Anyone else have this problem with Fram Oil filters?

WIX ARE MADE IN THE USA!!!!! Carquest filters are WIX. Carquest oil is Valvoline. Looking to save a buck buying a "fram"? Forget that buy the Carquest brand which is already as cheap as a "fram" and get one of the best oils on the market at the same time to complete that oil change.

The thing that interested me the most was the plastic diaphram in the Fram utilized to keep the oil in the filter upon engine being turned off. How is a plastic seal ever gonna keep oil in the filter? I opened a couple of the competitors boxes and found rubber diaphrams in the higher end filters, also the higher end fram. Opened a Carquest/Wix box and for the price of the cheap fram found a rubber diaphram in the Wix. I had an issue with ticking in my old daily upon startup. The filter was a sidemount on the block and I had run fram for years. I switched to carquest and strangely the noise disappeared upon starting my truck from then on.-Weeks

 

And the WM store ones carry a different part number, they add a "A" or something like that after the Fram part number. I had one on a 305 Chevy that caused a slight knock on initial fire up. That one lasted 2 days and i swapped it for a Delco.

Bob

 

off shore, mexico?
i use them, the headquarters is located near me, i have lots of friends that work for them.

 

Fram also makes O'Reilly's 'store brand' filters - Micro Guard I think.

I'm not 100% sure why Fram's quality went downhill, but I can make a damn good guess -

When you get into bed with major retailers (think Walmart, or on this case Oreillys, Autozone, etc) sometimes they can be big enough buyers to dictate price - "we'll buy 20 zillion filters, but we need to sell them for $2.99"

To be able to get them to the market for that, a manufacturer may have to cut corners on quality - labor, materials, QC - maybe in this case tooling? Anyway, they trade their good name for 'good enough'

It's happened to a couple of other OT brand names, Huffy bikes, Dickies and Levi's clothing come to mind.

Sorry for going off on a tangent, my brain works that way sometimes.

 

This is a misperception. FRAM filters have been junk for several decades.

 

fram is the shitiest filter you can buy. I would't use one on Hitler's car. I had one collapse and block off the flow on a 302 of mine. Total shit, don't buy them. The sad thing is that 90% of the other brands are also made by fram these days. Get a Wix, Mobil, or K&N if you want to keep your engine running.

 

Here are 3 I found in less than a minute using the search word "Fram" Hopefully these threads will be found by the next guy searching and save another engine.


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=682379&highlight=fram

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=652127&highlight=fram

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256628&highlight=fram

 

Anybody knoW about Bosch filters? I have used then for years but have stopped because I heard something about them also being made by Scam (Fram). Any info?

 

I'm a big WIX fan myself. Had used FRAM for a long time, heard some of this, didn't really pay it no nevermind. What made me switch was finding out that at O'Reilly (yeah, I buy stuff there, don't judge me) you can get a box of a dozen WIX filters for roughly $20! Since I run old Ford stuff, each and every one uses the same filter. Score one on that.

 

I buy stuff at O'reily too. Mostly because Autozone employs retards that openly admit that they have never worked on a car before.

 

I have used Wix for the last 15 years and have watched the price climb. The last one I bought was $18.00, but I figure you get what you pay for. I would use NAPA but the nearest one is 15 miles away in the next town and my 48 Plymouth only gets 10 miles to the gallon so the price of gas would be more than the Wix filter here.

 

What refreshing thread. I thought I was the only person who knew about Fram being junk I've told customers since the '70's to go ahead, buy a Fram & a Wix/NAPA/Delco,etc....go home and cut them both apart. 'Nuff said.

If you really want to know whats happening a far as wear in your engine....next oil change cut the old filter apart...rip out some of the filter media....sqeeze the oil out in a vise...then insepct the paper.

We do it all the time @ diesel shop,,& race cars.

 

I wouldnt either
His car is now worth millions

 

Last one I bought and the last was about 20 years ago. I always fill my filters with oil before I install them, anyways I looked inside first and found enough metal shavings to fill a teaspoon.

 

I had a Fram filter that I put on the wife's daily driver years ago that I was unable to get off whatsoever at the next oil change. I had done about a dozen on this car and had only been using Fram filters because they were stocked locally.

So when it was time for another oil change I go under the car, drain the oil and then move to the filter. First trying by hand, man this thing seems stuck, grab the strap wrench, still not budging, grab the collar wrench, still nothing.. pliers? sure, what the hell lets crush it off. nothing. ok, let's get old school and stick a screwdriver through it, really easy since the Fram canister seems to be made from old Pepsi cans. moved it 1/2" then tore the canister clean from the base plate. Which is good the filters off, but filter bits still remain nicely attached.

Some custom tools, prodding and good old fashioned backyard engineering we finally got it off. I think my buddy grew more concerned the closer I got to the car with the plasma cutter so he was trying anything he could. Finally using the drain holes and punches was able to turn it off. Never seeing a reason why it was stuck seal, mating surface, everything was just fine.

This was the aftermath.

 

ive never had a problem with fram filters

 

Quality of marketing is not proportionate to quality of product.

 

Wont use a Fram. I always get Motorcraft of Wix. Had a clerk tell me that the Motorcraft was cheap and I should get the Fram. I laughed and told him that the Motorcraft ranks very high and the Fram is not even on the chart.

 

Bingo! I tend to shy away from products that seem to have an enormous advertising budget...presumably that money doesn't get spent elsewhere, such as development, materials etc. Or, as my Pop always told me 'just because it's popular, don't make it good'.

 

My first thought when I saw this thread was that this is pretty old news as the internal quality of Fram filters has been discussed over and over.

I have to admit though, it is hard to even comprehend that threaded fitting coming loose like that. CRAZY!! UNREAL!!

 

At the risk of being sued in court I never use a FRAM filter anymore. In my youth (1952-58) they were good. But now the game of advertising a product that won't do what it is supposed to is common unfortunately.
Normbc9

 

I found that AC Delco filters aren't what they once were either.
I had oil pressure problems after installing a new one. I took it off and
compared it to the old one. It didn't seem as well made.

I took pictures and sent them to the department that handles AC Delco's counterfit parts investigations.

I don't have the pics, but to explain, the filter that I had trouble with and seemed cheap was made by Delphi here in the US.
The filter that appeared to be of higher quality was made in Mexico.
So, since I can no longer be assured of what I am getting when I buy an AC Delco filter I quit buying them all together, and now only buy NAPA Gold filters.


This was their response.


Dale,

The filter to the left is a genuine ACDelco PF47 oil filter produced by our
supplier Delphi. The one to the right is a Genuine ACDelco Mexican oil
filter made by our supplier Gonyer. Both are genuine GM parts. The Mexican filter, is mainly sold in Mexico but we have seen a major influx of Mexican oil filters in the United States. The one to the left, the Delphi filter with the 6 holes around the perimeter is actually the one that you should be seeing more of in the United States.

Thank you for your inquiry and if you have any questions in the future
please do not hesitate to contact me at the number below.

Regards,

Marci L. Laurencelle
Global Brand Protection
Investigator

 

Thanks, Tman, I really did try the search, but didn't come up with those.
I guess it's just as well, as there seem to be others on this thread that have now been educated.
Maybe my post saved an engine or two.

 

Yup. If we cross reference this info more folks should see it.

 

That's why sources like the HAMB are so important. Word of mouth is so much more meaningful to me than advertising. I'd rather read a thousand threads like this than see guys using junk parts on their ride because nobody ever told them better, or because they were to afraid to ask because other guys give them shit for "Another oil filter thread". We all started somewhere, and personally I feel responsible for passing the knowledge I have gained on to the next guy, to pay respect to the guys who taught me.

 

Any one having issues with the HP1 filters these are the only one I am using.

Thanks
Frenchy

 

Personally I wouldn't use a Fram filter on a weed trimmer if it took one ! FRAM have got to be one of the worst filters on the market today . They are nothing but PURE JUNK ! Any so called filters that you buy in hell mart or a parts store with damn kids behind the counter that have no idea how to change the oil in their own car are PURE JUNK !
Just spend $12 to $15 and get a good filter that does a great job like K&N and WIX Racing ! Those are 2 of the very best filters on the market today ! I have used both oil filters along with Amsoil . Amsoil filter are made by WIX ! I paid good money and took a lot of time building my engine and I will be damed if I am going to use a cheap shitty oil filter for less than $5 !
I build engines and tell the customer what to use and buy . If they choose not to , I tell them flat out , don't expect the engine to last !
You MUST use good quality oil and filters if you want to keep the crud and grit from getting into your engine !
I see people all the time spend all kinds of money on high priced parts for their car then use dirt cheap oil and filters for their engines . I just don't understand what hell they are thinking !
Just my opinion !

Retro Jim

 

I don' use them but I thought you might like to see what Fram has to say about their filters.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/e...visit-frams-r-d-facility-dayton-ohio-1261517/

 

I no longer assume that any product is what it once was. In some ways we have ourselves to blame as we look for the cheapest products. I mainly blame the accountants who now run companies who are slaves to the profit margins. They buy what they can get the cheapest. Having products made offshore makes quality control more difficult as well as taking jobs from people who purchase your products.

Everything is about stock prices. When a stock price drops, a company becomes vulnerable to takeover by the unscrupulous companies who sell off the assets, like the factories that build the products, to get a short term increase in stock prices so they can sell off the stock and leave the other stockholders with a worthless company.

Many companies don't make the products they sell. They farm it out to the lowest bidder. There was a filter company in town that made filters and put many different names on them. I don't think GM or Ford own any filter plants so they have them made by someone else. The plant that builds Delco or Autolite filters now, might not be tomorrow.

Wix currently makes NAPA filters but who knows for how long? NAPA could have Fram make their filters and use the same NAPA name and number. Wix could get bought out and management could sell the rights to the name.

You can't count on the product you buy today to be the same as the one you bought in the past.

 

Not that long ago you could swing by the local parts joint, get your oil change stuff, and stop in for a burger on the way home with a $20 bill in your pocket. Now you can barely get a quality filter for that money, much less oil (and if you run synthetics like I do, tikes!!), and forget the burger, you're eating ramen noodles tonight, bub!!
The price of keeping my ride on the road has become severely disproportionate to my income level. It's hard when stuff goes up in price, but it's even harder when you've got no car to wrench on, so I can't complain.