4300 Engine Oil Filter

[Bird]

<font color=blue>I can spend a little more for the manufacturer's, and have a hgh level of confidence that the filter is the most appropriate for the application - OR - I can spend a little less, and take a MUCH large gamble that the filter will be sub-par</font color=blue>

Caretaker, you may be right; I don't know. But I do know in years past, car manufacturers frequently were not using the "best" parts available for the application, i.e., tires, batteries, etc. They were using the ones they could buy the cheapest and which they had decided would meet minimal requirements. So, I'd agree with you that staying with the manufacturer's brand name may be a way to avoid warranty problems, and I assume their filters are "good enough", but I sure wouldn't bet that their filters are any better than other brands.

Bird

 

[skent]

As a long time user of FRAM filters, (actually I used to work for the parent company Allied-Signal and Bendix) I remember Fram being rated above average (like 10 to 15 years ago) by Consumer Reports. But it was just lately a friend turned me on to many web sites that have disassembled various filters and now Fram is one step below having no filter at all. I'm guessing since AlliedSignal (Fram parent) underwent many re-orgs and spun off divisions here and there (one of them being Bendix) and now they are no more since Honeywell bought Allied and now GE wants to (or already has) buy Honeywell.

I guess over time in an effort to save money, assembly materials and procedures are changed (it is a shame though, the color was so . . . . CORRECT for the Bota) at the cost of quality.

I have always used Fram (up until last year) in all my cars and tractors and typically the engines far outlast the body (I have to tell the kids not to put their feet down since the floorboard is rusted out on daddy's car!).

I now use WIX or HASTINGS (authough the color contrasts poorly)

The moral to the story. . . . . nothing stays the same and I guess checking the goods is an ongoing thing.

Are Wix and Hastings going to be good picks 10 years from now......?????

 

[Bird]

skent, the only web sites I've seen that talk bad about Fram are opinions of individuals of questionable expertise. And since I have no more expertise myself, I don't know whether they're right or wrong. I'm still using Frams in my old pickup and my wife's car. Forty years ago, I was selling Wix, Purolator, Fram, and AC; never heard of a complaint against any of them. I guess I really would like to know whether one's better than another. In the meantime, I'm using Kubota filters on the tractor and Fram on the car and pickup. Of course, I do change oil & filter regularly.

Bird