just went to walmart to pick up an oil filter (ph30) for my first start of my engine. i been using fram on my other 3 cars ive had and never had a problem but i read alot of people having problems online ....should i pick up a different brand or just stick with fram?

 

About 10-15 years ago, there was a website that dissected oil filters, examined the construction, measured filter area, etc. The Fram filters showed up as pure junk, with cardboard used for filter end caps where other well made filters used metal. The Fram had pieces of string used to hold the pleated filter media together and a lot of cheap shortcuts. They had a letter from a Fram engineer who claimed that was what he was told to do in the design. Fram took a hit, and eventually Fram got their lawyers to force the site to remove the letter from the engineer.

I had used the Fram filters a couple times, and they seemed to be cheaply made. The can was paper thin and would collapse under the pressure of a strap wrench. The final straw was when I had installed the filter by hand, as usual, and when it came time to change the filter, I couldn't unscrew it. Took a lot of work. Eventually I have to use one of the metal hex end cap wrenches and put three long sheet metal screws through the cap wrench and into the filter can. When I finally got it off, it was obvious that the poorly cut threads on the filter had galled onto the engine's mounting screw threads, and the torque of forcing it off has loosened the filter mount threads. Total junk in my opinion.

When the shop built my stroker, and the put it on the engine dyno, they had a Fram filter on it. When I showed them the problems with Frams, they stopped using Fram. I use an oversize Moroso racing filter now. Not cheap, but very well made.

Who knows how a Fram filter made today compares to a Fram filter made 15 years ago? Before using one, I would recommend you go to a site like "Bob is the oil guy" and see if they have a discussion forum on filters.

 

Some of the better filters are: Wix, Purolator, AC/Delco, Motorcraft, Mobil 1, K&N, and Moroso.

You could plug "best oil filter" into a search engine and get a lot of hits. Here is one such site:

Oil filter comparisons

 

I don't use mileage for my oil & filter change, I just change both every six months. So as long as the shop installs a two qt filter I don't care what brand is is.

 

I have heard the Fram Ultraguards are pretty good on BITOG. I still will not put them on my cars. Currently using Amsoil Ea series on my vehicles. Have used Wix, K&N, AC Delco, Bosch, and even Supertech (daily driver) in the past.

 

My friend had a VERY CLEAN Ford F-150 with a 351W in it. She ran great. He changed the oil. Later in the week we were driving to my cabin. I glanced and noticed his Oil Pressure pegged low in the red. We pulled over and had it towed to his garage.

Long story short, the oil filter imploded on itself and prevented oil flow. Changed the filter, and oil pressure came right back to where she should be. But the engine had a nasty knock. Spun a bearing learning to buy NAPA, Wix, Mobil, K&N, etc. ANYTHING over a stinking Fram.

I wont even run one on my girlfriends DD Malibu. And it is a piece of **** car.