? on oil fitters....

[FrankChastain]

I own two GM vehicles and use AC Delco oil filters. My ?. Is there a difference
in the material/quality if you buy them at Wally Word or parts store like Advance?
Are should I buy another brand, if so what kind would you buy and what brand.

Thanks for your replies up front. FrankChastain

[Bill Belden]

I stopped using AC filters when they went from steel mesh to plastic mesh inside.
For my GMC Diesel I use top of the line Fram.
For the race car K&N, Wix or Napa gold

[Bob Don]

Check this out:

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil.../opinions.html

[Alan Roehrich]

Unfortunately, AC/Delco has been using the lowest bidder to make a lot of their oil filters. There was a time when an AC/Delco filter was a good piece. The only filter they make now that can be trusted is the PF 2232, for the DuraMax. It fits a big block and a small block Chevy as well, it is the same size as the PF35. It's the only filter they make that has the steel tube inside and good quality materials. Most of the rest of their line is "hit or miss" at best. For the price of the PF 2232, you might as well just by a K&N.

I've had the PF 35 and the PF 1218 fail internally, much like the Fram filters, causing a significant loss of oil pressure and volume. Changing the filter brought about an instant return in pressure and volume. I used to use the PF 1218 on everything. Now I just use a K&N.

[Mike Pearson]

I lost 2 engines due to oil filters collapsing. Now I would not run any throw away filters on the race car. I use the System One filter. Works great. Easy to clean. Easy to check for any problems in the engine. Do not use AC delco.

[Jeff Niceswanger]

For 8 years I made Aftermarket parts ,let me give you a little info.When I worked for United Technologies, I worked in a department that made the Ford Starter Solenoids ( the Black ones mounted on the inner fenders back then).We made 8800 of them a shift. There were 125 people working in that department. 120 women assemblers, 2 Maintenance men, and 3 Material Handlers. We had two lines running down through the department. One was a Ford line,the other the " Aftermarket " line. They were identical,sort of. All the new equipment, as it came in,was put on the Ford line.Then the used Ford pieces got taken over and put on the aftermarket line. The "test sets" that tested the finished parts were allowed to be set to a little lower standard on the aftermarket line. Not that we were suppose to be doing that, but we could get away with it . Ford kept too close a watch on us, All the rejected washers,plungers,coils, and springs etc and such that were unusable were taken off the Ford lines and put over on the aftermarket line.They would be ok to be used and would pass through the test sets, but for whatever reason they were inferior when compared to the Quality Control Print. Might just be a cosmetic thing.There IS a difference in the parts, but you can't tell it by the surface.They look identical, but their not

[Tim H]

I used to manage an AC Delco parts store for almost 10 years.(from 1994 - 2004). I also worked for jobber stores who sold Fram and Wix. I have personally had a Fram filter fail on my own Chevy V8 engine in my race car. I have never had any issues with an AC Delco oil filter and can't recall any customer issues either. Most recently I sold Wix mainly while I worked for Napa. (the last 7 years). The quality of Fram has definetely deteriorated once they started being distributed by big box stores. AC Delco used to be a decent filter and whether you bought it at a dealership or at Walmart is was the same filter. Wix seems to be a good product especially the Gold series. The Wix Racing series is a stout piece but it is not available for a whole lot of engines. Presently I use Wix gold series on my bracket race 600 hp Monza. I would not recommenend a Fram to anyone,at least not the entry level orange filter. A friend uses and loves the K&N filters on his low 10 second SB Chevy Camaro. On my daily driver Suburban I use AC Delco because I bought cases of them years ago, the PF1218 and have been satisfied. Ac Delco used to be mfd by Champion Labatories (Luberfiner) at least in Canada.(our filters were white in colour while the USA versions were blue).

[FrankChastain]

Thanks guys for the comments. One reason I posted was I have noticed on my wife's TrailBlazer, straight line six, is sometimes you hear a nock or bump when you start the car up, not it the morning, but other times. As I understand there is a valve, in the filter, that keeps oil from draining out of the block so to have oil in the block for start ups. This is what I understand. The engine never did this until about 3 or 4 changes ago. I change the oil and filter every 3000 miles. Please correct me if wrong.....and again thanks..frankchastain

Please keep in mind this is a personal use car.....

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by FrankChastain

Thanks guys for the comments. One reason I posted was I have noticed on my wife's TrailBlazer, straight line six, is sometimes you hear a nock or bump when you start the car up, not it the morning, but other times. As I understand there is a valve, in the filter, that keeps oil from draining out of the block so to have oil in it for start ups. This is what I understand. The engine never did this until about 3 or 4 changes ago. I change the oil and filter every 3000 miles. Please correct me if wrong.....and again thanks..frankchastain

Please keep in mind this is a personal use car.....

You are referring to the bypass valve.
Each car manufacturer has a specific setting for the bypass valve based on the engine design.
The worst offender of any oil filter is Fram; I stay away from them.
The best built and design oil filters are Wix (NAPA brand), Baldwin, Hastings and Amsoil.

[Tim H]

Anti drain back valve,allegedly developed to correct the infamous cold piston slap in millions of GM 3.1 litres back in the early 1990's.