and me who change our own oil it's a no brainer, but think about the countless numbers who rely on shops to do so and many use Fram.

 

[Anime]

Here's a recent thread/article from wranglerforum.com about FRAM filters:

http://www.wranglerforum.com/f5/eat...s-r-and-d-facility-in-dayton-ohio-111282.html

it doesn't seem like a promo, but it at least addresses some of the issues that have come up.

In any case price doesn't make much sense as a reason to use FRAM, since you can get Motorcrafts just about as cheap at Walmart, or other quality brands at auto parts stores, especially with sales or rebates.

 

[ex man in van]

Here's a recent thread/article from wranglerforum.com about FRAM filters:

http://www.wranglerforum.com/f5/eat...s-r-and-d-facility-in-dayton-ohio-111282.html

it doesn't seem like a promo, but it at least addresses some of the issues that have come up.

In any case price doesn't make much sense as a reason to use FRAM, since you can get Motorcrafts just about as cheap at Walmart, or other quality brands at auto parts stores, especially with sales or rebates.

That was a very good read. i guess i'm still a bit skeptical though...Not so much that they have not made strides in QC...but the fact that the filter in my Ex was made last year, and the metal crimp on the pleats was not holding the media together at the joint . I have no idea how a machine that was supposed to catch a slight defect could miss a major one like that.
it could very well had the appearance of being intact at the time of inspection, and once under pressure it could have failed then.....a one off thing, but that's just something I'm not willing to risk just because they've admitted fault and begun to address issues......At least not yet.
That being said, even if the issues are completely resolved, I also prefer the added protection of greater media volume and finer particulate capture that Motorcraft, K&N etc. provide.

 

[OffTrac]

Why buy a product that you know has had issues in the past when there are multiple alternatives without past performance problems, especially when the price difference is so small?

It's like getting a haircut somewhere that does a terrible job for $2 less than your new place but the old place tells you they have improved. Who cares?