Hi all, let me answer some of the questions.
1) What vehicle is this? Is this a wrong filter for that vehicle?
This is a 2013 Jeep Wrangler with 3.6L Pentastar V6. Fram CH10955 is the correct oil filter for this vehicle/engine. The fact that Chrysler changed the design of the filter starting with 2014 or 2015 models tells me they may know of some problem.
2) Is it possible the filter was broken to begin with?
The filter was in a perfect shape before installation and slid on easily. Removing it at the end of OCI was a bit difficult because collapsed cage was grabbing a sprout (not sure if that's the right name for it) inside the housing which is a part of the housing itself. Therefore, filter collapsed sometime during use.
3) Was housing overtightened?
Housing cap has a lip around it that goes flush with the top of the housing itself. It is virtually impossible to go past that and any attempt to make it tighter would result in either housing cap socket edges (plastic) to be stripped, or housing to be cracked. That said, I am a torque wrench junkie and have always torqued the cap to 13 ft-lbs, including this time. The spec is 11 to 15 ft-lbs.
4) Could it had broken during install if filter bound up and center twisted?
No, that is impossible as the center cage is not attached to the end caps and can be spun inside on a fresh filter. When twisted, failure occurs at a connection between the media and the end caps while center plastic cage remains perfectly intact because it does not experience torsional force. Moreover, if that was the case the filter would have had twisted media. As evidenced by the pictures above the media remained virtually perfectly straight, except for hourglass shape due to compression force from the sides.
5) Can you use vacuum or fish out a piece with a thin wire?
I did examine the bottom of the housing and saw no plastic pieces. At that time I did not know I had a piece missing. Hence didn't attempt to use vacuum. A new filter was installed. I doubt that piece can be recovered without disassembling at least part of the engine.
6) Contact Fram and get them on the hook in case engine fails in the future.
I had decided against that before making the original post. They'll get an information to do their own damage control and will pin everything on the owner. They'll say their engineering department determined it was an owner mistake during an install. Companies do not admit any wrongdoing, you have to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law. First an evidence of engine damage has to be presented. That doesn't exist as of now. Then a link between a missing plastic piece and engine damage has to be proven. When you add up time, money for certified experts etc that have to be involved, and even then there is no guarantee that anything can be prove, you would be able to buy at least 2 brand new engines.
Today I stopped at a local Walmart and picked up a new Fram CH10955 filter to conduct some experiments. Below are some of the results some of you may find interesting. I wonder how brittle plastic of some other oil filters for this or similar models. I would love to see material that yields but doesn't break suddenly in the end.