Hot Rods K&N Oil Filters Are Junk

Love Jack Benny! I still listen to his old radio programs, and laugh at what he and Rochester (Eddie Anderson) did to keep his old Maxwell running...

Had an OT 1987 Pontiac Grand Am with that crummy 2.5 Tech 4. They had the oil filter mounted upside down between the engine block and the firewall, stuffed under the intake manifold where you couldn't see or reach it. A real bear to remove, and it made a big oily mess along the way.

 

when my new exhaust pipes went on in the '32,not much room to move near filter,was shown one of these strap removers,
works great. hand tighten with a bit of oil on gasket

 

We used Baldwin’s for water....

 

Baldwin are typically sold at places that sell heavy truck parts. The nationwide chain that we get them from is called Truck Pro. I use Baldwin as well.


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I’ve been using them for over 20 years at work under much more extreme conditions than what car owners will ever encounter. Why do you say they are junk?


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Anyone have the Thread, where quality filters are recommended?

 

Cut one apart, cut a wix or NAPA gold filter apart and compare the difference. You will see what I mean when you see this for yourself. There is no comparison at all in the filtering element.

 

Like this?
https://www.fleetfilter.com/comparison-baldwinLD-filter.html

 

Just cut them apart for yourself, I have and will never use a Baldwin after looking close at both filters.

 

I wouldn’t call Baldwin junk but they’re a price point filter. Looking at cut away filters from various manufacturers Baldwin filter heads “look” cheaper as does the internal construction.

 

Looks like the 2 are pretty close, if anything the Baldwin has more filtering surface, it could probably hold more contaminants and maintain flow capacity. The can is thicker as well, not that thre's a problem with Napa can failures, but to say that Baldwin is junk and doesn't compare is not supported by that. If anything they look slightly better.

 

They may be a price point filter compared to heavy duty OEM's like Cat and Cummins, both of which are very proud of their filters, and they are priced accordingly; but not compared to passenger car filter brands. Years ago I ran an experiment with a fleet of heavy equipment operating at several landfills comparing the performance of Cat filters to Baldwin filters, using oil analysis to monitor wear rates; after about an 18 month trial we found no discernible difference in wear rates between the 2 brands.

 

I looked at the pictures on the site that was mentioned and I don’t see and major difference either. I stand by my previous statement and will continue using them.


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Back in the 70's my younger brother in law called me, he was using my garage to change the oil in his car. He couldn't get the filter off ( A Nova as I remember), I told him the screw driver trick.....well he went too far and punched a hole in the pan
I think he learned a lot that day. he was just like the rest of us, had to learn a few things the hard way.

 

"Years ago I ran an experiment with a fleet of heavy equipment operating at several landfills comparing the performance of Cat filters to Baldwin filters, using oil analysis to monitor wear rates; after about an 18 month trial we found no discernible difference in wear rates between the 2 brands."

Holy cow! Actual testing rather than opinion. Good work.

I was impressed with the idea posted some time back about prying the base of the filter slightly away from the mounting pad to break the seal. I pictured prying well outside the gasket mounting surface, perhaps on the as cast block surface, so there wouldn't be any damage to the gasket mounting face.

I was always leery about the piercing with a screwdriver trick as it just seemed too dangerous to be handling the super sharp remnants afterwards, so never have used it.

One final thing to keep in mind is that there often is no room to use the best method for removal, so we have to mess about however we can.

 

LOL I met Rochester once. I was little (like grammar school little), he was at the Ol' Man's shop on a Saturday and was cutting up and making everyone laugh. They were from a good time in this countries history, good comedy and good cars.

 

I use K&N on our motorhome. It has The Triton V10 engine and the oil filter mount has a finned oil cooler surrounding part of the filter. I can use a band wrench but the nut on the bottom of the K&N filter makes it much easier to remove. Also when installing I use the nut to tighten the filter 3/4 turn after contact. Oil plug and filter are above a cross member and oil changes are done from the ground in cramped area for an old fat guy.

 

That is really neat! Eddie Anderson was a very talented man, a wonderful actor who could dance and sing. One of my favorite jazz songs is "Waiting For Jane" that he performed back in 1940. He was also a car enthusiast and had some very nice ones back then.

Speaking of cars, Jack did a tv special with Gregory Peck and George Burns called (if I remember correctly) Jack Benny's New Look. In one scene, he leaves Gregory Peck's house and gets into a vintage Rolls Royce that Rochester is driving. At one point Jack complains that Rochester is driving too fast, and Rochester made some funny retorts about the Maxwell. Finally, they arrive at Jack's house, and Jack thanks Rochester for the ride, adding, "And I must say, Rochester, you have the most beautiful car!". That line just spoke volumes about about Jack on so many levels.

 

Today their acts would be called racist but they were buddies in life. At least that is what I was told.

 

The only K&N oil filters I used was on a HD V-Rod I owned and customized. That nut made changing the filter a snap. That's why I used 'em...well that and they came in chrome.

 

I work at a Peterbilt dealership and use Cummins fleetgaurd filters. Their website let's you type in an oem or competitor part number and it will cross it to their product. Nice way to get TALL filters that hold plenty of oil for BBC /sbc.

 

And the number for the tall filter is?????

 

Lol. "Hey, I punched a screwdriver through but it still won't turn!"

 

>>>And the number for the tall filter is????? >>>

I don't work at a PeterBuilt dealership. And I don't use fleetguard filters. And I don't even use the tall ones---even a SBC. But if I did, I'd probably go here. https://catalog.cumminsfiltration.com/catalog/

Jack E/NJ

 

A guy has to keep the focus. If not, all is lost.

 

Just go to any auto parts and get the filter for a ton truck. That is as tall/long a filter as is made for an SBC. Why overthink it cheeses.

 

K&N filter for Royal Purple oil.
Royal Purple filter for Red Line oil.
Synthetic oil only - new oil grading system went in effect in April and may effect the above.
ILSAC GF-6/6A/6B et al
If max filtration performance is important.
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/
K&N filter socket - dunno why it looks so clean

 

Lf692

 

See, thats a strap wrench. Beaner posted way back what an oil filter wrech is.

Oh, I also have a chain wrench too....comes in handy now and then.