The major problem that I am aware of with Fram filters is not what they
initially filter out, but that the element decomposes and sheds into the
oil supply, while at the same time, developing thin spots or holes that
no longer filter to the stated specifications. A lot of very well known
engine experts advise that they would never use Fram products in
anything they cared about.
Bill Bina
On 4/4/2014 8:44 AM, dwight wrote:
I use NAPA Gold.
Consider this; if your engine is running smooth with no imbalance or
excessive vibration and it is properly lubricated with oil of the
recommended grade that meets the appropriate API specs then the filter
will have little effect. As long as the nominal size of wear
particles produced under any wear regime is less than the hydrodynamic
oil film thickness between moving parts (typically around 1 micron or
slightly more) then they will not cause damage to the moving parts
because they will never touch the moving parts with enough force to
cause damage. Normal wear particles are typically less than 1 micron
in size (major dimension). So unless the engine is experiencing
abnormal wear which produces larger sized wear particles then the
filter will collect only particles that cause no harm and only if its
nominal pore size is less than the size of those small wear particles,
that is, less than 1 micron. When abnormal wear starts and large wear
particles get produced then these will get trapped on the filter
provided they are larger than the filter pore size but by that time
the engine will have already developed the abnormal wear problem and
trapping those particles on the filter might at best, slow the
progress of that abnormal wear, but not for long before something will
fail. Of course the filter will help if large abrasive particles,
like silica sand enter the system from outside. So the most important
thing to do is the regular oil change with a good quality oil of the
proper grade and actually with lubricating oil technology being what
it is nowadays it is hard to find lube oil that is not good quality.
Even no name lube oils meet minimum API specs nowadays. 50 operating
hours in any one season is reasonable before oil change for most small
engines like our sailboat engines and because filters are inexpensive
it is a good practice to change the filter at the same time. In most
cases if you dissected the old filter and washed the debris off the
filter element and then examined that debris with a microscope you
would find very few particles at all if the engine is running
normally, so the filter would essentially be clean. If you found many
large particles depending on composition, quantity, size and shape of
those particles you may have an engine about to experience some
failure. Filter debris analysis is widely practiced nowadays and has
been found to provide early evidence of impending failure, and that
early evidence can be critical where life depends on keeping the
engine going, like with helicopters or planes for example. So if you
really care about using a good filter then go the next step and try to
examine what that filter is removing from the oil; that will be the
best use of your filter and it will give you a good indication of the
internal condition of your engine.
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