A few Purolators cut-open (Warning: Pleat damage!)

[ThirdeYe]

Just cut open a few Purolators I had lying around the garage after reading about all of the pleat separation that has been happening lately. I still have about 10 more to cut open that I hope to get to when I have a bit more time.

I do not remember exactly how many miles these filters had on them, but it would definitely be somewhere between 3,000-5,000.

The first filter I cut open was a Purolator Classic L14006 that was from a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE (2.4L 4-cylinder).

Summary: Torn on both sides of one pleat closest to the metal seam. The rest of the pleats looked fine. There was almost no oil inside the filter, which leads me to believe the ADBV may not have been functioning correctly.

Next is a Purolator PureONE PL14612 from a 1999 Kia Sephia.

Summary: Pleats near metal seam looked stressed, but not torn. Plenty of oil left inside filter: ADBV was most likely working properly.

 

[Sam2000]

V shaped pleat torn. Flatter pleat not torn.

 

[ZeeOSix]

L14006
Date code F08D28D2 = 8/28/2012.

PL14612
Date code F01D17E1 = 1/17/2012.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I should note that I have no personal bias/vendetta against Purolator. In fact, Purolators were my go-to filter for years and I even have a few Purolator hats that I purchased from their website. After finding this, though, I'll be buying other brands from now on after I use up the rest in my stash.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I think some members misinterpret people reporting the media tears and seeing long time Purolator users say they are jumping ship because of reported media tears as some kind of "personal bias/vendetta".

It's not that, it's basically disappointment that a good product like Purolator is now letting them down when they relied on them for so long. It can happen to any product on the market, and that's why companies that make products have to continually ensure that they are producing a product that satisfies the customer or they will obtain a bad reputation and eventually lose business. This situation is no different.

 

[JDW]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
I think some members misinterpret people reporting the media tears and seeing long time Purolator users say they are jumping ship because of reported media tears as some kind of "personal bias/vendetta".

It's not that, it's basically disappointment that a good product like Purolator is now letting them down when they relied on them for so long. It can happen to any product on the market, and that's why companies that make products have to continually ensure that they are producing a product that satisfies the customer or they will obtain a bad reputation and eventually lose business. This situation is no different.


Well said

 

[Oil Changer]

Will you buy hats from the new brand right away or will you wait until you see a few cut open? What will you do with your Purolator hats?


Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I should note that I have no personal bias/vendetta against Purolator. In fact, Purolators were my go-to filter for years and I even have a few Purolator hats that I purchased from their website. After finding this, though, I'll be buying other brands from now on after I use up the rest in my stash.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
Will you buy hats from the new brand right away or will you wait until you see a few cut open? What will you do with your Purolator hats?


Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I should note that I have no personal bias/vendetta against Purolator. In fact, Purolators were my go-to filter for years and I even have a few Purolator hats that I purchased from their website. After finding this, though, I'll be buying other brands from now on after I use up the rest in my stash.


Strange thing is, I've cut open many Purolators before and never saw this issue before. Then again, I haven't cut any open since about 2009 or 2010 because they always looked stellar when I cut them open.

I still have a ton of Purolator Synthetic oil filters in my stash that I don't just want to throw away, so I'll use them up anyways. I'll probably only use Mobil 1, Wix or AC Delco filters on the Firebird and Grand Am, and I'm undecided what I'll use for the rest of the vehicles I maintain yet. Probably Wix, or a variant of it. No clue what I'll do about the hats...

Does anyone know if their Synthetic oil filters have the same tendency to suffer pleat damage?

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Does anyone know if their Synthetic oil filters have the same tendency to suffer pleat damage?


None reported. Don't think the Purolator Synthetics will have any media issues. Use 'em up.

 

[Cristobal]

It goes without saying that Purolator needs to address this issue and not bury their heads in the sand.

 

[antiqueshell]

It would be nice if Purolator would give us the information we need to make sure we buy the latest stock which has the changes made that have corrected this issue.

Well Purolator?

 

[Dave Hess]

Maybe the paper is too thin and oil flow causes it to rip?

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
L14006
Date code F08D28D2 = 8/28/2012.

PL14612
Date code F01D17E1 = 1/17/2012.



Can somebody explain this Purolator date code?
I can't figure out the year?

 

[NHGUY]

I just cut open the Mopar 090 filter I just took off my car.Last changed in Oct 2013,didnt keep track of miles on car (however,it goes about 30 miles daily x5 =150+ miles weekly,so that's 24 weeks x 150,so that's around 3600 miles.Well,I have no pics,but the media held up well but was very distorted (wavy),no torn pleats or glue come undone (I even tried to with my finger).There was the string wrapped around the media (strong string too),and the ADVB while being nitrile was very flexible and not wavy.Overall I am satisfied and will continue to use them...even though there has been much Purolator panic as of late.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
L14006
Date code F08D28D2 = 8/28/2012.

PL14612
Date code F01D17E1 = 1/17/2012.



Can somebody explain this Purolator date code?
I can't figure out the year?


How To Read Purolator Date Codes

 

[Bud_One]

thanks for the date code info ZeeOSix

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
I think some members misinterpret people reporting the media tears and seeing long time Purolator users say they are jumping ship because of reported media tears as some kind of "personal bias/vendetta".

It's not that, it's basically disappointment that a good product like Purolator is now letting them down when they relied on them for so long. It can happen to any product on the market, and that's why companies that make products have to continually ensure that they are producing a product that satisfies the customer or they will obtain a bad reputation and eventually lose business. This situation is no different.


Purolator has never implemented basic used filter retrieval practices in the past. Here is the text I got from a quality control guy at Puro: ... "We are proposing a field exchange program since our in house testing using clean oil has failed to duplicate any of the claims. Members in the proposed program get a filter, monitor their usage and send it back to us for pressure, restriction and impulse tests before we cut it open. We can then tell the effective performance of the filter before conducting the destructive internal inspection. Of course this would have to be limited to various locations around the country and to a limited number of participants who we can expect to provide meticulous records. You can imagine the logistics of such an endeavor.
I have not checked on what other companies are doing at this point. Have you seen examples of field retrieval methods from other similar companies?"

 

[FetchFar]

I like the "you can imagine the logistics" statement. (Is it really that tough to just go out and get used filters?) Also, notice he is STILL not proposing just cutting them open as soon as they get them; instead he is saying that are going to stress-test them before cutting them open, so they won't know if the stress tests are what tore them. The whole thing seems odd to me.

 

[FetchFar]

As a follow-up to an email exhange I had with a Quality guy at Purolator: The quality guy asked me if I knew of any company that simply went into the field and got a few used oil filters once in a while, and I said I didn't know. I did find this on the web today: "Fram engineers perform hot oil circulation tests on the filter element and also regularly cut open used filters to examine how well they have withstood the rigors of actual use on a vehicle. For over 38 years, Fram end disks have stood up to hot oil and their adhesives have sealed off the dirty oil." --- Scott Jacobs, Catalog/Technical Service Representative, (in an email to Mark Lawrence a few years ago)