I thought I would post here what I ran into when changing my oil today. Please know that I have absolutely no intention here of disparaging or bashing Fram, Autozone or AAP. If you reply here please keep that in mind, I would rather not see this thread locked and do not want to go against BITOG rules. I just thought I would pass this along to maybe save someone else the same trouble.
A few weeks ago I bought a jug of STP 0W20 at AZ. They did not have my filter so I went to the AAP down the street and picked up one of the Fram Drive filters. They are supposed to be the same as the Champ-made E-Core style ST filters at Walmart. WM at the time was sold out of the ST6607. I have used one of the ST6607 before with no problem, so I thought the Fram Drive would be the same.
Today I did my oil change. Spun the FD6607 on and there was something not right. The end of the can bottomed out on the filter boss mounting area before the filter was tight. When the gasket first touched the mount I still could spin it almost two more complete turns. Every other filter I have put on there is always just a slight gap between the filter boss and the edge of the can, with the gasket squeezed in between. I studied this for a few minutes and decided to get a new different filter. I went to AZ and they had plenty of filters on the shelf but they all had louvers. I do not like louvers, I prefer holes or E-Core but I checked one of the S6607 filters out really close and some of the louvers in it that I could see were either barely open or not open at all. I went to O'Reilly and picked up one of the Micro Gard extended life filters for $10.00. It has holes, no louvers, has a red silicon ADBV and gasket and seems to be very well made. Whip City Wrencher cut one open not long ago and he was very impressed with it. So was I. I may switch to that filter and the O'Reilly Syntec/BP synthetic when I change oil again on my Rogue and my wife's Rogue too coming up in February. OR runs a deal on that oil and filter sometimes for $31.00 or $33.00, which nowadays is a decent price.
I think what happened here is the threads on the Fram Drive were set too far up on the base plate and that caused it not to tighten like it should. I am no expert but I think that is the problem. Maybe the AAP Fram is made in a different plant from the Walmart ST filters and there is some difference in the machining of the base plate. I took these pictures to post here for comparison.
In this pic the Fram Drive filter is in the middle, the PH6607 that came off the engine is on the right. The new Micro Gard is on the left. It looked to me like the Fram Drive had the threads too close to the base plate.
Here is another picture, the Fram Drive is on the left and the old Fram PH6607 on the right. I don't know if I am right about this or not. I do think the way that Fram Drive filter went on would have leaked and caused problems. I don't know if all Fram Drive filters might be this way but thought I would just post this so people would know about a possible problem. I would say check the filter and threads very closely if you buy a Fram Drive to be sure it will spin on and tighten correctly.
Here is also a picture of the Microgard on my engine. It tightened down normally, about half a turn after contacting the mounting boss. If you look real close you may see it has just a slight gap between the block and the end of the can. The MG seems to be a very well made filter. I had absolutely no start up noise with it. It seems worth the few extra bucks.
A few weeks ago I bought a jug of STP 0W20 at AZ. They did not have my filter so I went to the AAP down the street and picked up one of the Fram Drive filters. They are supposed to be the same as the Champ-made E-Core style ST filters at Walmart. WM at the time was sold out of the ST6607. I have used one of the ST6607 before with no problem, so I thought the Fram Drive would be the same.
Today I did my oil change. Spun the FD6607 on and there was something not right. The end of the can bottomed out on the filter boss mounting area before the filter was tight. When the gasket first touched the mount I still could spin it almost two more complete turns. Every other filter I have put on there is always just a slight gap between the filter boss and the edge of the can, with the gasket squeezed in between. I studied this for a few minutes and decided to get a new different filter. I went to AZ and they had plenty of filters on the shelf but they all had louvers. I do not like louvers, I prefer holes or E-Core but I checked one of the S6607 filters out really close and some of the louvers in it that I could see were either barely open or not open at all. I went to O'Reilly and picked up one of the Micro Gard extended life filters for $10.00. It has holes, no louvers, has a red silicon ADBV and gasket and seems to be very well made. Whip City Wrencher cut one open not long ago and he was very impressed with it. So was I. I may switch to that filter and the O'Reilly Syntec/BP synthetic when I change oil again on my Rogue and my wife's Rogue too coming up in February. OR runs a deal on that oil and filter sometimes for $31.00 or $33.00, which nowadays is a decent price.
I think what happened here is the threads on the Fram Drive were set too far up on the base plate and that caused it not to tighten like it should. I am no expert but I think that is the problem. Maybe the AAP Fram is made in a different plant from the Walmart ST filters and there is some difference in the machining of the base plate. I took these pictures to post here for comparison.
In this pic the Fram Drive filter is in the middle, the PH6607 that came off the engine is on the right. The new Micro Gard is on the left. It looked to me like the Fram Drive had the threads too close to the base plate.
Here is another picture, the Fram Drive is on the left and the old Fram PH6607 on the right. I don't know if I am right about this or not. I do think the way that Fram Drive filter went on would have leaked and caused problems. I don't know if all Fram Drive filters might be this way but thought I would just post this so people would know about a possible problem. I would say check the filter and threads very closely if you buy a Fram Drive to be sure it will spin on and tighten correctly.
Here is also a picture of the Microgard on my engine. It tightened down normally, about half a turn after contacting the mounting boss. If you look real close you may see it has just a slight gap between the block and the end of the can. The MG seems to be a very well made filter. I had absolutely no start up noise with it. It seems worth the few extra bucks.
