List of Purolator failures

[Powerhaze]

I aplaud those that take the time to cut open an oil filter and look at it. I see those kinds of things, tears, colapsed elements etc and typically it's because of high diff pressure, caused by too long of an oil drain interval or some moisture in the oil which plugs cellulose. Many times a company will advertise a high efficiency filter which sounds good but the result is very short life.
PS
There is a reason the filter only costs $1 - 2 bucks and it's not because of quality.

 

[crazyoildude]

thank you but a lot of people stopped using them including us

 

[Jakegday]

Have there been any Bosch Distance + failures reported? i just put one on my car, where it will be for the next 6 months, and am debating on changing it out for a wix.. thoughts?

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: Jakegday
Have there been any Bosch Distance + failures reported? i just put one on my car, where it will be for the next 6 months, and am debating on changing it out for a wix.. thoughts?


Have not heard any reports of Distance Plus with media tears. Bosch says the D+ has "Advanced Synthetic Fiber Media", so that could very well prevent any media issues. I would leave it on the car.

Bosch Distance Plus Brochure

 

[901Memphis]

Did you guys see that this was noted of PureOne tear back in 2011?

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/94-98-7...er-failure.html

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Did you guys see that this was noted of PureOne tear back in 2011?

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/94-98-7...er-failure.html


How about this one from May 2011 - reported by me.
Clicky Here

 

[Cristobal]

Originally Posted By: Jakegday
Have there been any Bosch Distance + failures reported? i just put one on my car, where it will be for the next 6 months, and am debating on changing it out for a wix.. thoughts?


How about the Pure One? Does it have synthetic media too? I know there have been some Pure One failures as of late.

 

[nobb]

Just took apart two separate Purolator Classic L20195 filters used on a 2006 Ford Freestar and 2007 Ford Ranger on 5W20 for 10,000km. BOTH filters had torn media, Im very disappointed. I also examined a Purolator Classic L10242 used in a 1998 Toyota 4Runner for 8000kms on 5W30 and this filter did not have any tears. Maybe the smaller filters are more durable.

Any updates on how the company (Purolator/Bosch) is handling this problem? Do we need to spam their Facebook page to get some attention on this issue?

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: nobb
Just took apart two separate Purolator Classic L20195 filters used on a 2006 Ford Freestar and 2007 Ford Ranger on 5W20 for 10,000km. BOTH filters had torn media, Im very disappointed. I also examined a Purolator Classic L10242 used in a 1998 Toyota 4Runner for 8000kms on 5W30 and this filter did not have any tears. Maybe the smaller filters are more durable.

Any updates on how the company (Purolator/Bosch) is handling this problem? Do we need to spam their Facebook page to get some attention on this issue?


Last thing I heard from Purolator directly via email was "We are proposing a field exchange program since our in house testing using clean oil has failed to duplicate any of the claims. Members in the proposed program get a filter, monitor their usage and send it back to us for pressure, restriction and impulse tests before we cut it open. We can then tell the effective performance of the filter before conducting the destructive internal inspection. Of course this would have to be limited to various locations around the country and to a limited number of participants who we can expect to provide meticulous records. You can imagine the logistics of such an endeavor."

I told him he should at first just go out into the employee parking lot and swap out 50 Purolator filters and let us know how many were torn, as simple as that. I just got overly-complicated answers back after I proposed that, just posturing and CYA type stuff.

 

[nobb]

That just sounds like a carefully worded reply to mitigate liability. At the end of the day, it's about the bottom line. And right now their bottom line isn't being hit. I'd bet that this torn filter problem is peanuts compared to losing their contract with Walmart.

Of course their in-house testing with CLEAN OIL isn't going to yield definitive results. The filters need to be subjected to the automotive environment, which includes: dirty oil, hundreds of hot/cold starts, temperature extremes, and vibration.

Have they actually gone above and beyond for anyone here who has brought up this problem with them? Offering an equally defective filter replacement does not count.

 

[Cooper]

I would assume they will quietly make a change on the line to address the wide pleat seam. They can try and hide their head in the sand and correct the problem. They are never going to admit to having a problem. They may make changes to fix it though.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: nobb
Just took apart two separate Purolator Classic L20195 filters used on a 2006 Ford Freestar and 2007 Ford Ranger on 5W20 for 10,000km. BOTH filters had torn media, Im very disappointed.


Those are the first reported 20195 filters with media tears.

What are the date codes on the can?

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: FetchFar
I told him he should at first just go out into the employee parking lot and swap out 50 Purolator filters and let us know how many were torn, as simple as that. I just got overly-complicated answers back after I proposed that, just posturing and CYA type stuff.

Exactly - this is all head in the sand type stuff on the part of Purolator. While they don't (and no filter manufacturer does) cover the use of improper speced oil viscosity or the wrong filter (based on their application guide), in reality, any filter that can't handle 20w-50 in Florida or the correct, 5w-30 in Saskatchewan in -40 C has some issues.

Go to the quick lubes and pick through their "garbage." There will be a big mix of usage patterns there, from guys changing every 3,000 miles with the exactly specified grade, to guys running 20,000 miles on a filter. In the end, unless the thing is packed with sludge, it should never have a tear. Meticulous records are great from a scientific perspective and in trying to trace the issue. But, there shouldn't be one tear, period.

The best part of going through the "garbage" at a quick lube is that they would see something important with their own eyes. Wix, Hastings, Fram, and others aren't being riddled with torn media. Even the Purolator sourced Motorcrafts seem to be immune. Yet, the Purolators get torn. So, if they find that the only brand of filters that are experiencing tears are Purolators when they pick through the ruins, they can go through their own "meticulous records" and see if they can piece together where they fell on their collective keesters.

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: FetchFar
I told him he should at first just go out into the employee parking lot and swap out 50 Purolator filters and let us know how many were torn, as simple as that. I just got overly-complicated answers back after I proposed that, just posturing and CYA type stuff.

Exactly - this is all head in the sand type stuff on the part of Purolator. While they don't (and no filter manufacturer does) cover the use of improper speced oil viscosity or the wrong filter (based on their application guide), in reality, any filter that can't handle 20w-50 in Florida or the correct, 5w-30 in Saskatchewan in -40 C has some issues.

Go to the quick lubes and pick through their "garbage." There will be a big mix of usage patterns there, from guys changing every 3,000 miles with the exactly specified grade, to guys running 20,000 miles on a filter. In the end, unless the thing is packed with sludge, it should never have a tear. Meticulous records are great from a scientific perspective and in trying to trace the issue. But, there shouldn't be one tear, period.

The best part of going through the "garbage" at a quick lube is that they would see something important with their own eyes. Wix, Hastings, Fram, and others aren't being riddled with torn media. Even the Purolator sourced Motorcrafts seem to be immune. Yet, the Purolators get torn. So, if they find that the only brand of filters that are experiencing tears are Purolators when they pick through the ruins, they can go through their own "meticulous records" and see if they can piece together where they fell on their collective keesters.


Fram does that. They simply & easily collect oil filters randomly and check'em for any notable catastrophic failures to see if a pattern is developing. You make a good point about the media sludging, if present, will show if the filter was left in too long, yet it should be hard to break/tear the media on just normal dirty filters.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: FetchFar
Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: FetchFar
I told him he should at first just go out into the employee parking lot and swap out 50 Purolator filters and let us know how many were torn, as simple as that. I just got overly-complicated answers back after I proposed that, just posturing and CYA type stuff.

Exactly - this is all head in the sand type stuff on the part of Purolator. While they don't (and no filter manufacturer does) cover the use of improper speced oil viscosity or the wrong filter (based on their application guide), in reality, any filter that can't handle 20w-50 in Florida or the correct, 5w-30 in Saskatchewan in -40 C has some issues.

Go to the quick lubes and pick through their "garbage." There will be a big mix of usage patterns there, from guys changing every 3,000 miles with the exactly specified grade, to guys running 20,000 miles on a filter. In the end, unless the thing is packed with sludge, it should never have a tear. Meticulous records are great from a scientific perspective and in trying to trace the issue. But, there shouldn't be one tear, period.

The best part of going through the "garbage" at a quick lube is that they would see something important with their own eyes. Wix, Hastings, Fram, and others aren't being riddled with torn media. Even the Purolator sourced Motorcrafts seem to be immune. Yet, the Purolators get torn. So, if they find that the only brand of filters that are experiencing tears are Purolators when they pick through the ruins, they can go through their own "meticulous records" and see if they can piece together where they fell on their collective keesters.


Fram does that. They simply & easily collect oil filters randomly and check'em for any notable catastrophic failures to see if a pattern is developing. You make a good point about the media sludging, if present, will show if the filter was left in too long, yet it should be hard to break/tear the media on just normal dirty filters.


Any oil filter should be able to take a delta-p of at least equal to its bypass valve setting without damaging the media. For most oil filters, that's a delta-p of at least 10~12 PSI.

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix

Any oil filter should be able to take a delta-p of at least equal to its bypass valve setting without damaging the media. For most oil filters, that's a delta-p of at least 10~12 PSI.


Are bypass events a near certainty if starting up a, say, 5w-30 on a 10degF day? I seem to remember that to be the case. common event, and an oil filter must be able to hold up

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: FetchFar
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix

Any oil filter should be able to take a delta-p of at least equal to its bypass valve setting without damaging the media. For most oil filters, that's a delta-p of at least 10~12 PSI.


Are bypass events a near certainty if starting up a, say, 5w-30 on a 10degF day? I seem to remember that to be the case. common event, and an oil filter must be able to hold up


Maybe, maybe not ... depends on what kind of volume the oil pump puts out and the engine RPM involved. I'm sure if someone started an engine under those cold conditions and revved it to 3000 RPM you'd certainly get the bypass valve to open up. If the bypass valve is designed correctly, the delta-p across the media shouldn't get any higher than the upper limit setting of the bypass valve.

And yes, if an oil filter is designed and manufactured as designed, the media should be able to take whatever maximum delat-p the bypass valve allows across the media without tearing/failing.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Any oil filter should be able to take a delta-p of at least equal to its bypass valve setting without damaging the media. For most oil filters, that's a delta-p of at least 10~12 PSI.

That's another good point. After all, if the bypass cannot protect the media, what are they using for media?

 

[bullwinkle]

If a Puro uses a metal crimp to hold the seam together (as opposed to the glued seams on the QS & Motorcrafts)-they seem to be a risk. Mann/Purolator's response says to me-STAY AWAY!

 

[SilverC6]

Anyone ever post a UOA showing egregious amounts of wear metals due to the awful grit, sand, and rocks not filtered out by these dread Purolator filters?

Or is the remaining intact portion of the filter taking care of business as some have suggested?