oil filter cross reference question

On 21 Dec 2004 06:49:52 -0800, wrote:

||FYI for everyone - it's wixfilters.com now, not wix.com. I went to
||their site, and for my year, make, model, engine, etc. (96 mazda) they
||said wix part #51357 which does NOT correspond to PH6607. I guess I'll
||use the frams this time around, chuck the old ones, and maybe use wix
||filters from here on out.
||
||Have others used Wix filters on this board - satisfied with them??

Wix is as good as it comes.

Texas Parts Guy

||
||*by real test, I mean connecting a filter up to equipment and pumping
||oil through it - measure flow rates, how much contaminants it can hold,
||etc etc... instead of "the fram filter looks cheap and the wix filter
||has the prettiest filter media..."

Auto-X magazine (now GRM) did such a test back in the early '90s. Wix won.
Texas Parts Guy

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 02:20:44 GMT, Ray > wrote:

wrote:
||> ||
||> ||*by real test, I mean connecting a filter up to equipment and pumping
||> ||oil through it - measure flow rates, how much contaminants it can hold,
||> ||etc etc... instead of "the fram filter looks cheap and the wix filter
||> ||has the prettiest filter media..."
||>
||> Auto-X magazine (now GRM) did such a test back in the early '90s. Wix won.
||> Texas Parts Guy
||
||kewl.
||too bad that means the test is 10 years old. I'm sure even Fram filters
||aren't the same as they were 10 years ago...(note that I didn't say
||Better, I said different.) Heck, my car's filter didn't even exist 10
||years ago. (GM Gen III V8)

Wix makes a counter display for parts stores that consists of a nice base and
background. Base has three dowels sticking up. To complete the display, you take
3 filters - Wix and 2 competitors, cut the case (Wix sells a filter cutter) and
slip the pieces over the dials so custoemrs can look at the internals. Wix
doesn't care what filters you compare, but the usual is Fram and AC. AC is
actually a pretty good filter. Fram (for popular applications) has minimal
media, cardboard ends, and a halloween clicker for a relief valve spring. Wix
and AC has metal ends, Wix has a real coil spring and silicone rubber drainback
valve, plus much more filter media.
Once you get into commercial and industrial, and even some less popular
light-duty engines, Fram is OK. But they made a decision several decades ago to
cheapen the most popular filters in order to meet the requirements of the Big
Box retailers. The result was a $2.49 filter that was worth exactly that.
Those cheapies use to be called "WearGuard", not sure if that's still the
rule. But if your application is out of that classification, you may be able to
buy a decent Fram filter. But if Wix is available, use them.

Texas Parts Guy

Daniel J. Stern > wrote in article
ch.edu>...
> On Mon, 20 Dec 2004, wrote:
>
> > The important dimensions are the trhead of the center hole, and the
> > ID/OD of the gasket. Case size is secondary.
>
> -Presence/absence/rating of antidrainback valve
> -Presence/absence/rating of overpressure relief valve
> -Flow capacity of filter media
> -Internal dimensions of filter cartridge relative to oil uptake pipe
>
> There is a LOT more to interchangeability of an oil filter than "will it
> mount".
>

Excellent point. Just because it screws on, doesn't mean it works
right.....

When I ran the NAPA store a while back, a customer came in looking for an
oil filter for a Buick 455.

These filters mount horizontally, at the front of the engine.

I came back with the short filter called for in the book, and the customer
said, "No, no...I want the longer one like the guys at VIP sell me." (VIP
is a local Pep Boys)

Well, in researching specifications, I found exactly one taller filter with
the same gasket/screw threads...BUT, with no anti-drainback
valve.....SO.....

.....the filter he had thought was offering his engine MORE protection, was
actually draining off when the engine wasn't running, giving him dry
starts....every, single, time.

--
Bob Paulin - R.A.C.E.
Race Car Chassis Analysis & Setup Services
Chassis Blueprinting Services (as in engine blueprinting)