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The D-Max 2019 Oil Filter Shootout

171K views 345 replies 83 participants last post by  SSmike1 
#1 · (Edited)
It's been nice.............
 
#7 · (Edited)
FRAM for allot of folks means " F-ram R-uined A-nother M-otor"... and I tend to agree. In my own experience ( and in a moment of weakness) I got a top of the line Fram XG filter for my daughters BMW, and the thing fell apart like it was made with oil soluble glue. Here's a photo of the unraveling mess....


This Fram XG9100 is cut from the same cloth. Total junk.


Let start with the box...because how do you screw up a box...right? Its such low quality cardboard that it feels like it's damp, even though it isn't. It barely holds itself together, let alone protect the filter inside. The filter itself has blurry text on it, like the stencil has been used 200,000 times. It has that nice Fram grip texture, but thats the only redeeming quality.


The baseplate has really small inlet holes. I mean, how much does it cost to stamp a bigger hole?


The filter media looks like crap. The pleats are spread all over the place, and the metal clip is too long, so when the filter is smashed together at assembly, the metal clip buckles and part of the flap lifts up...



The bypass valve is crappy plastic, and isnt even part of the element. It's part of the assembly plate and just sits on the element ! Their is nothing stopping oil from seeping past this connection, and entering the engine unfiltered.



Here's the bypass in the open position ( sorry about the blurry, one handed photography) Those 4 tiny ports between the plastic legs are the only way for oil to flow through it... total joke for Frams "Top of the Line" filter.

Specs? Here's what they sent me....


I asked a follow up question in another email, for 10 micron numbers. He stated Fram does zero testing, below 20 microns.

The anti drain back valve is really soft, really thin silicone, and its shaped like a funnel and just drops into the top of the element. Look at the other filters and you will see a plastic coupler or the valve will sit on a metal nipple on the top of the filter element.


There's nothing the stabilize it, and there's nothing to keep the oil from pushing it out of the way. It if does, their is unfiltered oil going straight into the engine! Its the biggest design failure in any of the filters, and of course, its completely unique to the Fram. No other filter has a anti drain back valve like this.


This filter is total crap at $10. Its still total crap at $2.00
 
#14 ·
Acceptable Element Connection A ( As shown on the Baldwin)

A plastic connection piece fits in the ID on the element, and the OD of a piece on the baseplate index's into the ID of the plastic piece. The plastic piece also goes through the center of the anti drain valve to positively locate it. NOTE! Even with the anti drain valve missing, everything still functions due to the mechanical connection the plastic part provides.





 
#15 ·
Acceptable Element Connection B ( as shown on the AC Delco filter)

The filter element has a metal nipple extending from it. The baseplate also has a metal nipple extending from it. The OD of the baseplate nipple index's into the ID of the element nipple. The anti drain valve sits on the top of the element nipple to positively locate it. Note! Even with the anti drain removed, the filter still functions.



 
#17 · (Edited)
Unacceptable Element Connection ( As shown on the Fram)

The Fram element has a smooth top, and the base plate has a smooth convex shape. When the unsupported anti drain valve is placed between to two surfaces, it makes a connection between the inner part of the element and the convex portion of the baseplate fits into the concave portion of the anti drain valve. Their is no connection between the baseplate and the element whatsoever. Note! With the removal of the anti drain valve, the filter ceases to function.





Does it work? Yea. Is it the cheapest way to do it? Yea. Is it good engineering? No.
 
#18 ·


Here's a quick comparison on inlet area....

The Fram has 8 holes at 0.175" for a total area of 0.192 square inches

The Amsoil has 8 holes at 0.250" for a total area of 0.392 square inches

The Purolator has 6 slots at 0.480" x 0.220" for a area of 0.633 square inches.
 
#61 ·
I know I'm late to the party on this, but in further support of your observations, the ratio of cross-sectional area / perimeter length (sum of the holes' perimeters) is also important; i.e., the greater this quantity, the less pressure drop at a given flow rate (or the greater the flow rate at the same pressure head). Based on a cursory glance it seems that the Purolator has not only the most cross-sectional area, but the largest value of this characteristic ratio as well, thus making it the least restrictive of the three.

Thanks for doing all this, by the way. And I wouldn't give a damn about the excessively critical technical nit-picking either (and I like to consider myself the excessively critical technical nit-picker, so hopefully that's worth something). You gave us a good look inside each of these filters and offered your own commentary, most of which seems sensible and reasonable. That you didn't do it in a sterile laboratory and measure flow rates and filtration characteristics is irrelevant because that was never part of the stated scope of the study. Good work!
 
#19 ·


I went to Walmart today, hoping they had a SuperTech filter for the D-Max. Closest thing I got was for a Chevy 6.0 l gasser. It was $2.55. I cut it open,and it has the exact same anti drain back valve as the top of the line Fram.

When viewed from above, without the valve in place.... you can clearly see the direct flowpath from the inlet holes, to the center outlet hole. Terrible engineering.



This is the same view when looking down the Baldwin. The plastic spacer is both locating the element on the baseplate... and .... sealing off the inlet holes from the exit hole. Excellent engineering
 
#20 ·
Great write up! Man am I glad I ordered that Baldwin for next oil change, will definitely stick with them! Makes me want to go take the fresh AC/Delco filter off and replace it with Baldwin right now. Also glad that I didn't order the Donaldson filter. Not because it looks bad, but because it was $17 and the Baldwin was $10.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I'm out changing the oil now (should've driven it around for a while....cold oil out the fumoto....I'm watching the grass grow faster than the oil is draining. :frown2:

Anyway, while I'm waiting on that, here's some pics to forward to the QC guy @ Mobil...

flimsy box, where the flaps unfold on their own if you just look at it wrong.

AND
the same gasket problem many have complained about, falls off.

Or it's completely gone/missing, most likely from the store personnel putting up stock and failing to grab the poor excuse for a box with two hands...losing the gasket as it falls out and behind other stock on a lower shelf.

'Associate' puts the filter back in the box, not realizing the gasket fell off.

Nothing staged for the pics...
I was carrying the box in one hand, grasped it too hard while walking, quickly grabbing the bottom so the filter didn't drop out. The pic of the box is of the flaps all unfolded on their own.

I pulled the filter out and laid it on the ground....where the gasket fell out on it's own, where you see it in the pic.
 

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#24 ·
Check out what this guy in europe did.... he added a microswitch to his oil filter to monitor when it was in bypass....and when it wasn't !! Genius!





Here are his findings....

"Prepared a filter. Button soldered in double-sided PCB. In the filter housing I drilled a hole into which I inserted a textolite insert with a button. A certain time was spent on adjusting the button height. While driving the engine oil according to the pointer on the dashboard, managed to warm up to 50 degrees. With such a warm-up, the control light signaled the actuation of the bypass valve only at 6000 rpm and above. When the engine warmed up completely, the bulb did not light up at all.

The next morning, back to the car. Alcohol thermometer on the wall in the garage showed 2 degrees of frost. I start the engine - the light does not even blink. I add revs to 2500 - the light is on! Releasing revs to under 2000 - light goes out. So, everything works as it should! It remains to be seen how long the filter will flow over time.

The first results appeared at run of 1000 km. Attached to the filter tape with a thermal sensor from a multimeter. Filter temperature - 4 degrees of frost. Exactly the same was on the thermometer in the garage. Started the engine - the bulb lit immediately. This is understandable: the oil in the cold is very thick and the filter is already slightly clogged with dirt. It has nothing to do, but to open the valve and let the dirty oil flow directly. I wait and watch the multimeter. The oil temperature has already reached 15 degrees Celsius, and the light does not go out!

Maybe the valve is sticking open? I turn off the motor - the light goes out. So it works. Only when the oil temperature plus 30 will the light bulb go out at idle. At the same time, the coolant temperature has already risen to plus 55. I increase the speed to 2500 - the light bulb is on , I slowly reset it to 1300 - it has gone out. I did not wait any longer. But there is already something to compare: on the new oil and the filter it was the same, only then it was minus 2, and now the same result with plus 30. In any case, after a full warm-up in normal mode, the valve does not open, which means oil being filtered. What else do you need?
In the future, the situation only worsened. By the start of 2500 km, at the start the light bulb lights up and does not go out at all. If, after a good warm-up, the engine is shut off , and the bypass valve at the same time, of course, closes, and then start - the light is off. I give turns under 3000 - lights up and does not die away any more. This means that the valve is not closed and passes unfiltered oil into the engine lubrication system. In addition to the experiments on my personal machine, I used the same buttons to filter into the filters of my friends' cars. That is, the work of the bypass valve and how long the oil filter does its job was tested on different machines, with different oils and different filters. The result is one: 2500 km - this is the ceiling for the filter. Once, however, they reached up to 3,000 km. Maybe it was the fact that the car made many long-distance drives? " ~ Sergey Boyarsky
 
#26 ·
So I wonder then, what the difference for a filter that is rated for say 20 micros vs 30 micros? Does that mean that the 30 micro filter would clog up slower, utilizing the bypass valve less than the 20 micron filter? Therefore technically providing filter oil more often than the 20 micron due to using the bypass valve less?
 
#30 ·
Something to consider is the media type. Cellulose ( like in the Baldwin) is like a screen door. All the debris stacks up on the surface and builds from there.

Synthetic Media ( like in the Amsoil) is like a maze, where the particles get caught anywhere in the media, not just at the surface.

Synthetic media filters can have lower surface area, but greater debris holding ability.
 
#33 ·
Think dense coral with pores throughout, vs a bed sheet in the wind.
The M-1 is a Syn blend media.
 
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