Best oil filter for '94 4 cyls.

[ice745]

When I got my car I was a little interested in the fact that the oil filter was at the top of the engin and upside down from normal positions. This made it impossible to partially fill the filter before putting it on. One thing I would do is fill it up, let the filter soak the oil, then empty it out into the funnel in the crankcase. Then at least the filter element was already wet. However shopping at Advance I saw the "Fram Tough Guard" filters, they have a drainback stop valve, so when the oil goes in it can't come back out with out the pressure of a running engine. This is great for the car in two aspects. First, when you do an oil change if you do what I said above, only a few drops will go out into the funnel, the rest is retained. Secondly when the car is parked, oil is still in the filter which makes for better starts. They are also rated for 99% multi-pass efficiency. I don't know if the regular orange Fram filters also have the anti-drainback valve. I use the tough guard and Pennzoil stop and go oil, because I drive a lot of stop and go short distances. Hopefully this summer after school I will get some nice highway mileage. Any other opinions just post them up.

[dschwartz46]

You can't beat K&N fillters...

http://knfilters.com/oilfilter.htm

[ice745]

...You can when it comes to price. I can't justify paying 10 dollars for an oil filter which isn't going to greatly affect the performance of my engine. Maybe if I could only change it half as often, then the doubled price would be justifyable. Is it safe to do this with K&N?

[Brian R.]

After all the bad reports I've heard about Fram oil filters, you couldn't give me one.

Here's a serious alternative:
http://www.autoenginelube.com/pages/903473/index.htm

[Blitzgray]

I am pretty sure that a Toyota filter has a backflow valve in it.

[toeppe85]

hello,
just to get the record straight, FRAM makes a very good oil filter. now i not only say that because i am an engineer for honeywell, but because we test them against many other brands to compare results. almost always, fram beats the competitition. it meets or beats the oem filter also. there are a lot of reports saying how bad fram is, but in all reality, its probably one of the best filters on the market, with a very reasonable price

[rum runner]

Fram “tough guard” not “double guard” are good filters although they have a card-board end inside. If you are picky, use Toyota filters and Mobil one synthetic oil. K&N, Wix, Purlator, AC Delco, Fram tough guard all good filters.

With synthetic oil it really doesn’t matter what filter you use, the motor will last 300,000 if changed every 6,000 miles

[Bossman]

You don't really need to "fill" the oil filter up all the way before installing it. Just add enough oil to wet the fibers inside and then install it.

[yoji6365]

Originally Posted by Bossman

You don't really need to "fill" the oil filter up all the way before installing it. Just add enough oil to wet the fibers inside and then install it.

Where did you get this technique. I've never heard of it, never seen anyone do it, never saw it in a textbook, nothing, nada.

Anyone that changes the oil at 3k shouldnt care what filter they use.
Then again, anyone that changes oil at 3k isnt worried about spending the money.

[Brian R.]

Originally Posted by yoji6365

Where did you get this technique. I've never heard of it, never seen anyone do it, never saw it in a textbook, nothing, nada.

Even if he didn't read about it somewhere, it can't hurt anything. At best, it helps whet the filter element with the oil he's using and may make it easier for oil to penetrate the filter element. It is basically identical to what ice745 used to do.

I guess they are both using their brains without having to have read about it somewhere.

Originally Posted by yoji6365

Anyone that changes the oil at 3k shouldnt care what filter they use.
Then again, anyone that changes oil at 3k isnt worried about spending the money.

Interesting point of view. What are your recommendations for oil-change intervals and filter brands?

[Brian R.]

A discussion of Frams:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...c;f=6;t=002355

[quincyguy]

Originally Posted by ice745

When I got my car I was a little interested in the fact that the oil filter was at the top of the engin and upside down from normal positions. This made it impossible to partially fill the filter before putting it on. One thing I would do is fill it up, let the filter soak the oil, then empty it out into the funnel in the crankcase. Then at least the filter element was already wet. However shopping at Advance I saw the "Fram Tough Guard" filters, they have a drainback stop valve, so when the oil goes in it can't come back out with out the pressure of a running engine. This is great for the car in two aspects. First, when you do an oil change if you do what I said above, only a few drops will go out into the funnel, the rest is retained. Secondly when the car is parked, oil is still in the filter which makes for better starts. They are also rated for 99% multi-pass efficiency. I don't know if the regular orange Fram filters also have the anti-drainback valve. I use the tough guard and Pennzoil stop and go oil, because I drive a lot of stop and go short distances. Hopefully this summer after school I will get some nice highway mileage. Any other opinions just post them up.

As long as they're not 1.99/ea @ the drug store, I'll buy 'em.
Don't care what name's om 'em
'90 Camry turning 200k very soon

[Bossman]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

Even if he didn't read about it somewhere, it can't hurt anything. At best, it helps whet the filter element with the oil he's using and may make it easier for oil to penetrate the filter element. It is basically identical to what ice745 used to do.

I guess they are both using their brains without having to have read it somewhere.



Interesting point of view. What are your recommendations for oil-change intervals and filter brands?

Thank you, Brian.....I'm no mechanic but I'll take this as a compliment! Have a nice weekend.

[Brian R.]

I feel obliged to defend people who think like I do...