Read what I saw on the allis chalmers forum about fram oil filters. I am impartial, just passing gas, or facts?
On Friday, I attended a Chrysler/Cummins training session for Base mechanical required by Chrysler in order for my shop to be able to get warranty claims reimbursed. One of the topics from the instructor was how do we determine engine failures and is it warranty or customer pay. It seems that when Dodge first started using Cummins engines, there were 100's of failures caused by a plugged saddle jet (piston oil cooling jet). It was always #6 cyl. Chrysler was demanding the failed engines to be sent back with the oil and filter still in the engine. They tore into the engine and each time they found a piece of paper clogging the saddle jet. They they'd cut open the Fram filter and find it was missing a piece of paper that exactly matched the piece clogging the jet. After a few instances of this, Chrysler would call Fram to participate in the engine teardown, find the paper, open the filter, then demand Fram pay the warranty claim. The instructor's exact words were 100's of failed engines were paid for by Fram. Fram refused to acknowledge their filter quality was poor and would not recall any of the substandard filters. In fact all they did do was put a note in their catalog DO NOT USE THIS FILTER ON A DODGE CUMMINS DIESEL. They did redesign the filter and they stopped causing engine failures. When the 5.9 was replaced with the 6.7, the same situation reoccured. With more horsepower/torque, larger J jets are used to cool the pistons. The Fram filter would loose a piece of paper and it would end up in the rear of the main galley, blocking the J jet. No oil spray to the under side of the piston would cause it to overheat, score the cylinder, loose compression, and cause a knock. Same thing with Fram again. They reimbursed Chrysler for failed engines, wouldn't recall the poor filters, just redesigned them and put the warning message in their catalog again. There is no way to tell the redesigned filter from the poor filters. With no visible change to the can and same number, it's a 50/50 chance you have a filter that meets requirements. It's about $15K for a new 6.7 engine in your truck. Is saving a couple bucks on a filter worth the risk?
I can say this, if I were looking at a truck, or anything else diesel powered and it had a Fram filter on it, there's no way I'd buy it. I say diesel and not just Cummins because on Thursday I replaced a 7.3 Powerstroke that had no compression on #5 and just 122K on the odometer. It too had a Fram filter on it, which I will be cutting open this week... :h
