Learned about Fram orange can of death
04-22-2010, 08:49 PM
#1
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 57
Learned about Fram orange can of death
... a long story short ...
When my regular premium oil filter wasn't available, and I was in a time crunch, I recently installed a Fram oil filter on my 5.0. To boot - it wasn't their el cheapo filter, but one of their top ones and I paid very good money for it.
After installation, I noticed my oil gauge wasn't reading as high as it used to. I kept driving thinking the gauge would "settle down" since the car came out of winter storage and, over the years, I have noticed a little erratic behaviour from the gauge (not much, and only rarely). 99.9% of the time, the gauge has always read high and steady with a consistent readout.
In the meantime I did some research on forums like this one and on the internet in general and found out what garbage Fram filters have become. I can personally attest to three main faults of these products:
NUMBER ONE: Lowered operating oil pressure. I told a friend of mine who has been running nothing but Fram for years in his '96 Cougar with the 4.6 V8. He says that his oil gauge hasn't read properly in years. He put a non-Fram oil filter on and suddenly his oil gauge is reading high and steady, like it used to when he first got the car 8 years ago. Three summers ago I noticed that his engine was burning oil and leaving subtle blue clouds behind the car whenever he would take off - the engine had about 100,000 miles on it - I've seen the typical 4.6 with reasonable maintenance do better than that and I believe that his engine has suffered due to the crappy Fram filters he was using.
As for myself, after 400 miles on a new oil change I ditched the Fram today for a K&N and RIGHT AWAY my oil gauge is reading just as it always has - higher.
NUMBER TWO: Crappy anti-drainback valve technology. Virtually everyone who has disected and compared oil filters says Fram is in a (bad) league of its own here. Today, when I removed the Fram filter I was expecting the usual amount of oil to come out and, to my surprise, very very little actually did. The filter was therefore virtually empty. This is not good at all, and can definitely lead to premature engine wear.
NUMBER THREE: I have been doing oil changes on multiple vehicles for decades now and I have never had an oil filter collapse on me as I was trying to loosen it from the engine. Fram is noted for using very thin metal in making the outer shell. I never overtighten filters. In any event, by the time I got the bloody thing off it looked like a pretzel.
I know many of you know this already, but I just got schooled - and I consider myself pretty much "in the know" about car stuff.
My hope is that this will help even just one person to save their engine.
Like I said, I paid enough money for that premium Fram filter to have bought many brands of much better, acceptable product. It is true, Fram spends big money on advertising and on how to charge you more for less. My time and money were wasted, and my engine could have been at risk had I not caught this in time. Many cars do not have oil pressure gauges - you'd never know until it was too late.
I take my engines seriously and I am pissed. I'm going to keep telling this story to anyone who will listen. These guys are literally screwing us and I hope the word spreads.
When my regular premium oil filter wasn't available, and I was in a time crunch, I recently installed a Fram oil filter on my 5.0. To boot - it wasn't their el cheapo filter, but one of their top ones and I paid very good money for it.
After installation, I noticed my oil gauge wasn't reading as high as it used to. I kept driving thinking the gauge would "settle down" since the car came out of winter storage and, over the years, I have noticed a little erratic behaviour from the gauge (not much, and only rarely). 99.9% of the time, the gauge has always read high and steady with a consistent readout.
In the meantime I did some research on forums like this one and on the internet in general and found out what garbage Fram filters have become. I can personally attest to three main faults of these products:
NUMBER ONE: Lowered operating oil pressure. I told a friend of mine who has been running nothing but Fram for years in his '96 Cougar with the 4.6 V8. He says that his oil gauge hasn't read properly in years. He put a non-Fram oil filter on and suddenly his oil gauge is reading high and steady, like it used to when he first got the car 8 years ago. Three summers ago I noticed that his engine was burning oil and leaving subtle blue clouds behind the car whenever he would take off - the engine had about 100,000 miles on it - I've seen the typical 4.6 with reasonable maintenance do better than that and I believe that his engine has suffered due to the crappy Fram filters he was using.
As for myself, after 400 miles on a new oil change I ditched the Fram today for a K&N and RIGHT AWAY my oil gauge is reading just as it always has - higher.
NUMBER TWO: Crappy anti-drainback valve technology. Virtually everyone who has disected and compared oil filters says Fram is in a (bad) league of its own here. Today, when I removed the Fram filter I was expecting the usual amount of oil to come out and, to my surprise, very very little actually did. The filter was therefore virtually empty. This is not good at all, and can definitely lead to premature engine wear.
NUMBER THREE: I have been doing oil changes on multiple vehicles for decades now and I have never had an oil filter collapse on me as I was trying to loosen it from the engine. Fram is noted for using very thin metal in making the outer shell. I never overtighten filters. In any event, by the time I got the bloody thing off it looked like a pretzel.
I know many of you know this already, but I just got schooled - and I consider myself pretty much "in the know" about car stuff.
My hope is that this will help even just one person to save their engine.
Like I said, I paid enough money for that premium Fram filter to have bought many brands of much better, acceptable product. It is true, Fram spends big money on advertising and on how to charge you more for less. My time and money were wasted, and my engine could have been at risk had I not caught this in time. Many cars do not have oil pressure gauges - you'd never know until it was too late.
I take my engines seriously and I am pissed. I'm going to keep telling this story to anyone who will listen. These guys are literally screwing us and I hope the word spreads.
04-22-2010, 10:33 PM
#5
Yeah I noticed that the first time I used the TOUGH GUARD those filters are **** good thing u noticed it when you did. I use the ford racing filters they are quite expensive but they are heavy and packed with material. I get them for cheap though an frpp employee though so i dont mind paying for them from him.
04-23-2010, 04:48 AM
#10
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,424