Hung Start67

well changed the oil today..5w-30 amsoil and amsoil filter as well... the sure drain worked just fine but jesus dont be in a hurry..lol...went in the house changed the kids diaper downed a coke and watched some espn..lol..pretty slow drain but did a decent job...later

ede

glad it worked for you. to me it's a joke and from watching the comerical on tv i knew i didn't need or want one. looked at one at wal mart and i figured it'd take a while for even hot thin oil to drain out.

Vader

67,

Yes. Thanks for the insider info. Now we have yet another reason not to use Fram filters, just in case anyone was tempted by the gadget. Personally, I knew I didn't want one when I saw the adverts since I don't have a real problem with oil mess when the filter is removed, anyway. A large drain pan works great for me.

BOTTLEDZ28

iTrader: (9)

the sure drain is a crock of ****. it claims no more mess. Ya right. you still have to change the oil filter. I dont know about you guys but the last time i change a filter you get a little messy. its the nature of the beast. Besides I like getting oil on my skin, it absorbs in and travels through my lood stream and gives me those crazy thoughts of 8's

Mark A Shields

My hands are a mess afterwards, but oh well.

Oh, I let the engine cool a little, so as not to burn my hands, is this a major problem?

rezinn

I always take a nail and poke a couple holes in the bottom of the filter and let it drain before I remove it-no mess that way.

ede

rezinn that's a good idea, but all my cars, trucks, and tractor have side mounted filters, except for my 68, so even if i drained the filter i'd still have a bit of oil. any more i wear mechanic gloves for most work and surgon gloves for a few other things. after you get use to them your hands stay a lot cleaner and it isn't hard to work in them.

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

I never found my stock drain plug to be much of a problem. I don't ever get a drop of oil on my hands.

But even if I did, it hardly matters. It's inevitable that I'm going to get oil all over me from removing the filter.

MHarris

Don't know if anybody is still watchin' this post but a good way to stay clean when you change your filter is to crack it loose, (just enough to turn it by hand) stick your hand inside a grocery bag and wrap it around either your hand or the filter. Remove the filter and pull off the bag. Works great for me.

hitman

Just out of curiosity... why do you not like FRAM filters??

rezinn

Sounds like a pretty good idea MHarris.

ede, sounds like the side mounted filters are always a little messy. The point of poking the holes is just to let some oil drain out so none spills over the top when twisting it off. I guess you'd need to drain a lot more out if it was mounted on its side, though. Probably not worth the time.

hitman, we've read a lot of studies about oil filters and found fram to just be cheap construction compared to others (amsoil, ac delco, some pep boys brands), as well as having less filtering area.

MHarris

The plastic bag method also helps a lot when its hot.
I stick my hand in to the bottom and wrap the straps around as far down as they'll go.
When the filter starts to drain there's all that bag for it to get on and not your whole arm.
Plus when your done just pull it off inside out with the filter in hand and dispose of.
Makes cleanup much easier!

Tremo

Hitman,

Agent Orange Frams are the WORST. Look on the net, you'll find several oil filter comparisons, where the filters were cut open and the inner construction of the filters compared. Fram makes ONE decent filter, the X2 model, the rest are JUNK. Non-X2 Frams have cardboard end caps, the least amount of filter media, poor ADBVs, and few holes in the center tube. Compare that to a Napa Gold (Wix), a Mobil1, a K&N, or an AC-Delco. Hell even a cheap WallMart Supertech is better than a Fram. The better filters have metal endcaps, much more media, and better ADBVs. The SuperTech, M1 and K&N filters are all made by Champion Labs, good stuff. Wix is good. PurOne filters are good. AC filters are good. Frams suck. Their X2 model costs more than a K&N.

Fram used to make a decent product, but after they captured the market share, they cut corners bigtime to make more money.

But hey, it's your money, your engine. do as you see fit.

Vader

It was no better when Fram was acquired by Allied Signal. It hasn't improved at all since Allied was folded into Honeywell Consumer Division.


Ironic, isn't it? That language is very similar to the advertising that Fram used to use heavily:
"It's your engine - You can pay me now, or pay me later..."

Looks like what goes around comes around.

Here are just a couple of those comparison sites:
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil...study-faq.html

http://home.earthlink.net/~memphis3/...lters/merc.htm

http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml

Vader

A few more interesting pages:

http://autopedia.com/NHTSA/nhtsa.495.html#AlliedSignal

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~rblander/FRAM_recall.html

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~rblander/FRAM_recall.html


Need any more reasons to risk everything on saving a buck or two? To me, nothing at Fram has apparently changed to indicate they have addresed their quality issues, so in the interest of protecting my equipment, there is no reason to use their product in lieu of something with a much better design and service record. It doesn't matter how much they advertise - or perhaps it does. It their advertising budget were rolled into the R&D and Quality departments, they might not need to advertise as much.

FastElectrics

I don't find it to be that messy.. I crack it open.. and spin it toll it's about tot come off.. by that point the oil is coming down the sides.. then I leave it till it stops.. wipe off the oil, and take it off.. Though I do drain the pain totally first.. if that makes any difference.

a73camaro

U can always pay somebody to change your oil if you're concerned about getting dirty. So when you're at the Jiffy Lube getting serviced, you'll have time to go into the bathroom and change your tampon.

manchesterbeast

hahahaha!
ya thats right, and not only will u get to change your tampon, you'll get a free newspaper too!

89RsPower!

wow... they tought of a way to make the simplest possible task imaginable more complicated and time consuming.. sign me up.. that makes about as much sense as filling ur gas tank with dixie cups..

MHarris

And all this time I thought you *were* supposed to fill up with dixie cups!
Does that mean you don't wash your car with Windex either?
Damn that backyard mechanic for steering me wrong.

89RsPower!

yeah its a common misconception, everyone knows you're suppose to use half pint milk cartons.

azvolfan

I always thought Fram was supposed to be a good filter. What kind of filter is everyone using out there?

novass

iTrader: (1)

Pure One

my84firebird

I've always used pure one also, very good filter. AC delcos are what most guys on here use since they're the OEM filter.

MNformula350

iTrader: (2)

i use the AC Delco ultragaurd gold filter. and Mobil 1 15w50 oil.

scottland

Wix is a good filter, K&N is a good filter (although pricey, $9), and all the ones already stated above.

89RsPower!

the K&N's are really good filters but kinda pricey and most will agree they are complete they are way overkill, still around here i just put em in the fram box and pay the sale price for em.. so i dont find em that expensive...

MrDude_1

if you dont want a drop of oil on your hand taking the drain plug off...
break the bolt loose with a wrench.
push IN with your hand as you unscrew it... the pressure keeps the threads "sealed" somewhat so the oil doesnt drip out...
have your pan ready under it...
pull the plug out and UP with one motion.... there you go, not a drop on your hand.


for the filter, you can use the bag method someone mentioned... put a bag on your hand inside out or put it around the filter and all teh oil is caught in the bag....

or do what i do, stick the pan under it, crack it loose spin it off, and set it down in the pan.... its not like you cant wash your hands

MHarris

SWEET!!! Maybe now I won't spend so much time at the pump.
Does that mean I should stop waxing my car with steel wool too? I finally perfected that brushed black aluminum look though!

hitman

Tremo.. Vader
Thanks for the heads up and comparisons guys. I was one of the suckers who bought the "brand" name thinking it was a better product.
I just bought my wife a new car last year and had been using Fram oil filters.... NOT ANYMORE!
:nono:

1bdbrd

iTrader: (1)

i use k&n filters with mobile 1 10w30 oil. i like the k&n filter because of the nice little "nut" at the bottom that i can use to partially tighten and completely loosen with a 5/8 socket.

Tremo

There's a lot of good filters out there. As mentioned K&N are good. Ditto for Mobil 1 filters, PureOne, Wix, Napa Gold, AC Delco, Baldwin and the Fram X2. Hell, for a decent but cheap filter, you can't beat the Supertech filters sold at WalMart. The Supertechs are made by Champion Labs who also make the K&N and M1 filters, and are cheaper and *better* than the orange Frams. You needen't use those orange Frams any longer! Orange Frams are a cheezy POS.

If you are going to use a good filter, you may as well use good oil as well. I've been using M1 5W-30 for years in my IROC. It has 140k miles on it and it doesn't smoke, doesn't leak and doesn't make wierd noises. Dig, 140k and there isn't even a blue puff when I first light it off. If you're going to spend the bucks on a Synthetic, you may as well use a *real* synthetic (group IV base stocks), which is M1. Pretend synthetics like Castrol Syntec are really group III oils.

If you really want the lowdown on oil and filters, go read the forums over on the "Bob is the oil guy" website. He looks like a crusty old right-winger, but he knows his **** about lubrication.

Also, it's interesting to learn that S&B makes a better hi-flo air filter than K&N. Better filtering, better construction, and a little less pricey. I just put a new S&B on the wife's Escort.