Inproving on Wix/Napa

[Duffyjr]

Seeing the thread on Mann buying Wix, if you were going to improve on Wix/Napa filters what changes should they make or should they just leave them as they are?

With the reputation Mann has they surely wouldn't start cutting corners would they.

I use 1040 and 1036 filers but they just broke ground on O'Rielly's and I will be able to get the Wix cheaper.

 

[badtlc]

The only thing I'd do is upgrade the media on standard wix filters to 99% @ 20um.

The construction is already as good as it gets.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

The one time I used a WIX/NAPA Gold 5/7055 filter, I had oil seeping through the seal. Cleaned it up and put it back on with a little extra oomph, had more seepage after a 20 mile drive. Never had this issue with the Subaru blue cans, Tokyo Roki, or K&N.
Maybe it was just one bad filter, but I also had a user here warn me about the square seals on the WIX filters and I ignored him...wish I had listened. Won't be buying any more WIX.

 

[Nyogtha]

Change the center tubes to louvered design.

Increase the efficiency of the jobber lines media to 9X% @ 20 microns.

Do away with the combo valves in the jobber lines.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
The one time I used a WIX/NAPA Gold 5/7055 filter, I had oil seeping through the seal. Cleaned it up and put it back on with a little extra oomph, had more seepage after a 20 mile drive. Never had this issue with the Subaru blue cans, Tokyo Roki, or K&N.
Maybe it was just one bad filter, but I also had a user here warn me about the square seals on the WIX filters and I ignored him...wish I had listened. Won't be buying any more WIX.


Hmmm, that's new to me. I've installed countless Wix and NAPA Gold filters and never noticed that issue. I would be temped to try another to see if you get the same result again.

 

[Wheel]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
The one time I used a WIX/NAPA Gold 5/7055 filter, I had oil seeping through the seal. Cleaned it up and put it back on with a little extra oomph, had more seepage after a 20 mile drive. Never had this issue with the Subaru blue cans, Tokyo Roki, or K&N.
Maybe it was just one bad filter, but I also had a user here warn me about the square seals on the WIX filters and I ignored him...wish I had listened. Won't be buying any more WIX.


I've had that too with the Wix on my 09 Subaru. Never had that issue on the 97 Subaru I had with the Wix. I don't see why the square seal should act differently, the mount looks identical.

I hope that if Mann buys Wix, they can fix things like this without breaking an otherwise good filter line.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Nyogtha
Change the center tubes to louvered design.

No way the center tube is perfect now.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
The one time I used a WIX/NAPA Gold 5/7055 filter, I had oil seeping through the seal. Cleaned it up and put it back on with a little extra oomph, had more seepage after a 20 mile drive. Never had this issue with the Subaru blue cans, Tokyo Roki, or K&N.
Maybe it was just one bad filter, but I also had a user here warn me about the square seals on the WIX filters and I ignored him...wish I had listened. Won't be buying any more WIX.


Hmmm, that's new to me. I've installed countless Wix and NAPA Gold filters and never noticed that issue. I would be temped to try another to see if you get the same result again.


I had two others on hand and sent them away to a mod on the Forester driver's website to cut up (one labeled WIX and one NAPA). I bought the Tokyo Roki Subaru branded filters listed as intended for the WRX in bulk (they were a little over $4/filter when I ordered 10, part # ends in 170) and am set with those for quite some time. I stopped using the blue cans from the Subaru dealer because I did not like how thin their cases were, never had any issues but chose to go with a more solid filter.

 

[Canadastang]

I wonder if Wix are going to start tearing like the Purolator line now...

 

[vitez]

Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
Seeing the thread on Mann buying Wix, if you were going to improve on Wix/Napa filters what changes should they make or should they just leave them as they are?


Don't fix it if it ain't broke! Leave them alone.

Higher filtration efficiency is always nice but there's also a market for less efficient/cheaper price point oil filters, ie NAPA Silver vs Gold, so as long they keep having the upper tier product I'll be OK with them.

 

[amptramp]

I have a 2009 Legacy Wagon with the same symptoms as Virtus_Probi - the filter loosens after a while and drips oil on the ground. I have since changed the oil and replaced the filter with an AMSOIL EA15K13, the longer version of the standard filter. When I was removing the old filter, it came off with just thumb and index finger pressure and this seems to be a common complaint with Wix filters on Subaru's.

I think I understand why this filter tries to escape on a Subaru but is perfectly OK on my Miata: In a flat-4 engine the primary and secondary forces and moments are cancelled out in the plane of the pistons, but since the cylinders are offset from each other, you get a rotational vibration about a vertical axis. My 1993 Impreza had a nasty vibration between 2700 and 3000 RPM because of this, but the vibration is around a vertical axis, like an anniversary clock with the vertical torsion pendulum. The filter is mounted vertically so in one direction, it tries to unscrew the filter and this is aided by the internal pressure. Oil filter tightness should be a regular maintenance check on a Subaru.

I did not have this problem with the Impreza, only the Legacy. BTW I was using the longer version of the Wix filter, so it is the same oversize as the new Amsoil filter. If anyone has a better explanation, I am interested.

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
I use 1040 and 1036 filers but they just broke ground on O'Rielly's and I will be able to get the Wix cheaper.

I bought a dozen Napa Gold filters for my GM V8s online for about $5 ea delivered. They are used with synthetic oils (usually M1) according to OLM-about 6-7,000 miles. They work just fine.

 

[crazyoildude]

Leave them alone be real.. they were a good filter for a long long time Don't fix what is not broke.

 

[jongies3]

Not sure how I feel about this. Mann+Hummel owns Purolator and the rise in media tears and ADBV cuts started after acquisition by Mann+Hummel. I don't want to see WIX spoiled by it either. Purolator went from being one of the best all around filters out there just a few years ago to one of the worst.

 

[danthaman1980]

Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
Seeing the thread on Mann buying Wix, if you were going to improve on Wix/Napa filters what changes should they make or should they just leave them as they are?


Leave the USA-made stuff alone for sure.
The made-in-mexico stuff? Based on my recent teardown of a 57002, maybe those need fixing.

Originally Posted By: Canadastang
I wonder if Wix are going to start tearing like the Purolator line now...

Maybe they already are