Motorcraft FL1A Cut Open (PICS)

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I took my first filter apart today, so I figured I'd post some pictures of it. I was wanting to see what it looked like since my oil was getting black so fast with my switch to Rotella-T Synthetic 5W-40. Didn't see any debris besides what shavings there were from hack sawing this baby open. Which, btw, was harder than I thought. I eventually got a screw driver and a hammer and finished cutting it open. Here's a ton of pics, hope they aren't too many.

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About 1400 miles overall on the filter. I changed early because I wanted to see if the Rotella-T was putting anything nasty in there. It was getting black fast. I saw another picture that had some debris in the filter after using M1. And I always was under the assumption that these were Purolator filters.
 
I can't edit, but I would like to add that I thought this filter seemed very high quality. Sturdy, lots of metal used. Lots of filter area crammed into it, also. All in all, very good quality. I have 3 or 4 others sitting out, but I don't think I feel like cutting those open manually again. But... I'd like to open them all to see if they all stay in the same perfect condition.
 
I love looking at pictures of dissected oil filters. Was that a silicone ADV? It looked pretty flexible but I thought the MC filters had a red silicone ADV.

I always run the MC filters on my 2000 beater Ranger, they really are the best oil filter $3.50 will buy.
 
Rotella and other diesel rated oils have a stronger additive pack. My guess it that it's cleaning up mild gunk left from your previous oil. I know it cleaned up my rings and reduced my oil use by half on a high mileage '90 Mazda 626.
I've cut open a couple of fl-400s filters. Lots of media, and built well.
Let us know if your oil starts getting cleaner/less dirty in the future. I'm guessing it will in a change or two.
 
It's hard to compare oil colour on the dipstick since it depends on how thick a film you're looking at. Higher viscosity oil, or colder oil, will look darker than a hot but dirty 0w20.
 
I don't know the exact material of the ADBV. But, I do know that the two black 'rubber' pieces are firm, yet highly flexible. Not flimsy, but easily able to bend in half. No plastic feeling whatsoever. I know they were sitting in oil, so this may be a no brainer, but the piece felt very moist and uncrackable.

I will let ya'll know if the oil starts staying cleaner for longer. I used to do 1000 mile OCI's with Castrol GTX 10W-30 because it was getting black very fast. Although, it got to where it'd take 1000 miles to finally start getting noticeable black. That was after 15x 1,000 OCI's. Then, I switched to RTS 5W-40, and by 500 miles, the oil was black. I understand what you say, oilyriser, and I take that into consideration when looking at oil. I wipe it on a rag, I wipe it on my finger, etc. etc., to get a good view of it.

I hope nothing bad comes from this oil cleaning my engine. It may be all that's holding it together :p. Nah, but it's a 1986 5.0 that had 109,000 miles when I first got it, now I'm up to almost 124,000 miles. I haven't developed a single leak, yet, so I don't think the cleaning has done anything bad, yet.

But, the oil is very, very BLACK when I changed it. I'm hoping to see that slow down by the 4th time around of RTS 5W-40. If I do start getting some leaks, and I do mean IF, I will go to Valvoline Maxlife for a while. But, I don't want to unless I have to. I like this oil.

Oh yeah, after cutting this filter open and seeing the high quality, it must be sad for the people who cut open Fram filters and actually see cardboard for end caps. There wasn't a single piece of cardboard in this Motorcraft.

Since the oil does get black fast, cleaning up what I think the PO left behind, do you think it's a bad idea to change out soon? I think next time I'll wait at least 2000 miles to change it if it is still getting pitch black this fast. But, would it hurt to go 5-6k miles on an oil that is pitch black by 500 miles? At least no debris was in my filter, so I feel better that I can run it longer.

I think it was Overkill that took a filter apart after he had used Mobil1 and it had chunks of 'stuff' in it (debris). I figured it was from cleaning, but maybe it was a worse case.
 
MC is a nice filter. Seems Ford wants to put their name on quality stuff. Looks like it was a PIA to open up. LOL

Thanks for posting.

AD
 
It was a PIA to open, lmao. Very sturdy outer construction. I will have my cousin bringing over a Mobil1 filter (the new ones) that has been used on his 2000 S-10 for 2x OCI's. I think it will have about 12k-15k miles on it, maybe more, by the time he's ready to cut it open. He's on the 2nd OCI right now. I'm curious if it will be as hard to penetrate. It was easier cutting the exhaust on my truck than it was getting this filter open with the same hack saw. But, the hammer and screw driver method worked out a little better. Redneck :)
 
I noticed the Mobil 1 filters are much heavier (NIB) than the Purolator Pure One filters. I haven't cut any open, but I think the metal housing around the filter element is thicker, but I don't know for sure. The M1 filters seem to be very well made too. the Proline filter I got with the Peak Oil deal from PB is a joke, LOL. Ya get what ya pay for.

AD
 
Yeah, some filters feel like coke cans when you squeeze on them. Definitely not the case with Motorcraft filters or Mobil1 filters. Yeah, the M1's are probably some of the best filters made, so I'm curious to see the differences inside of the M1 and my MC.
 
I put my filters in a vise by the base plate before I take the saw to them. That works pretty well.

I usually go around 3k miles and use Purolators. In almost every car I see tiny black flecks in the filter corners. They disintegrate with the poke of a finger. I noticed you didn't have any. Anybody know what they are?
 
A large filter needs to be of thicker material, due to greater hoop stress. Good that it looks like Ford has a deal with purolator on this one.
 
Originally Posted By: Jaymus
It was a PIA to open, lmao. Very sturdy outer construction. I will have my cousin bringing over a Mobil1 filter (the new ones) that has been used on his 2000 S-10 for 2x OCI's. I think it will have about 12k-15k miles on it, maybe more, by the time he's ready to cut it open. He's on the 2nd OCI right now. I'm curious if it will be as hard to penetrate. It was easier cutting the exhaust on my truck than it was getting this filter open with the same hack saw. But, the hammer and screw driver method worked out a little better. Redneck :)

Next time you open a FL1A try just cutting through the crimp that sticks below the base plate. If you saw through this part then the can will slide of while not getting ANY shavings inside. With the way the FL1A is assembled the crimp actually ends up outside the main body of the filter.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Was that a silicone ADV? It looked pretty flexible but I thought the MC filters had a red silicone ADV.
Only the MC filters with an "S" on the end of the part # use silicone...which I believe is down to two now: the FL400S and the FL820S. The FL2005 did, too, but it's been discontinued.
 
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