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Fram oil filter

5.7 hemi

5.7 hemi

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Yes, I know it’s a no no to use them, no excuses on my part, just the fact I had one in the cabinet and thought it would be ok to use till I got a WIX.

Well that went out the window yesterday morning. I have the Holley Terminator and wired in the oil pressure sending unit along with the Dakota Digital sending unit. Fired up the 472, ZERO oil pressure. Shut it down. Pulled the oil fill caps off the valve covers, start it up, oil at the rockers, hmmm, shut it down. Pull the sending units along with the adapters to see if I’ve a something plugging the hole.....nope!

Install mechanical gauge, still ZERO pressure. I’m still on the break in oil (Brad Penn), Melling HV pump so I’m stumped. Passed off, cussing, made some new words, and so I pull the valve covers, rockers are perfect, push rods are in line, so the lifters are good.

Put everything back on and take off that a Fram filter. Installed a Wix 51515R filling it with 10/30 Lucas oil.

I’m thinking at this point, the mechanical gauge isn’t any good. So I put the Holley sending unit on, fire it up, bingo! I’ve got 75psi cold!!! Install mechanical gauge, ZERO! Bad gauge!!!

This mechanical gauge belongs to my dad, gotta be 30 years old or better. I feel bad that this gauge is toast, but releaved that my new engine isn’t coming apart.....phone call to dad.

I cut open the Fram, no metal, just clean oil, so I’m stumped as to why it took a ****. Guess I can change out the break in oil now.
 
The Fram HP-1 is a good filter. The PH series is an "Economy grade" filter. With all of the bad press they have had, I have never had a problem with any of them. I went over 400,000 miles in an 84 Chevy, 163,000 on a Ram 1500 4.7 and almost every personal car I've owned up until 8 years ago....ALL with Fram filters. I only stopped using them when I started reading about them online. Sorta makes me wonder about other rumors on "bad" products.
 
I don’t think it was just the mechanical gauge being bad as the Holley wasn’t registering anything also. I went step by step in the process to find out what was the problem. Filter change was just before pulling the pump if needed. My buddy even bled the oil line to the mechanical gauge, still didn’t work.

Was it the filter all along? Probably not as I was still getting oil to the rockers.
 
5.7 hemi said:
I don’t think it was just the mechanical gauge being bad as the Holley wasn’t registering anything also. I went step by step in the process to find out what was the problem. Filter change was just before pulling the pump if needed. My buddy even bled the oil line to the mechanical gauge, still didn’t work.

Was it the filter all along? Probably not as I was still getting oil to the rockers.
Click to expand...
Was it an Fram HP-1 or there the parts store type?
 
Kern Dog said:
The Fram HP-1 is a good filter. The PH series is an "Economy grade" filter. With all of the bad press they have had, I have never had a problem with any of them. I went over 400,000 miles in an 84 Chevy, 163,000 on a Ram 1500 4.7 and almost every personal car I've owned up until 8 years ago....ALL with Fram filters. I only stopped using them when I started reading about them online. Sorta makes me wonder about other rumors on "bad" products.
Click to expand...
that is EXACTLY my experience. that's all I've ran since the 80's , PH8A and PH43. I have NEVER had an issue and I've been through maybe 100 of them. it was only until I started reading horror stories a couple years ago that I actually went and bought a WIX racing filter.
 
It was the Fram PH8 filter.
 
Kern Dog said:
The Fram HP-1 is a good filter. The PH series is an "Economy grade" filter. With all of the bad press they have had, I have never had a problem with any of them. I went over 400,000 miles in an 84 Chevy, 163,000 on a Ram 1500 4.7 and almost every personal car I've owned up until 8 years ago....ALL with Fram filters. I only stopped using them when I started reading about them online. Sorta makes me wonder about other rumors on "bad" products.
Click to expand...
Yep. Nowadays, alot of stuff floats around. Many from self-appointed "test engineers". For the most part, in normal use, there's little difference to use a cheaper part, or a better part. If it makes you feel good to use a "better" part, fine. We installed Atlas parts on customers cars, as well as the "better quality" parts, for the most part the only difference was price. I'll use a "door" for analogy. You can have a cheap wood luan door and a solid steel door. Both open & close, and divide two different places, serve their intended purpose. But, you wouldn't use the thin wood door for a vault.
 
Ever cut one open to inspect the parts inside? The Fram filter has also been counterfeited a LOT over the years by.....guess who.....our good friends in China and other places.
 
Cranky said:
Ever cut one open to inspect the parts inside? The Fram filter has also been counterfeited a LOT over the years by.....guess who.....our good friends in China and other places.
Click to expand...
I saw a display of 4 or 5 name brand filters that had been cut in 1/2. The outer shell showed what brand it was. It was then that I vowed never to use a Fram again. If Fram made some cheap ones for discount store sales, they screwed up--never should have done that...........................MO
 
At one time Fram was a good filter
I use Wix
The current Fram meets the minimum required specs so will not hurt your motor unless you have an outrageous oil system
but why take a chance
 
Cornpatch MO said:
I saw a display of 4 or 5 name brand filters that had been cut in 1/2. The outer shell showed what brand it was. It was then that I vowed never to use a Fram again. If Fram made some cheap ones for discount store sales, they screwed up--never should have done that...........................MO
Click to expand...

Agree. It is such a small price to pay every 8000 miles so why not get the filter that looks to be better made. I spring for the more expensive oil as well instead of pouring zddp additive into a cheaper oil.
I have been using WIX or NAPA Gold for 10 plus years on all my vehicles.
 
Cornpatch MO said:
I saw a display of 4 or 5 name brand filters that had been cut in 1/2. The outer shell showed what brand it was. It was then that I vowed never to use a Fram again. If Fram made some cheap ones for discount store sales, they screwed up--never should have done that...........................MO
Click to expand...
I saw one of those too...the WIX or Napa"Gold" and the(gulp) Motorcraft were the most solidly well-made and performing of all the major ones tested. But, I used Frams for years before I knew better and never had a problem. WIX now because I don't want to have that problem..
 
I met my buddy "Buck" in the mid-80s and he was driving a '69 Road Runner, 383/727. He always ran a Fram long filter. I asked him why and he said "because it's already Hemi orange." I worked at the Chry-Ply dealership and had a '66 Coronet 500 with a transplanted '68 440/727, and I ran the over-the-counter MoPar filters (silver at that time). Buck went to work for NAPA in about 1991 and one of his assignments was to go buy filters all over town from competitors so they could do an unbiased cut-open show-and-tell on filters. Needless to say, he never ran another FRAM and I continued to run the MoPar filters until I quit the dealership (1994), and was all WIX ever since. Lately I have seen good reviews on PUROLATOR filters, so I have run some of those on my Jeep, Durango and other stock vehicles. I still prefer WIX for modified/hi-pressure-volume oiling systems.
 
I noticed that when I cut that Fram open. No spring, all cardboard and it had some sort of dohickey at the bottom.
 
Cornpatch MO said:
Do you know how they compare in price to a Wix filter from a auto parts store? ..........................MO
Click to expand...
Best I can see is that WIX seem to run anywhere from $8.00 - $13.00 (some even higher).
Walmart SuperTech is around $3.00
 
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