Oil Filter Tests On Engine Masters.
 

Interesting for me. Tested all the cheap and expensive oil filters including special race only filter. Also tested with 'no' filter! The findings suggest the K&N (I believe it was 'gold') was the all around best. So I started reading about Wix and NAPA Gold(I use) on net.A Company bought out WIX,Hummel and Mann I think -geez 2nd name eludes me. On net ,the new company 'may' start bringing in Chinese made filters! So check the filter , i am.

What was the criteria for 'best'? Engine Masters is usually about what makes the most horsepower, but the average person is probably more concerned about how well the filter does its job of filtering the oil.

The micron filtration versus flow. Seems the flow for all the filters were close less the a gallon.Even the Delco mini filter was good.

wix
 

did watch the episode this morning. done very well as far as testing.
I do run the napa gold which is a wix filter. the wix did really well as far a
pressure and flow.

Gerry

Wish they had said the model number of the Delco. Professional filters are much different from the "E" filters.

Bob, I saw it Friday night, since I do pay quite a bit of attention to oil, and filters, it was interesting. They however didn't state the efficiency capture percentage of the filters at the minimum micron rating, which means as much as pressure drop across the filter, flow, or the micron rating by itself.

They did mention burst pressures of the can on the K&N being above average. They talked also about the mounting plate ports size, and configuration. If the K&N has a good efficiency rating at 10 microns, it would indeed be something to take note of. Until this time the Purolator Boss filter was about top of the heap as far as conventional filter, filtering in the 10 micron range, they however didn't test it.

Mann and Hummel have been around a long time, and they did just buy into some of the biggest name filter lines in the industry. They are a German company that has a good rating, and has ownership in quite a few name brands.

To there credit they did talk somewhat about the Fram filters with their cheap lines using glued cardboard endplates, and the better lines using steel. It seem that Freiburger, and Dulcich didn't see anything of consequence wrong with the carboards end plates, they kind of pooh poohed the cheap Fram construction.

One other interesting thing I didn't know is the Motorcraft filter and one other (which escapes me at the moment) have the relief valve in the top end of the filter, so that by passed oil doesn't travel over the area of filter that catches the particulate. I thought that was a great feature to note.

They also didn't have any way to determine if the filters were opening the by pass valve during testing. If in fact they were going into by pass mode, it would explain why all of the tests were so close in results. That part of the test was pretty inconclusive to me. They also didn't mention any filters like the Pontiac, that has no by pass valve built into it the filters because it has a by pass valve in the engine plumbing. All the filters they tested had integral by pass valves.

While the test covered some of the points, they left as many questions unanswered, as they answered, to me at least........:noidea:

Of course there was zero mention of by pass filters, and their different process over a conventional full flow filter that interests myself at least. Also no mention of GM, and SAE tests that have proven the removal of very fine particulate, that can easily get into the tight clearance parts in engines do the bulk of the wear. Or that eliminating the very fine particulate extends oil, and engine life substantially over a conventional full flow filter.

They also didn't make any mention of oil analysis, done by labs such as Blackstone. I expect they might receive some comments about things they didn't cover in their initial show, and possibly they might have a follow up later on. To be fair it was only a half hour, so they couldn't cover everything in that short span of time.

FWIW, a little detective work about the 10 micron rating of the K&N is really inconclusive of the efficiency at 10 microns, it eludes to 50%, which makes the 10 micron rating pretty insignificant, and more of a marketing tool. I'm not impressed when a company tries to use the 10 micron rating at 50% efficiency. It doesn't mean much overall.

I know they can't test every filter. I used to love K&N until that one time the nut on the bottom leaked and I almost lost the engine in my car. Wix and Mobil 1 filters ever since.

The AC Delco E-cores are in the same league as the basic cheap Frams. I refuse to run them. Many instances of media collapses and oil pressure fluctuations. Funny note: E cores have been pushed on the public since roughly 2014. The assembly line installed PF63 filter on my 2017 Sierra was the old heavy construction non E-core filter. I was able to buy a case of the same exact regular old PF63 filters 4 years ago.

BTW I ordered some PF-61s from Amazon for a great price & was sent "E"s. When I complained Amazon created a new order. Vendor hemmed and hawed and delayed and finally declared the PF61s to be "unavailable". Right.

From the shape of the holes on the "E" filters I suspect they were made by Champion Laboratories (Champ). They make a lot of branded filters.

I only use Valvoline 20w-50 oil, and a Purolator L30005 filter for my GTO's engine.

fram
 

You wouldn't believe how many people are still fram brain washed. I don't even bother talking them out of it anymore. :rolleyes:

Why such thick oil? Is your engine tired or just set up with really loose tolerances?