Oil Filter

[bwringer]

- I've seen K&N filters fail a few times at the little spot welds used to tack on that stupid thin metal nut-shaped decorative object.

- I've seen several outright failures of Fram filters on cars; the thin metal can, the crimps, and the o-ring are all failure points, plus they often use cheap cardboard inside. I've removed a Fram cartridge oil filter from a motorcycle where the crappy filter element was starting to fall apart. I found the material in the pickup screen.

To be clear, these are the cheapest orange box Frams; their higher tier stuff is generally OK. I haven't seen any issues with the black canister Fram filters for motorcycles, but they are noticeably lighter than others, and overall the brand is extremely suspect in my mind and best avoided.

- Wix/Napa and HiFloFiltro are consistently excellent quality.

- Poke around: my Yammie parts source charges $9.16 for the OEM filter if you order online (but a LOT more if you walk in and wake up the parts monkey...). I usually grab a few when ordering other bits. HiFloFiltro seem to go for about the same money online, more if you're standing in a shop. Wix/Napa filters actually tend to cost a buck or three more than that, but they are easy to find on the shelf if you haven't planned ahead.

- In the end, the reality is that oil filters in a reasonably healthy engine don't really have much to do, so anything that doesn't leak will be perfectly fine for several hundred thousand miles in any modern engine. Do whatever makes you happy.

Edited April 7, 2021 by bwringer

[Jfundo]

Is that decorative metal nut shaped object you refer to the thing I was just going to tout about the K&N filters?  They build in a 17mm nut to make it way easier to remove later.  Particularly useful for the wife's bonny because there is no way to get a hand or strap wrench on the filter.  

 

[CJ3cyl]

Yuh that's one nut that's useful.