Anyone else have this problem with Fram Oil filters?

I can't believe this stupid thread is still going! 120 posts? Stop buying them....or bitching about them.


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i didn't realize this, i thought the bunch of guys that bought it were a group of car guys, who all worked at one time for STP/first brands/texaco/ prestone. they were all product testing, research lab, oriented types. maybe they will turn things around.

 

Haven't run a Fram oil filter in over 10 years. Wix (also NAPA and Carquest house brand), Purolator (Motorcraft), or Baldwin filters only. After taking apart a bunch of filters, there was just no comparison; the Fram filter was easily the flimsiest, most cheaply made filter of the lot.


Coincidentally, after working in various auto parts stores and machine shops, all the times I've heard of filters failing, they were Fram filters. The two machine shops I've worked at specifically told customers not to run Fram oil filters. This was after the shop owners witnessed Fram oil filters fail on the dyno.

 

Fram makes the Mack branded filters because both Mack and Fram were part of Allied-Signal. I don't know about the others but I would assume that they have accountants buying filters on price point alone. If cheaper components and less media is used, the filters can be sold at a lower price.

 

Where I work, we got on a program with Wix to supply filters for all of our equipment from over the road trucks to heavy machinery. We could buy filters cheaper than the parts store that we got them from. Rock Auto might buy in enough volume to get a better price.

 

Did Fram cut back production that much? I doubt that the one plant could instantly increase production to cover the closings. Could they be having filters made somewhere else?

 

I will keep an eye out for the mailman, for that check from Fram, to cover my losses due to their failed product.

Pony up, or shut up, Fram.

 

Okay gents, I never meant for this to turn into a shitstorm. I was merely asking if anyone had had the same trouble I did. I have responded to the guy via e-mail, who works for Fram and wanted to speak with me, so that should end my portion of the broadcast.
Ryan, or other moderators, you sure won't hurt my feelings if you decide to either close this thread, or delete it entirely.
I just asked a question.
I got an answer, actually, many answers.
Thank You, all.

 

This thread does serve as a worthwhile product warning.

 

Question... Where are the Fram oil filters made today?
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What do you all think of AC Delco brand filters? That's what I have been using for quite sometime with no problems.

 

I used to use the AC pf-35 truck filters for my sbc and bbc builds... never had a problem....

 

lost chrome oil filter fram brand of my 03 harley fatboy. didnt know till left leg started burning. havent used crap since. had to push bike 2 miles to parts house , used wix ever since.

 

During the winter I had the oil changed at wally world since at the time I was putting 3000 miles on the truck a month,on the way to work I noticed people getting out from behind me more then usual so I looked under the truck and seen oil coming out of the filter. The seams started leaking so I had to go home and change the oil and call in to say I would be late.

 

Rank owns Champ Labs, another player in the oil filter market. There is such an over capacity issue in the market today that yes they can close facilities without seeing a big difference in volume. You must realize that todays modern engines don't need oil filters to be changed every 3000 miles (they're not worrying or even thinking about the us hot rod types) so its all keeping pace with the times - heck my (we wont mention) daily driver only recommends 8K between changes in "severe" conditions. And yes - the filters made by just about everyone have much better filtering properties than ever before !

 

champ makes the current blue ac delco filters

 

Did a comparison about 10 years ago. All filters fit one car (Honda).
Scanned the original sheets hope they will show up. Norm

 

I have never seen any of the failures noted by others. I just cut up a bunch of filters and did some comparisons. I should note that Motorkings statement that Fram was OE for Honda was correct at the time I did the comparison. At that time Honda alternated between two suppliers. Fram and Filtec. The Fram came out of Canada and the Filtec was USA. I think they did this to protect their supply and price control. The HONDA filter shown in these comparisons was Filtec. The Honda/Fram filter did have a longer filter eliment (150 ?? inches) but was otherwise like the off the shelf Fram..... except for the seal ring. The off the shelf Fram square/cut type of gasket. The Honda/Fram had a formed/stepped smooth "O" ring. I put one of these on my car and screwed it on to "contact" and then tried to turn it the 3/4s turn the instructions directed and it would lock up metal to metal at 1/4 turn. I tried several others with the same result. I was uncomfortable with the seal and used something else.
As a side note, I did hear of "filter" failures when the old filter "O" ring stuck to the engine and the filter was double gasketed. The result was puking the oil. I felt the failure was due to the tech failing to lube the seal of the original filter causing it to stick to the block......and the second tech failing to check the sealing surface. Norm

 

Okay, HAMBers, this will be my last post on this.
I just got off the phone with Jay, aka Motorking on here, and he, I believe, really and truly, wants to get to the bottom of this. There are some possible scenarios he brought to my attention, some that I hadn't even thought about. He seemed quite genuine on the phone. He has all the particulars on which filter, which engine, and all of that, so, I am going to let him run with it.
I never meant for this to turn into a "Slam Fram" thread, I just wondered if anyone else had had the same trouble I did.
PS I have been using Fram HP-1's on my 13.85 second street bug, since the early 1980's, and never had a problem.

 

go tell your crap to someone else, you are coming on here and claiming all these people are wrong and you are right, I've cur fram filters open and they are junk, there are dozens of studies out there showing whats inside of them, go ahead and argue with all the people who have had failures with them, after having one blow off ,it came already on the car, I have used wix since

 

what about the hp line of fram filters?

 

I won't use anything with that name on it, just use the wix or one of the filters made by wix and you'll be good, I even had a fram blow off of a riding lawnmower once

 

Ditto! Years ago I used Fram, then had two of my customers' 350 Chevys shit the bed because an internal filter part moved and cut off oil flow. Fram rep said I'd made a mistake in building the engines but all my checks refuted his stupid claim. We also cut open the filters with a special tool provided by a Wix rep and found the poorly assembled pieces. I ate two crank kits plus the cost of replacing them. I wouldn't wipe my ass with a Fram towel.

 

according to them their filters are the greatest orange thing ever created and somehow everyone else is wrong, remember the ones with the teflon goop in them? I remember they were even told by the manufacturer that teflon wasn't recommended for engine use, and they sold them anyway, my filter is better!! it's full of grey goop!!

 

Fram sucks .....stay away!!!!

 

The best and last oil filter you will ever need and buy. Thread closed.

 

Fram filters were the choice of drag racers due to the fact that they didnt have much of any filter element in them. Now, most all of the racers were changing the oil every pass. They wanted flow. Period.

The roundy-round guys used Oberg filters.

If you wanted good filtering capabilities, Wix was on top (NAPA filters are made by Wix). For my OT cars and hotrods I only use Wix or NAPA gold filters.

Just my 2 cents...

 

The "HP" filter is far superior than the more widely and commonly used "PH" that some are claiming to have issues with. You will never see a Fram PH filter in any racing application but you will almost always see a Fram HP filter being used. The 2 are easy to tell apart. The PH filter has the black bedliner crap on the bottom whereas the HP does not and the HP will have silver lines on it. Also, the Fram HP filter runs down the same assembly line as the NAPA Gold and Wix filters at the Dana plant in Charlotte, NC

 

The company I worked for sent me to several lube schools. There big gripe on fram was the bypass valve not closeing. On a Chevy not a factor bypass is in the engine. With the bypass open you don't have a filter.

 

good oil filter video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNDpzyu0aWE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRRgw4B7R-I&feature=related