dnewton3
Staff member
All -
The following is the current means of deciphering some of the major oil filter date codes.
As we gain more info, the thread will be updated, and as we become aware of changes, we'll make those updates as well.
Note: the date code is what we are specifically addressing. Manufacturer internal info such as what faciliy location, assy line, shift could all be possible reasons for the other numbers; this is a common practice in manufacuring.
Many thanks go directly to ZeeOSix; he contributed to the basis for this thread.
Fram Oil Filters
Example: A00363
The underlined digits in the date code represents the manufactured date. In this example ...
- the 0 represents the last digit of the year (2020)
- and 036 represents the Julian date (36th day of 2020).
So this date code is Feb 5th, 2020.
(you can find several Julian date conversion tools using your search engine)
Purolator Oil Filters
Example: F02L22F1
The underlined digits in the date code represents the manufactured date. In this example ...
- the 02 represents the month (Feb)
- the L represents the year (2019 - see the year decipher table below),
- and the 22 (after the L) represents the day of the month.
So this date code is Feb 22, 2019.
Motorcraft Oil Filters
Example: 903261823
The underlined digits in the date code represents the manufactured date. In this example it's a simple recongnizable approach ... not much to "decode"; just recognize it's embedded in the sequence.
So this date code is Mar 26, 2018.
Plain date codes - common examples
These are examples of date codes which are also straight forward and don't really need "decoding". Many brands use this format such as Auto Extra, Baldwin, and so on, so we won't list them all but just these as examples. Here the date leads the character string.
Format is DDMMYY ...
Below:
May 11, 2021 ...................................................and July 6, 2021.
Royal Purple ..... June 16, 2021
Champ Labs .... July 9, 2017
Wix ..... May 1, 2021
More to be added as we gain info
The following is the current means of deciphering some of the major oil filter date codes.
As we gain more info, the thread will be updated, and as we become aware of changes, we'll make those updates as well.
Note: the date code is what we are specifically addressing. Manufacturer internal info such as what faciliy location, assy line, shift could all be possible reasons for the other numbers; this is a common practice in manufacuring.
Many thanks go directly to ZeeOSix; he contributed to the basis for this thread.
Fram Oil Filters
Example: A00363
The underlined digits in the date code represents the manufactured date. In this example ...
- the 0 represents the last digit of the year (2020)
- and 036 represents the Julian date (36th day of 2020).
So this date code is Feb 5th, 2020.
(you can find several Julian date conversion tools using your search engine)
Purolator Oil Filters
Example: F02L22F1
The underlined digits in the date code represents the manufactured date. In this example ...
- the 02 represents the month (Feb)
- the L represents the year (2019 - see the year decipher table below),
- and the 22 (after the L) represents the day of the month.
So this date code is Feb 22, 2019.
Motorcraft Oil Filters
Example: 903261823
The underlined digits in the date code represents the manufactured date. In this example it's a simple recongnizable approach ... not much to "decode"; just recognize it's embedded in the sequence.
So this date code is Mar 26, 2018.
Plain date codes - common examples
These are examples of date codes which are also straight forward and don't really need "decoding". Many brands use this format such as Auto Extra, Baldwin, and so on, so we won't list them all but just these as examples. Here the date leads the character string.
Format is DDMMYY ...
Below:
May 11, 2021 ...................................................and July 6, 2021.
Royal Purple ..... June 16, 2021
Champ Labs .... July 9, 2017
Wix ..... May 1, 2021
More to be added as we gain info
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