Post Fram Ultra!

[BISCUT]

What does the guy (That would be ME!) who used Ultra's for years now, run for a filter? Jury on the new Ultra material and construction is still out but it is not looking all that promising. I have the previous filters for my Subaru and F150 to last another year or so. Candidates? Single use for often 7/8k to 10k OCI.

 

[ZeeOSix]

What's not looking so promising about the new Ultra?

 

[MParr]

The new FRAM Ultra will certainly make it 10,000 miles.
One oil filter per oil change. It makes absolutely no sense to change your oil without changing the filter.

 

[Ignatius]

What does the guy (That would be ME!) who used Ultra's for years now, run for a filter? Jury on the new Ultra material and construction is still out but it is not looking all that promising. I have the previous filters for my Subaru and F150 to last another year or so. Candidates? Single use for often 7/8k to 10k OCI.

Subaru: Wix 57055 or Napa Gold 7055

Ford: Royal Purple

 

[JoelB]

I haven't seen anything yet that will make me stop using an Ultra.

 

[DuckRyder]

....
One oil filter per oil change. It makes absolutely no sense to change your oil without changing the filter.

And off we go..........

What does the guy (That would be ME!) who used Ultra's for years now, run for a filter? ....

Can we still get wire backed depth media from Amsoil or Royal Purple?

For me it is OE...

 

[BISCUT]

What's not looking so promising about the new Ultra?

I did couch my words and state jury is still out. For me, the design changes do not exactly inspire confidence. Maybe the changes are fine and allow a lower manufacturing cost to the company AND remain a robust filter. Most often this is not the case.

Fram Ultra filter material failure

Pulled my Fram ultra filter from my 2005 Mazda 6 2.3 liter today. The filter material has completely detached from the plastic frame. This is 8000ish miles running Mobil 1 0w40 with some Castol 0w20 top off. Not cool Fram. I did add Mos2 about 3000 miles in because I was curious about how it...

bobistheoilguy.com

Not causing alarm, but it got me thinking and I believe we may see more and more of these types of threads. I'd be ecstatic if this is not the case.

 

[BISCUT]

The new FRAM Ultra will certainly make it 10,000 miles.
One oil filter per oil change. It makes absolutely no sense to change your oil without changing the filter.

The old one was a 20k rating as is the new one. I do not go over 10k and most often 8k. While I wouldn't use the Ultra for multiple OCI's that I normally run; I ask why such an emphatic statement? If I were running 5k OCI on either of the vehicles in my Sig, I would go 2 OCI's and not have a worry. To me, all depends upon the situation.

 

[BISCUT]

I haven't seen anything yet that will make me stop using an Ultra.

Neither have I. I also haven't had any experiences with the new version. I do vut open all my filters to inspect. The previous version was vanilla and rather boring, exactly what I wanted. But I wonder what is out there comparable to the Ultra should there be issues.

 

[JoelB]

Neither have I. I also haven't had any experiences with the new version. I do vut open all my filters to inspect. The previous version was vanilla and rather boring, exactly what I wanted. But I wonder what is out there comparable to the Ultra should there be issues.

I'm not 100% up to speed but I haven't see any mention of a change in filtration efficiency. Which to me is the big win of the Ultra. I can live without the wire backed media. Its a downgrade, but I'm not exactly terrified of a filter collapsing.

 

[Eddie]

A very good filter and I see no reason to over-react to these changes. Ed

 

[RooflessVW]

The new FRAM Ultra will certainly make it 10,000 miles.
One oil filter per oil change. It makes absolutely no sense to change your oil without changing the filter.

Honda seems to think it does.

 

[RooflessVW]

Fram Ultra filter material failure

Pulled my Fram ultra filter from my 2005 Mazda 6 2.3 liter today. The filter material has completely detached from the plastic frame. This is 8000ish miles running Mobil 1 0w40 with some Castol 0w20 top off. Not cool Fram. I did add Mos2 about 3000 miles in because I was curious about how it...

bobistheoilguy.com

Not causing alarm, but it got me thinking and I believe we may see more and more of these types of threads. I'd be ecstatic if this is not the case.

That cartridge filter uses a totally different media and construction method than either the new or old canister Fram Ultra.

 

[Ignatius]

I did couch my words and state jury is still out. For me, the design changes do not exactly inspire confidence. Maybe the changes are fine and allow a lower manufacturing cost to the company AND remain a robust filter. Most often this is not the case.

Fram Ultra filter material failure

Pulled my Fram ultra filter from my 2005 Mazda 6 2.3 liter today. The filter material has completely detached from the plastic frame. This is 8000ish miles running Mobil 1 0w40 with some Castol 0w20 top off. Not cool Fram. I did add Mos2 about 3000 miles in because I was curious about how it...

bobistheoilguy.com

Not causing alarm, but it got me thinking and I believe we may see more and more of these types of threads. I'd be ecstatic if this is not the case.

Are we talking about can filters or cartridge filters in this thread that you have created? Subaru does not use cartridge filters so referring to a Fram Ultra cartridge filter failure does not apply to Subaru. Apples to apples please

 

[BISCUT]

I'm not 100% up to speed but I haven't see any mention of a change in filtration efficiency. Which to me is the big win of the Ultra. I can live without the wire backed media. Its a downgrade, but I'm not exactly terrified of a filter collapsing.

IIRC the reported (by Fram) filtration efficiency remains the same. I have not seen any indy testing and am unaware if any has occurred.

 

[BISCUT]

A very good filter and I see no reason to over-react to these changes. Ed

I question the changes and made clear the jury is still out. I don't see that as an overreaction. I'm open for now, it could even be better than the previous iteration, time will tell.

 

[BISCUT]

Are we talking about can filters or cartridge filters in this thread that you have created? Subaru does not use cartridge filters so referring to a Fram Ultra cartridge filter failure does not apply to Subaru. Apples to apples please

In my application, can filter only. Media is the same from a cartridge to a can, no?

 

[RooflessVW]

In my application, can filter only. Media is the same from a cartridge to a can, no?

No

 

[BISCUT]

No

Time for me to learn something. The filter media in a Fram Ultra can is different than the media in an Ultra cartridge?

 

[RooflessVW]

Time for me to learn something. The filter media in a Fram Ultra can is different than the media in an Ultra cartridge?

In the past they used the wire-backed pink media. Now they more commonly, if not entirely, use a nylon backed white media similar to the Purolator Boss.