FRAM FE7317 & Supertech MP9688 cut open

[Mewbs]

This came out of the friend's 2013 KIA Rio, just a little over 80K on the clock of miles traveled. The oil was in service for about 3274 miles. But we have a problem! She has noted her car is starting to eat lots of oil, much more than before in which she was short tripping. This time she has put more highway miles on the vehicle. I have suggested her to get the Valvoline R&P while I give her the BG EPR, 44K and HPL Engine cleaner treatment.

The oil filter that was on for the duration is the Fram FE7317 while the MP9688 was only on for 30 minutes for the BG solvent engine flush high idle run.

The FE7317 doesn't have an impressive build quality but did its job regardless. either not enough pleats being packed or just poor workmanship. Whereas the MP9688 is probably the best looking non wire backed filter I have opened so far, every tight evenly spaced pleats, looking like a work of art worthy of a a magazine centerfold.

Wrapped both of them in absorbent towels to wick off the oil and inspect pleats once dry. FE7317 media stack measured 2-7/16 high, MP9688 element measured 2-1/8 high from endcap to endcap.

Previous oil filter pulled from the car: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/stp-s2808xl-cut-open-unknown-miles-1-year.377552/

 

[Mewbs]

Extra photos...

I will post measurement data of the bypass spring valves later once dry.

 

[volk06]

Those two filters have different media. The has less pleats because it does need them. Synthetic media vs a cellulose blend in the MP. The MP was a great filter for the price. Sad to see them going away.

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

The Bitog "Similar threads" suggested another FE 7317 cut open thread and that filter had inconsistent pleat spacing as well. Is there some technical issue with the media that makes it difficult to get consistent pleat spacing. Otherwise I would think Fram's finest $12 filter could match the QC of a $4 walmart filter.

 

[Plawan]

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I will post measurement data of the bypass spring valves later once dry.

Both filters

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I will post measurement data of the bypass spring valves later once dry.

both filters look fine. The FE looks fine to me because I know the wire backing will support the wide pleats just fine. If not for that I would agree with you about its construction.

 

[JoelB]

The earlier 1.6's can tend to use some oil. I'm not sure you'll be able to do a lot to stop it, maybe just slow it down.

 

[BAJA_05]

Also sad to see the ST MP lineup being discontinued.

 

[Urshurak776]

My sons 2014 Kia Rio with same Engine eats oil pretty bad. I have documented it here on BITOG many times. Also tried BG EPR flush, tried a piston soak, etc. Made things worse to be honest. Issue is there is carbon scoring on cylinder walls. Can't fix that. Oil blows right by. The cleaning cleaned anything out of the scoring alowing MORE oil to blow by.

The best thing that has worked for this car is I went to a Supertech 10W-40 Synthetic blend. Seems to be holding oil level pretty good. Try that if you are still losing oil. Next thing you're going to see is the Catalytic converter code pop. Ask me how I know.....

 

[volk06]

Those two filters have different media. The has less pleats because it does need them. Synthetic media vs a cellulose blend in the MP. The MP was a great filter for the price. Sad to see them going away.

Boy this is a great example of why a person shouldn't post when half asleep lol. Should have been:

Those two filters have different media. The FE has less pleats because it doesn't need them. Synthetic media vs a cellulose blend in the MP. The MP was a great filter for the price. Sad to see them going away.

 

[Sayjac]

What I can see, both filters look fine. One feature I like on the Champ made ecore 9688, they extend the sealing gasket all the way to the outer edge of the can. That rather than having the narrow gasket and a channel between the gasket and the outer edge. Especially in salt/sand belt, that channel a great place for crud to collect and rust to form.

One thing I'd be curious to see/know is before media removed from both, what you would find if you applied a light to base end of centertube with bypass on other end. Fwiw, with the MP7317 I recently posted, I found similar finding to what WCW found on youtube with MP and FE.

Thanks for c&p.

 

[fantastic]

I second the dark room & flashlight test w/bypass in place.

I agree w/OP assessment about inconsistent pleat spacing on the FE. The ST put's it to shame on how good it's spacing looks in comparison. Not sure how long it'll take before we no longer see these MP's on a regular basis. Use them while we can I suppose. We'll wait for your media pics.

 

[kschachn]

I second the dark room & flashlight test w/bypass in place.

I agree w/OP assessment about inconsistent pleat spacing on the FE. The ST put's it to shame on how good it's spacing looks in comparison. Not sure how long it'll take before we no longer see these MP's on a regular basis. Use them while we can I suppose. We'll wait for your media pics.

Do you think this inconsistent pleat spacing affects the filtering efficiency or the longevity?

 

[cptbarkey]

The FE looks great. Sorry to hear about your friends engine issues. I wanted to like the smaller Hyundai/Kia cars but this solidifies my opinion to avoid them at all costs.

 

[walterjay]

The engine they have in the Rio has had a significant amount of traffic claiming high oil consumption. It is the worst one out there IMO.

 

[Reloader59]

The pleat spacing looks pretty terrible on the FE.

 

[ZeeOSix]

The pleat spacing looks pretty terrible on the FE.

Wire backed media, so it doesn't matter.