Originally posted by Injuneer
I guess you haven't visited the website that showed how they were assembled using knotted strings, and carboard end caps. And maybe you missed the letter from the FRAM engineer who let the cat out of the bag, and caused Allied-Signal to have the website shut down until the engineer's letter was removed.....

Fram Extra Guard

Years ago Fram was a quality filter manufacturer. Now their standard filter (the radioactive-orange cans) is one of the worst out there. It features cardboard end caps for the filter element that are glued in place. The rubber anti-drainback valve seals against the cardboard and frequently leaks, causing dirty oil to drain back into the pan. The bypass valves are plastic and are sometimes not molded correctly, which allows them to leak all the time. The stamped-metal threaded end is weakly constructed and it has smaller and fewer oil inlet holes, which may restrict flow. I had one of these filters fail in my previous car. The filter element collapsed and bits of filter and glue were circuilating through my system. The oil passge to the head became blocked and the head got so hot from oil starvation that it actually melted the vacuum lines connected to it as well as the wires near it.

Fram Double Guard

Another bad filter idea brought to you by your friends at Fram. The filter itself is a slightly improved design over the Fram Extra Guard, but still uses the same filter element. It has a silicone anti-drainback valve, a quality pressure releif valve, and enough inlet holes for good flow. The big problem is that they are trying to cash in on the Slick 50 craze. They impregnate the filter element with bits of Teflon like that found in Slick 50. As with Slick 50, Teflon is a solid and does not belong in an engine. It cannot get into the parts of the engine that oil can and therefore does nothing. Also, as the filter gets dirty, it ends up filtering the Teflon right out. Dupont (the manufacturer of Teflon) does not recommend Teflon for use in internal combustion engines. Please do not waste your money on this filter.

Originally posted by Injuneer
Oil Filter Study




3 years ago when I first saw my stroker motor on the engine dyno, it had a FRAM on it. I told them to take it off, and they asked me why. I supplied my own AC/Delco Ultraguard Gold (no longer made). I told them about the problems I had with the FRAM's leaking, the can collapsing while trying to remove it, the threads galling on the oil filter adapter, etc. They gave me the "deer in the headlights" look, like I was crazy. I was back in the shop last week, and I supplied my own Moroso filter. They told me they realized I was right after they noticed they were having the same problems I was with the FRAM, and they had stopped using them a few months after I had warned them.