Oil Filters
I have been reading a lot on the web about how some oil filters are not very good, so I decided to cut open my used oil filters and see how they held up. These were pulled off my engines on 3/15/05 and 3/16/05.
This picture is of the internal filter elements of the AC Delcos that I used on the Trans Am and the Grand Prix. The one on the left is from the Trans Am, it is an AC Delco PF-44 from the dealer. The one on the right is an AC Delco PF-47 from Autozone used on the GTP. AC Delco filters from the dealer are made by Delphi, the ones from Autozone are made by Champion Labs. Both filters were on for 6 months and held up fine. I prefer the Autozone AC Delco over the dealer unit because it has more pleats, clearly visible in the photo. Either one will work fine.
These pictures are of a Fram 3614 which I installed on the Dodge Lancer in late January of 2005. It was on the engine for less than 2 months. I removed it early because of the horror stories circulating around the web about this brand of filter. Fortunatly it was removed not a moment too soon. The endcaps are made out of cardboard and as you can see in these pics the filter did not hold up, and could have failed at any time, allowing unfiltered oil, and possibly paper fragments to enter the engine.
Back to Engines