A little disappointed with Purolator...

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jeepman

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I bought 4 PureOne cartridge filters from Amazon for my wife's Saturn. They all came in retail boxes, and when I opened them, there was no O-Ring for the filter cap that the filter snaps in to (for anyone who hasn't see one of these cartridge filters this link shows the cap with the removable filter. The O Ring in question is the green band around the cap). These replacement O Rings are generally included with the filter. Since it was missing, here it the email exchange I had with Purolator customer service:

(My original email)

I recently purchased 4 of these cartridge filters from Amazon (at the 2 pack special price), and even though they are in a retail box, they do not contain the silicon O Ring that seals the cartridge cap (that the filter snaps into) to the filter chamber in the engine block. Are these O Ring's omitted from the Amazon filters due to the lower price for the 2 pack special? The reason I ask is that the PureOne filters I have purchased from retail stores in the past have always contained the O Ring in the box, so it could be replaced at each oil change. Any information you could provide would be appreciated so I can make an informed purchase decision going forward.

Thanks for your help,

(Reply from Purolator)

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for your inquiry with Purolator. We appreciate your loyalty.
I have inquired with our Engineering Department in regards to this concern. It has been discussed over the last few months, so to touch base and stay refreshed, please see his comments below.

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

Frank had me look into this one at the same time we were going through adding an oring to the L15436. The problem with this filter is that there are 3 different size cap orings because this filter is used in several different applications (cadillac, oldsmobile, pontiac, and saab). Pretty much each application has a different size oring and we would have to provide all three with the filter. At the time, this added about $0.25 to the cost of the filter and it was determined not to move forth with doing this. Plus the customer could possibly put the wrong oring on the wrong application which would cause even more problems.

(My reply, which so far has gone unanswered)

So has your engineering department determined that it is not necessary to replace this O Ring at each oil change? And based on this response does that mean that the retail (Pep Boys, Kmart, etc.) filters will no longer contain the O Ring also in the future? Lastly, if the ring is not going to be included in the box, where does the consumer go to get these?

Thanks again for your time.

As much as I want to praise them for responding within an hour after I asked my original question, and putting forth an honest answer, I am really disappointed that they elected to not include these any longer. I feel like I am buying a premium product and it should have the needed O Rings with instructions if needed. Paying a premium price for this and having the manufacturer cheap out over a quarter is really a bummer. I would have gladly paid .25 more for the filters if they would have included the O rings, but now I have to spend time and money researching where to get these, plus drive somewhere else to acquire them.

Anyway, the PureOne is still a quality product IMO, and good customer service, but I am left hanging on where to get these O Rings now, and I'm sure the "stealership" will be charging a premium, if they even stock them. Hopefully, Purolator will rethink their strategy on this, and include what is needed for a proper OCI by the shadetree community. Also I hope this won't become a trend for other cartridge manufacturers either. It's just little hassles like these that make me move away from certain manufacturers.

Rant over, thanks for reading. I will update this if I get a response to my 2nd question.
 
The Ecotec filters orginally never came with large O-rings. It wasn't till maybe a year or so ago that some brands have included it. You will be fine reusing that O-ring a few times. As long as it still has a "O" shape and isn't flat on the sealing part.

Just think of all the places that do oil changes. There is a large majority that most likely doesn't change the o-ring. Assuming the technician even replaces the filter.
 
BTW I never noticed a variation in canister cap size difference in any of the 2.2 or 2.4 Ecotec engines. Whether it be a Olds, Saturn, Chevy, etc.
 
Hmm. The Purolator cartridge oil filter that my Mazda3 2.3l uses come with both O-rings that are needed.
 
leave it to GM to use the same filter on 4-5 different applications and all require something different to service. Genius
 
Wow, that's pretty weird....

If I were you I'd ask them to mail you the o-rings that are appropriate for your application.
 
Originally Posted By: CharlieJ
Hmm. The Purolator cartridge oil filter that my Mazda3 2.3l uses come with both O-rings that are needed.


But that cartridge may not see any other fitment issue in any other installation. It may use those two rings for all instances that it's used.
 
Purolator is right on this one, I believe. If I remember correctly, GM does NOT recommend replacing the o-ring on the filter cap at every service.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Purolator is right on this one, I believe. If I remember correctly, GM does NOT recommend replacing the o-ring on the filter cap at every service.


Do you have any idea what the interval is for replacement? The rings never look that bad when I change, so I'm sure they will make a couple of OCI's, but if there is something on paper from GM that would help me sleep at night....
 
Originally Posted By: jeepman
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Purolator is right on this one, I believe. If I remember correctly, GM does NOT recommend replacing the o-ring on the filter cap at every service.


Do you have any idea what the interval is for replacement? The rings never look that bad when I change, so I'm sure they will make a couple of OCI's, but if there is something on paper from GM that would help me sleep at night....


They are supposed last the life of the engine. So, it's a replace as-needed item.

Quote:
TIP: OEM O-rings are not available separately from the cap. They are designed for the life of the engine.


http://www.sandyblogs.com/techlink/2009/05/non-oem-oil-change-concerns.html
 
I have an 04 Saturn Ion, a 06 Vue, and an 08 Aura (all are Ecotec engines) that have never had the filter cap O-ring changed. The filters get changed once or twice a year, and none have "needed" the O-ring to be changed. The O-ring is made of fairly substantial material so I doubt that they fail very often. I have several O-rings that came in the boxes with the filters, in recent years, that I keep in reserve--just in case.

I usually inspect the cap and O-ring at each filter change and have never seen any problems...problems like cuts or abrasions for example. My conclusion is that the O-rings are not a critical replacement part and I've never read anything from GM or Saturn that would indicate or imply that the O-ring requires regular replacement. I don't think you need to worry.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
TIP: OEM O-rings are not available separately from the cap. They are designed for the life of the engine.

http://www.sandyblogs.com/techlink/2009/05/non-oem-oil-change-concerns.html


Well, I guess you learn something new every day. Thanks for the link, I will rest much easier now. As a previous poster mentioned, every filter I got for this car had a new O Ring it it, so I assumed it was to be replaced at each change. Now I know why they say what happens when we "assume" things....
33.gif


Thanks again for the link!
 
I went for years on the original O-ring on my 02 Cavalier. More recently something I bought did come with new O-rings, perhaps Purolator. I hung on to the original, and can always go back to it.

There was an earlier cap that took a different element. The element snaps to the cap. I never heard of different sized O-rings. If the diameter was different, that would mean machining the block differently. Different O-rings sounds like a lame excuse from a poorly informed person.
 
If the O-ring is in good condition (you can check our the Parker or Eaton websites for pictures to help understand what "good condition" means), there is no need to replace it. Be careful not to over-tighten. That's a good way to wreck an O-ring so that it starts to weep the next time you use it.

Personally, I would use a pick to carefully remove the O-ring. I would then "clean" it by wiping the old oil off and using my fingers to "work" new oil into it. Then I would carefully work it back into its seat/groove.
 
I have had several of these engines, and never changed the o ring. The cartridge design on the Ecotec engines is the greatest! No mess, right on top and really easy to change. I prefer the AC Delco filter for this app, it is made by Hengst in the US, the same company that makes the housing that it sits in.
 
I rarely changed the 0-ring either and hadn't had any leaks. I was of the school that if the original o-ring looked sound there was no guarantee the one in the filter box was as good quality. I assumed the cap o-ring was designed for the life of the cap since the ACDelco filters didn't supply a new o-ring. On the other hand, I like to change it occassionally, and since the cartridge filter is a stripped down filter I'd think they could afford to throw one in.
 
Originally Posted By: beast3300
The Ecotec filters orginally never came with large O-rings. It wasn't till maybe a year or so ago that some brands have included it.


I'm with you. I've been using the Pure One filters in my Ecotec since the car was new. At first the filters came with no O-ring. Then more recently (about when they changed to the new more gold-looking box) they included a new O-ring in the box too.

I've never once changed my O-ring. No leaks. Its spotless down there.

I think Purolator is blowing smoke with the excuse that there are different O-rings spec'd for different engines. I call B.S on that.
 
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