Fram Filter Problem - From another forum

[thatguy]

I found this on another forum and wanted to share.. There is always talk of Fram filters being bad, and it appears here is some proof.. I can not verify the accuracy of the post though.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...t-come-on.html

Im sure the virtue of Fram filters can be debated for several pages here.... LOL

Brian

[BTDT2]

How many owner's have actually experienced a lubricity related engine failure on an engine that is less then ten years old?

On the radio today I heard a parts store telling their listeners that you must replace you engine oil every 3000 miles or three months. I wonder if any of them have ever read their owner's manual? What a waste of natural resources?

[bp fick]

That 3000 miles deal does come from the owner's manual, maintenance schedule, but for severe service. The definition of which is city driving, stop and go, prolonged idling, towing, etc. Folks read that and think, "yeah, I do that" and think it "cheap insurance". The quick change places build on this with those stickers, "your next service is needed _____" and the odometer reading is provided. (3000 miles, of course).

As long as that "severe service" thing is still being published and quick change places keep putting on those reminders this myth will continue. Of course, a quality filter and good oil will go 4000 miles.

Just a little humor there.

[Stimw]

I read the link and I smell a rat!
He just had mods done at the shop and then they blame Fram. ???
What mods were done that could have damaged the filter?
Or what mods were done incorrectly?
Did they damage something or leave it loose?
Too many loose ends.

[CurlyDave]

He just had mods done at the shop and then they blame Fram. ???

And very conveniently, the expensive work done by the shop was just fine after the mishap.

Now it could be that the filter had a problem, but I am always wary of getting expensive custom work done by someone else and then having the same people diagnose the problem.

And, if the shop knew that Fram had this kind of issue, why did they install a Fram in the first place--couldn't they afford a better filter for his car after all that work?

Now, I usually try to get a better filter than Fram, but if I am in a hurry and Wally World has the oil I want in stock, Fram is just about the only filter they carry.

BTW, that says something right there. Wally World is not the pinnacle of quality, but they do sell a lot of oil filters. If even one in a million of the ones they sell failed, they would have so many complaints that they would switch brands.

[Bird]

I read the link and I smell a rat!

I don't own any Fram stock, and I've read lots of the stories about the poor quality of Fram filters, but I used them until 2002 and never had a problem. The only reason I quit using them was that I moved back to town, quit doing my own service work, and let the Ford dealer do it all.

[kenmac]

as they come up with cheaper materials & labor to make filters less expensive to the public so , they can protect the bottom line ($$$$$) . Quality will suffer

[jlrsn]

quit doing my own service work, and let the Ford dealer do it all.

Bird,
You're too young to quit doing your own service work
Jim

[MikePA]

as they come up with cheaper materials & labor to make filters less expensive to the public so , they can protect the bottom line ($$$$$) . Quality will suffer

How does it help Fram's 'bottom line' to destroy their customer's engines by a failed oil filter (assuming the original post is true)?

[bp fick]

I used Fram filters, way back in the day. Frankly, for the past decade or two, the SuperTech is cheaper and better. Anyhow......

All this talk of Fram destroying engines makes me rather suspect that most of this is urban legend, a bad rap that Fram won't live down for a long time.

This would be all over the evening news and OEMs would be all over this publicly if Frams destroyed as many engines as the "word" purports. Don't support or defend Fram in any way, but most of this is over the top, in terms of credibility. So, a souped up 'Vette really ran a Fram. Ha!! Very credible. Not!!

Am I using them? No. SuperTech for cheap, MotorCraft on the truck, and Hastings when I really, really care a lot.