I have been watching all these cut open filter posts for a few months now and I have a question. Unless there is a horrible tear or missing louvers/holes/ADBV. How can we look at photos of a filter and say, yeah that's a great filter run that sucker 30,000 miles! Or man, that filter is [censored]! I wouldn't take that for free if someone gave it to me!
Lately on BITOG if a cut open filter "looks nice" it's a great filter, run that sucker for ever. If it looks like something else, it's [censored].
So, is there any other way to judge a filter and is qualities or short comings other than internet photos?
Is it possible to ascertain that a filter is good or bad just by looking at photos posted on the internet? Come on people, a Fram Ultra or NAPA Gold could look great in photos but still fail the basic purpose of a filter.
With internet photos, can we tell if the filter media is plugged and used up or still good? I think not.
Cut open oil filter posts, are they useless?
- Thread starter BobsArmory
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Bob you're hitting on a very good point. They will point out the very big fails. But they aren't very scientific and they supply no real data concerning the oil that passed through that filter unless a UOA is also passed along. Just a warm fuzzy feeling or an ah haw we told you not to use that filter.
Comments like "looks nice" just means it visually looks good and no failure issues seen. No, you can't tell if he media is plugged by looking at it unless it's super obvious like crammed with sludge. So if you want to know how long to run an oil filter, go by the manufactures use recommendation (ie, if it's rated for 10K, then it's good for 10K in a clean engine). If the engine is dirty and sludged up, then cut back the use miles on the filter accordingly. If you want to know how well the filter performs, all you can do is go by the published efficiency claims.
Most people get concerned over seeing repeated failed media examples and find something better/less risky to use ... who wouldn't.
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Bob - what you say is true to a point. But, the one thing that you will see over time and across many posts is the general quality of the internals of the filter. Case in point is the torn media that plagued Purolator for quite some time which was then followed by torn ABDVs. We would not have been privy to that had the filter(s) not be cut open for all to see. Now, to your point of how well the filter performed, only testing can provide insight into that past the visual inspection that we all do on a filter cut and post.
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Comments like "looks nice" just means it visually looks good and no failure issues seen. No, you can't tell if he media is plugged by looking at it unless it's super obvious like crammed with sludge. So if you want to know how long to run an oil filter, go by the manufactures use recommendation (ie, if it's rated for 10K, then it's good for 10K in a clean engine). If the engine is dirty and sludged up, then cut back the use miles on the filter accordingly. If you want to know how well the filter performs, all you can do is go by the published efficiency claims.
Most people get concerned over seeing repeated failed media examples and find something better/less risky to use ... who wouldn't.
Whipcitywrencher
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I like looking at oil filter porn 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Comments like "looks nice" just means it visually looks good and no failure issues seen. No, you can't tell if he media is plugged by looking at it unless it's super obvious like crammed with sludge. So if you want to know how long to run an oil filter, go by the manufactures use recommendation (ie, if it's rated for 10K, then it's good for 10K in a clean engine). If the engine is dirty and sludged up, then cut back the use miles on the filter accordingly. If you want to know how well the filter performs, all you can do is go by the published efficiency claims.
Most people get concerned over seeing repeated failed media examples and find something better/less risky to use ... who wouldn't.
Originally Posted By: rollinpete
I like looking at oil filter porn
Probably serves zero scientific purpose and has no meaning just like half the questions asked on this forum.
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Comments like "looks nice" just means it visually looks good and no failure issues seen. No, you can't tell if he media is plugged by looking at it unless it's super obvious like crammed with sludge. So if you want to know how long to run an oil filter, go by the manufactures use recommendation (ie, if it's rated for 10K, then it's good for 10K in a clean engine). If the engine is dirty and sludged up, then cut back the use miles on the filter accordingly. If you want to know how well the filter performs, all you can do is go by the published efficiency claims.
Most people get concerned over seeing repeated failed media examples and find something better/less risky to use ... who wouldn't.
Originally Posted By: jj51702
Probably serves zero scientific purpose and has no meaning just like half the questions asked on this forum.
I've seen some good looking filters that would've looked even better if the person had just simply changed the oil out sooner. What's the point in running an OCI until you see black oil and gritty crud in the filter ? Is that supposed to be impressive ?
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: jj51702
Probably serves zero scientific purpose and has no meaning just like half the questions asked on this forum.
4WD
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Things like this have been posted and this particular brand has improved ~ as a result? Not sure, but one reason I have migrated to them is they have an active member here who helps out plenty …
Wish other companies did.
4WD
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Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I've seen some good looking filters that would've looked even better if the person had just simply changed the oil out sooner. What's the point in running an OCI until you see black oil and gritty crud in the filter ? Is that supposed to be impressive ?
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