Beware of Fram Oil Filters

[Russ130]

Had a Chevy van come in the shop the other day leaking oil. They said it was a bad sending unit. So I put it on the lift and get under it and the filter has the rubber seal oozing out the side where it mounts to the motor. I figured another double seal from someone not paying attention during an oil change. So I unscrew the filter which was on nice and tight and low and behold no second rubber seal. So it looks like the fram filter just plain failed. It was less than 1000 mi. old since the last oil change which this company does religeously. Anyhow to make a long story short the motor has at least one wasted lifter and sounds like a knock that comes and goes not like a rod or main but more muffled. I was totally suprised they still wanted to fix the mounts that were bad even though the motor is probably junk.

[onelow84]

I agree stay away from fram! I stick with delco

[Cody1018]

Not sure whats going on with the filters you guys buy from Fram but me and my dad have never had any problems with them.

[VileZambonie]

What most likely happened was the seal was not full seated when whoever installed it cranked it on. I've seen it happen plenty of times....

I used to work in a shop the used Quaker State oil filters. They were green Fram filters but we never had a problem with them.

[topp]

I have used fram since 1986 and have NEVER had one leak....

[motion427]

Same here,seen a few of those Fram filter let go on performance engines.Seems like the case itself is not strong.

We took about 10 oil filters appart just a few days ago to see who has what in their filters.

Fram,AC Delco, Mopar,Ford,Carquest,Royal purple, NAPA, etc.....

The Royal Purple is a very good filter,I'd say it's a number 2 in my book.Guess which one we think it's number one.

NAPA Gold, has the best quality that I've seen so far. I did not expect that either.......
Case is strong,has the spring inside to preload the filter,the filter itself it top quality,and the bypass valve is made of silicone and not rubber.

The only thing that was wrong with the Royal Purple,it did not have a preload spring,most of the filters has a bent piece of metal between the case and the filter to preload the filter,sometimes the piece of metal gets flat during a cold start(especially the engine that pushes 80+ psi,when that happends,the oil bypasses the filter,and does not clean the oil.The Royal Purple has that bent piece of metal and not the preload spring.

[Russ130]

I'm not bashing Fram here just saying what I ran into the other day. I've seen all brands of filters leak over the years usually from not being tight enough. Just never seen this type of failure before unless like I said someone put the new filter on while the rubber from the old filter was stuck to the block. Might be human era but might not be too.

[slammed79]

I use K&N religiously and have never had an issue. I tend to keep one in the vehicle I'm driving in case I end up at a jiffy lube.

[Dr_Snooz]

NAPA Gold, has the best quality that I've seen so far. I did not expect that either.......

The Napa Gold filters are made by Wix. They're about the best filters you can buy.

[Irish_Alley]

I can’t count how many people would come in to AutoZone and ask for an oil filter wrench I would suggest the one I carry in my box it has three claws on it that only grip when you take off a filter and they work for all sizes of filters. then they would say what about putting it on I would tell them your not supposed to use a wrench to put it on just take it off cause this will happen. And for some reason they still would buy the filter to put on the filter

[beastie_3]

Wix

[jackjeckel757]

Gotta say the Fram Extended Gaurd oil filter is the one I have used on my '77 C-10, my '04 Monte and many other vehicles for years and never had a problem....

[Dr_Snooz]

Just because you haven't had a problem doesn't mean there is no risk. Fram's filters are pretty notorious for a lot of reasons. One, they use cardboard end caps glued in place instead of metal. Two, they use inferior anti-drainback valves that stick open letting all the oil drain out of your engine when sitting overnight. Three, they use inferior rubber seals that blow all your oil out on the road.

Plenty of horror stories are out there. You just have to look for them.

   http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilters/reference.html#fram

   http://www.tobycreek.org/oil_filters/fram.shtml

   http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-2005-2010-sportage/32248-fram-oil-filter-failure.html

   http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f19/no-more-fram-oil-filters-me-589979/

   http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=192473

You're only going to know you have a problem after your engine is gone, so why risk it for the couple dollars you might save? You could wait until you have a story like this guy's

   http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/66045-fram-oil-filter-failure/

or you can switch to a good filter like Wix now. I, for one, take too much care fixing my stuff to throw it all away on a crummy part that fails and takes out my engine.



Stepping off my soapbox now...

[Irish_Alley]

Well I use a fram filter and Pennzoil in my truck mater fact all my vehicles I do that. my engine in my truck has help me blow up a th350, a 10 bolt rear, a couple axle shafts and new to the victims list a adapter plate for the transfer case. Now iv had this engine for the past 8 or so years she still runs strong and holds her oil pressure pretty good. The only thing that leaks is the rear main seal lol

[Russ130]

Just because you haven't had a problem doesn't mean there is no risk.
 

Couldn't have said it better myself. For the record I have avoided Fram filters ever since learning about some of the things you described a couple years back. Just glad it was someone elses motor that is toast and not mine because a filter failed.