Another E-Core failure and a Q.

[Chris142]

All this talk about the E-core got me wonderin.

So I cut up a brand new STP #S8A that I was planning on using on my Jeep.


The can was quite thick, I used a bench grinder and it took some work...More work than an old style Champ filter does.

The element end near the threaded end was glued fine. I was unable to remove the felt like end w/o tearing the paper.

The other end was not completly glued! Only about 1/2 of the felt was glued, leaving large gaps for unfiltered oil to pass through.

If not for the unglued end the filter would have been fine to use.........Atleast the Frams stay glued!!

Now my question. Are all Champion filters going to be E-cores? Or just certain numbers? I'm having no problem finding "Normal" filters for my Jeep since it actully calls for the #16 filter which is very common.

Are they gonna keep making the #16 like they should or are there many in wherehouses and when they get depleted will E-cores begin to show up?

 

[BIGJ552000]

What I heard is that the top 10 filter #'s will be going to the e-core design which includes the 8a's and the #16 filter. What is happening is once the old stock is gone all that will be left will be the e-core ones. If I was you I would grab all the old ones before they're gone, if you aren't happy with the new ones. Hope this helps

 

[TallPaul]

I had the same problem as noted in my March 29 post:

quote:

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Bought an E-core filter today and sacrificed it!

It is a Value Tech V8A. I am actually impressed with the clever design of the bypass valve. It is molded into the same piece of rubber as the anti-drainback valve and there is a beauty to the simplicity of its design. They are not one and the same part of the rubber piece but the outside rim is the anti-drainback and the inside rim is the bypass and is a lot stiffer. How well does it work, I don't know, but I think I would prefer it over a clicker or any other dome end bypass valve. The holes for the bypass are smaller than the inlet holes, but that is also true of a clicker I believe.

As for the filter element, it looks pretty good. The plastic cage inside (instead of a metal perforated tube) looks fairly substantial and I doubt it would easily collapse. Surely the filter element would give way first, and that would be my bigger concern, althought the gaps are only about 7/16 of an inch wide along the ridge of the filter media fold (much wider crossways to the folds, but that should not be an issue). But all in all, it looks relatively trustworthy.

I pulled the cage out and a twist broke it in two (a metal tube will deform at the seam when twisted, even a spiral seam). Bearing down on half of it from the side with a block of wood and roughly 100 pounds of pressure shattered it (and would likely have mashed a metal tube to an oval). But both these tests do not appear to represent the kinds of pressure this cage would see in actual use and so probably were unfair. Prior to those destructive acts I grasped the cage in my fist and squeezed very hard, but did not get any noticible deformation or cracking. So I do think the cage is up to it.

The thing that really dismays me is the end caps (or more correctly in this case, end covers) of the filter cartridge insert. They appear to be a layered fiber material that actually appears relatively durable, but when I put very modest pressure on the edge of the bottom endcover it peeled neatly off the ends of the folded media, exposing a large area for unfiltered oil to leak through. Kind of a defacto bypass. This is rather unfortunate, because if I were considering to use this filter, I surely won't now knowing that. This edge is right where the inrushing oil will hit as it nears the dome end of the can before passing through the filter element. The threaded end cover was a little better secured, but still easily peeled away.

The filter cartridge is as long as that of the old style V8A with the metal end caps and clicker bypass (in spite of the new one having about half inch shorter can), but for the little bit of the old style filter that is within the end cap. This was likely achievable because of the combination bypass and anti-drainback. It still had a spring metal piece in the dome end, perhaps to ensure a tight fit and it plugs the back end of the media element interior area.

Well, maybe over time this design will improve. I do like the simplicity of it and the very open plastic cage looks like it could help flow rates. For now, I stick with threaded end bypass Purolators (L40017) and Motorcrafts (FL1A).

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