Originally Posted by DudeNiceRide
I'm sick of hearing about this topic on here and elsewhere.
Running the FRAM 9-15psi pressure RV (figure 12psi is the average) will
NOT hurt your engine which GM has designated a user of "only 22psi relief valves". Come people....COME ON. Use your high-powered brains.
What will
actually hurt your engine???
- Running the WRONG OIL grade or type.
Hard for the warranty people to prove you used wrong oil after your engine blows.
- Letting your oil level fall low (ex. several GM's drink oil, FYI).
Hard to prove you're a slacker of a vehicle maintainer.
- Using crappy filters mostly from off-shore.
Hard to prove what garbage you were running prior to the last filter you had on when the engine blew.
- Running your oil & filter too long.
Hard to prove you're a slacker of a vehicle maintainer.
- Running low on coolant in hot months.
Hard to prove you're a slacker of a vehicle maintainer.
- Not keep up with air filter changes (contamination only comes from engine wear, fuel & the intake air).
Hard to prove you're a slacker of a vehicle maintainer.
- Using crappy air filters.
Hard to prove you're a cheap-skate. And I don't see any bulletins about using the right air filter.
- Your drive-cycle (stop-n-go versus highway).
Vehicle has to be designed around everyone including some outliers.
- Your right foot & it's relationship with the right pedal.
Hard to prove you're a lead-foot.
IMHO...the warranty guys at GM are freaking out about warranty #'s and trying to deflect problems and $$$. Some manager has a task to lower the cost of warranty, likely. Writing a tech service bulletin costs $0 to GM, so even if one single engine warranty claim is avoided, GM is ahead of the game. It's dumb.
Sure the newer engines might be pushing oil a little faster with a little more pressure. But the normal operating range is pretty much the same. GM chose one simple numerical value from a bolt-on component as a focal point so as to divert warranty claims. It's simple and really really easy to prove.
What GM doesn't tell you is the NET EFFECT of the filter as a NET FILTRATION SYSTEM. Sure the GM pressure RV might open a little earlier, but the retail FRAM/Wix/Puro media is probably higher efficiency (stops more dirt) than the GM filter. So what's worse...
[A] the valve opening a tiny bit sooner in very rare cases over the course of the 5k-10k the filter is on your vehicle
-OR-
the constant lower efficiency performance of the crappier GM media that is performing less under all conditions and scenarios??
The BIG3 are also switching over to thinner oils and variable displacement pumps on engines with higher combustion temps and pressures. So your engine doesn't have any "oil protection insurance" like it used to, and there are more evil forces there to act against your lubrication system than ever before. OE engineers are only letting your engine have juuuuuuuuuuuust enough oil so they can meet their efficiency and EPA emission targets. And it's at the cost of the extra layer of protection the engines once had. FACT.
The reason FRAM and many other popular brands (Wix, Purolator, Luberfiner, etc) have a consolidated offering is because of [#1] lack of shelf space at the retail stores to carry OEM-matched sizes, and [#2] the consolidations are made without any impact to performance of warranty concerns.
Why don't you put in your resume with GM. You have all the knowledge they must be lacking. Let me know if you get a reply from them, ok.