Just in case this filter mess isn't complicated enough, I can throw another wrench in the mix for you. I have verified that NAPA Gold filters are no longer being made exclusively by WIX.MANN/HUMMELL. NAPA has contracted with https://premiumguard.com/ to produce some of their NAPA Gold branded filters. This is due to the ever escalating price increases from WIX and their inability to supply NAPA with certain product in a timely manner. I have no idea of the quality of the Premium Guard brand. They have been in business over 30 years with some USA manufacturing and a plant in Ohio. Check their web site. So in somewhat of a summary, NAPA filters could be manufactured by: WIX/MANN/HUMMELL. , Premium Guard Brands/ Champion Brands. Good luck guys.

Looks like more periodic oil analysis are in my future to establish a good filter again.
I went through that years ago to see how well the wix were working.

Yep, we have two Subarus that use different filters, and the Wix filters I use for them are both made in Mexico, unlike the Wix 51258 which is made in U.S.

Got the WIX 51258 from Rockauto today.
Reciept stated Mexico country of origin.
Decal on filter said Made in USA.

https://www.wixfilters.com/About/PlantLocations.aspx

I think I said basically the same thing back in post #48, and was accused of spewing "NOT TRUE" information.

Post # 48:


The best thing is for me, my oil filter elements are still under $1, are still made by the same people, same quality, and are made in the US. They also filter down to 2 microns. Currently 48 filter elements for $32.99 on Amazon.

https://i.ibb.co/2SRvJCM/scott-1000.jpg

No, to be clear, as marblik states, only certain areas and suppliers are seeing that. Not everyone as your statement eluded to.
If you read, you'll see I corrected that :)

The vast majority of Scott toilet paper is manufactured in the United States of America from domestic and imported materials, a minor part of the production is in Canada and Mexico :)


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Lol you guys are hilarious

Just received a case from RA and they look and seem to weigh the same as my old ones. I might have to cut one open to compare now...

The packaging I'm buying states US made, and the paper is the same as it's been for the past 14 years since I've been using it for oil filter media. I'll go with, it's sufficient for my purposes. There's not much high tech in toilet paper. They have never thought that synthetic was a good choice.

It's so low tech, that manufacturing in off shore countries would be of little savings for the bottom line. I do know it's a much better media to filter oil, and I can buy an oil filter element at most any dollar store............;)

I can use other brands other than Scott, and the results are the same.

Sirrotica

It was posted with a smile. And I suspect because some rolls have shrunk more than 20 percent in size and they are selling less product it would still be suitable for your needs.


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I can 100% tell you that this is true. I am in the industry, formerly worked for GPC (Napa) & represented the Premium Guard line for over four years with another company. The PG filter is typically manufactured overseas, some of it with sourced media & some of it using their own media. It is quality checked regardless of where it is made & what media is used. They also manufacture filters for other suppliers typically while that manufacturer is working towards supplying their own media or building their own filters if it’s a new application. Another thing that they do a lot of is private labeling which is their filter in another customers box (very common in the industry & also what they are doing for Napa currently)

What I can say is this in regards to their quality, I did about $250k a year with their filters to my customers & only had ONE engine claim, that engine claim was caused by a customer who ran that open element filter for close to 15k miles, it was NOT the fault of the filter BUT Premium Guard stepped up & did right by my customer.

With Wix being the disaster that is currently I am sure Napa felt that they had no other choice. Unfortunately in the market place people want the absolute best quality filter that will never ever fail but they only want to pay pennies for it so they can sell it to their customer for an oil change & not have the oil change cost a fortune, it’s the sad reality of my business. The consumer has driven the cost to the bottom & suppliers are forced to do things that they don’t always want to do to stay competitive in the market. If I had a nickel for every “professional” shop that complained about parts pricing I probably wouldn’t need to work at this stage of my career but I do & the kids need to eat so we sell what the consumer wants (meaning all they re willing to pay for) Welcome to the “new” world economy.

"... only had ONE engine claim, that engine claim was caused by a customer who ran that open element filter for close to 15k miles, it was NOT the fault of the filter"

A related tid bit....

If an oil analysis is done to gauge the health of your engine and it is found to have the silicon levels above normal, it might be suggested to check your air cleaner to make sure it is in good shape and attached properly. That is the typical reason for high silicon.


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Absolutely true, in this case the filter in question was a cartridge filter. Just by design a cartridge filter has no external support of a steel case so it is susceptible to deterioration if left in use too long, some of those materials can fill & plug the oil passages leading to a failure. This situation can also cause high levels of scillicone in the oil due to the construction of the media, it will also have high solids in the oil as well which is what more than likely lead to the failure.

Steve, It was answered with a wink Emoji....;), so I was also, J/K.

Also the part about synthetic TP, not very absorbant for it's main purpose it was created for...........:)

1000 sheets, is still 1000 sheets. As long as the canister is packed tightly, the product works as intended.

For anyone that is unfamiliar with how a Frantz filter works, the oil enters through the center, goes into the hollow dome, and is forced through 4 inches of cellulose paper from end to end. There is no full flow filter that uses that much media. There also is no bypass valve, so each drop that is pumped in, gets 4 inches of media filtering. even if somehow there was a 20% media reduction, the Frantz is head, and shoulders above anything WIX, or NAPA is selling, or has sold previously. I've been using them for 14 years, they do everything promised by the manufacturer.

At the bottom of the roll/exit port, there is a fine screen that fully entraps all of the element. The BS story about paper making it's way into the engine, causing oil restrictions/blockages could never happen, totally made up by someone that never held a canister unit in their hands.

Frantz has been around since the 50s, so they're roughly 75 years old. The concept still works better than anything you can buy in a parts store.

Mann/Hummel also purchased Purolator, and I notice the same problems as far as availability, and merging filters lines that were available before the H/M acquisition. The prices have also increased much further than the rate of documented inflation rates. I see M/H as a corporate pirate that acquires a company, squeezes the last nickel of a formerly reputable company, as well as ruining their good reputation.

:focus:

I'll be doing oil analysis on 2 new engines shortly.

So I'm going to use a wix on one and a Baldwin in the other and take note how they do for how long.

I've done this in the past to establish a good filter and oil combination with safe change intervals and found wix doing a nice job up to 6000 miles before it was recommended a service will be needed. I'm curious to see if that has changed at all and how the Baldwin compares to that.

It'll take several months to accumulate the mileage but should lay worries to rest, or maybe create new ones lol. I'll make a thread when the time comes and post results either way.

My old boss and Napa got me a case of 1258. We had to order them three times the order kept getting bumped are rejected got them for under 80 bucks. He gave me a deal should be good for several years now. Plus I already had three in my inventory at home.

This is the best oil filter, it’s a JimBeam bottle, :D

Wix 5128 are in stock at RockAuto as of 12:26 AZ/MST.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...t=5340&jsn=926

I ordered a dozen a couple weeks ago.