The worst oil filter EVER!

Junky

Well Known Member
I have a friend that worked for Fram when they were located in Rhode Island, and when they got bought out, and closed the R.I. manufacturing facility, that is when the quality went south instantly. Prior to the buy out, they were producing a quality product that was known around the world as being a top quality filter. This happens a lot in the last 40 years, good companies get sold to people that don't care about the quality of the products, and look at only finding ways to cheapen the product, while living on the good name of the company that took decades to establish.
 

62BillT

Well Known Member
I've been using Fram since 1968. I guess I'm one of the ones that stuck with them even when the quality dropped. I've been hearing that for years now, and never switched, but that video is pretty convincing. But.... I've also never had any engine problems when using them all through the years. I've had pretty good luck with all my engines, 250 and 292 Sixes, W's, Small Blocks and Big Blocks. One comical example was an old wore out '69 327 that came in my '66 C-10 years ago. The truck was too nice not to buy it, but I knew the engine was pretty rough. It sounded horrible and I soon after put a new Timing Chain and Gear in it. It sounded a little better, but still not too good, lol. I said "I'll run it as long as I can". Well I squeezed over 5 Years and 55,000 more Miles out of that engine. All while using Fram Filters.

But I've also been using Wix in my Farm Tractor when having trouble finding any filters for it and I believe I'll be switching everything else over to Wix too.
 

chuckl

Well Known Member
I've been using Fram since 1968. I guess I'm one of the ones that stuck with them even when the quality dropped. I've been hearing that for years now, and never switched, but that video is pretty convincing. But.... I've also never had any engine problems when using them all through the years. I've had pretty good luck with all my engines, 250 and 292 Sixes, W's, Small Blocks and Big Blocks. One comical example was an old wore out '69 327 that came in my '66 C-10 years ago. The truck was too nice not to buy it, but I knew the engine was pretty rough. It sounded horrible and I soon after put a new Timing Chain and Gear in it. It sounded a little better, but still not too good, lol. I said "I'll run it as long as I can". Well I squeezed over 5 Years and 55,000 more Miles out of that engine. All while using Fram Filters.

But I've also been using Wix in my Farm Tractor when having trouble finding any filters for it and I believe I'll be switching everything else over to Wix too.
I, too, have run Fram for many decades ( in high-performance 265s, 283s, 327, 427s, 348s 409s, and 350s) with absolutely no problems. My only concern is that the sealing "O" ring is not locked into the filter firmly enough and will sometimes stay on the mating surface of the block. I, personally, have never seen rust on any Fram filter. After viewing the video, I will probably switch to Wix, or Puralator.

Is there any videos showing cut filters after they were run on the engine to the oil change?
 

skipxt4

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 18
I used to use Fram, in our Passenger cars. Never thought about them, being crappy and never had any problems. I only used Purolator, Delco, Wix or Napa, in my H.P. cars. Years ago, on a Biker site, I use to visit. They did a comparison of all the M/C filters. The same results, as the car filters. Wix, Napa. :appl Fram:pan
 

62BillT

Well Known Member
My only concern is that the sealing "O" ring is not locked into the filter firmly enough and will sometimes stay on the mating surface of the block.

I've never had that happen to any of my Frams or any filter actually. Would you give the ring a coat of oil before installation?
 

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
I've used Fram filters for years myself. Never any issue or problems that I recall. I probably bought them because they were on sale and brand recognition. Because of this thread, think I'll stay away from them in the future. No sense in rolling the dice, Carmine.
 

boxerdog

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
I wonder if the Fram HP racing filters are just as bad? I have had a couple sitting around for a long time. But like Carmine said, why roll the dice? I've been using the Wix racing filters for almost everything, although I have used K&N on occasion. I was pretty surprised how bad the baseline Fram filters were, guess I should open them up occasionally.
 

Mearl

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
How many of you old guys ever put a roll of toilet paper in the filter canister before you sold a car?
 

Greg Reimer

Well Known Member
Years ago, the Fram filters were popular, we used them on race cars with no problems, and about 10 years ago,my Stock Eliminator buddy had a fresh '68 Chevy 327/250 horse Stock E motor, and he wanted me to put it in my Chevelle two weeks prior to the Winternationals at Pomona. I did, changed the oil and filter, and it promptly had about 15 PSI oil pressure. I called him and said, "Let's change the pump. "Out came the engine,off came the pan, in went a new oil pump.On went the pan, in went the oil, in went the engine,I started it up, same thing. We tried running the car, and noticed that it had 15 PSI at idle, around 950 RPM for those cars with that camshaft, bu raising the engine RPM to 2500 to break in the cam cause the pressure to slowly drop to almost nothing.We put an AC filter on it, problem fixed. We ran the car at Irwindale the Thursday before Pomona, it went plenty fast, but I broke the torque converter. I called teammate, he had one, but it was in another car. I went down there Saturday, pulled the trans out of the other car, got the converter, gave him the busted one so he could get it fixed, put the car back together, and we made it to Pomona. Third run, the car slowed down, oil all over the place, rings on one piston weren't sealing. This was Friday morning. He gave up and said that I was done. Instead, I took the car home(I'm about seven miles from Pomona,) pulled his engine out, put my motor back in, and was back out there driving around the pits by 4:30 Friday afternoon. Round one was first thing Saturday morning, around 8:30. I dialed the car in based on what it last ran with that engine, and actually won the first round against a former World Champion, then went red the next round. One Fram filter caused us all this extra work. Now, my truck, my Suburban, my Monte Carlo, and both my Chevelles get a Napa Gold 1061 filter. All of us that race have sworn off Fram filters. This video reaffirms our decision as being a good one.This turned out to be the Stocker that came apart so many times it must have thought it was a fueler.
 
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