4 tears on one Purolator oil filter

[cronk]

Didn't they improve the efficiency ratings of their filters a year or 2 ago?
Makes me wonder if the new, higher efficiency media is not as strong.
On the torn Classic off my brothers car, the media tore very easy. Like Zeeosix said, if you pushed on the pleats they would tear pretty easy.
The media in the Wix and Frams is much harder to tear.
I suspect finer fibers were used in the Purolators media to improve filtering efficiency but is sacrificing strength.

 

[ZeeOSix]

^^^ Yep, weak and easily torn media along with widely spaced out pleats is pretty much a formula for media tears. Of course, the use environment the filter goes through also contributes. For instance, if one of these filters is used on an engine with a pretty high volume oil pump, and often revved pretty high, and/or used in very cold climate where the oil if very thick, the side stress put on these widely spaced pleats is increased. This latest rash of reported media tears are filters that were recently changed, and ones that were being used during the tail end of the cold weather season.

In some of the photos posted, you can see that the widely spaced pleat was pushed over sideways by the oil flow force trying to fold it over flat. Too much of that with the weak media and it tears. I could push the pleat sideways with my finger had hear the fibers tearing, and it didn't take much force IMO to do that.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: cronk
On the torn Classic off my brothers car, the media tore very easy. Like Zeeosix said, if you pushed on the pleats they would tear pretty easy.


Yeah, they always look like a soggy mess whenever somebody posts a picture.

I'm beginning to think Purolator makes their filters out of recycled paper bags.

 

[FetchFar]

Those of you saying Fram is the one to buy now --- I agree, at least in my application the TG8765 cartridge style, at 99% efficiency, glass fibers and cellulose mix, a good filter, made in the USA, and I heard recently the Mobil 1 Extended Performance filters were now made off the same production line.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: cronk
On the torn Classic off my brothers car, the media tore very easy. Like Zeeosix said, if you pushed on the pleats they would tear pretty easy.


Yeah, they always look like a soggy mess whenever somebody posts a picture.

I'm beginning to think Purolator makes their filters out of recycled paper bags.


The media may look "soggy" in photos, but it's really kind of brittle when I was pushing it around.