Purolator Premium Plus oil filters

[Patman]

Are these filters any good? They claim to offer 15-20 micron filtering (at what % level I don't know
though) which is a tad better than the AC Delco filters I'm currently using. In the past I
always used the premium filters, but there aren't many of them available up here, so they
are very costly (K&Ns are $17.99 each in Canada, same with PureONEs)

I can buy the AC Delco filters for $3 at Walmart up here, and the Purolator Premium Plus
are around the same, about $3-4. I figure if the Purolator filters offer a bit finer filtration, and
are of a sturdy design that won't leak, I might just use them. I do have one of their filters sitting
in my closet actually, I just never got around to using it (I've also got two AC Delcos there,
one stock size, one longer size)

 

[UncleS2]

I figure they're about as good as the Delco, Lee, & some others. The Pure One is their premium filter, ~$6 US down here. One thing about the Purolators- they're very "thin skinned". That is, the outer case temds to be pretty thin-give one the thumb test. Have you seen the Mini-Mopar filters test page? Don't have the addy handy, but a lot of good info there, even if some is getting a bit dated.

 

[Patman]

Yep, I saw the mini mopar oil filter page years ago, but I still have my doubts as to whether or not that guy has a clue what makes a good oil filter. At least he is right about the Fram, these filters will never go on a car I own!

 

[bottgers]

Stuart Hughes

You may think those PureOnes are "thin skinned", but have you ever heard of one splitting? I sure haven't. I don't think it's as much the Purolators being thin skinned as it is some of the others being thick skinned, or a case of overkill.

[ July 02, 2002, 10:15 PM: Message edited by: bottgers ]

 

[sprintman]

Yeah I'm using PureONE at this time. Seem to do the job OK, and was pretty hard to cut open after my Auto-Rx clean! M1 would be my 1st choice but not available here.

 

[bottgers]

If money were no object, M1 would be my choice. However, money is always an object, so I go with PureOne. They're about 50/100 the price of the M1, but about 99/100 as good.

 

[UncleS2]

Good point, Bottgers, but it's not bursting that concerns me. I'm concerned with getting a puncture from some errant piece of gravel or road debris. And I did run 2 Pure One's in a row w/no problems. I totally agree w/ your cost/benefit concern; years ago, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks & struts gave almost the same cost/benefit ratio to Bilsteins!

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by bottgers:
If money were no object, M1 would be my choice. However, money is always an object, so I go with PureOne. They're about 50/100 the price of the M1, but about 99/100 as good.

---

A few weeks ago I got an email from someone on LS1.com who needed the Mobil 1 part
numbers for oil filters, because he said his local Kmart was going out of business and they
were selling these filters for 99 cents each!!

He asked for my address so he could send me a couple of them, as thanks for the help I've given him over the years, but this was a few weeks ago and no filters have arrived in my mailbox.

But back to the original question, which would you guys choose out of these two filters, the AC Delco or the Premium Plus?

 

[VaderSS]

You might check out the DuraGuard Silver.
---------------------------------------------
ACDelco's newest premium filter, the Duraguard Silver Oil Filter, balances high efficiency and resistance to flow. The Duraguard Silver filter features synthetic cellulose blend media with a single pass efficiency rating of 98 percent at 15 to 20 microns.

 

[Patman]

The Duraguard Silver was discontinued a little while before the Ultraguard Gold was discontinued.

Although they still make the UPF44 filter for the C5 owners, but that's the only one still in production.

 

[UncleS2]

Patman, in the past years, I ran quite a few AC filters on my old Volvo(sold fall 97), my Dakota(from 9/94 to 7/97), & my Neon(from 7/31/97 to present). I can offer no more scientific data than that they all seemed to do just fine.

While I have nothing against the Purolator Premium Plus(makes me wonder what's left when that's the standard!

), I've heard of bad spin-ons for more than 30 years, but until recently, had never had a problem with one. A few months ago, I had a filter with what seemed to be a bad seam. No warning, changed oil & filter on my Neon, started car, & even though I'd filled the filter, my oil light came on & stayed on. It worried me, & after some seconds, I killed the engine(Just began to hear a little valve noise). I got out, looked under the car, & had the biggest mess you ever saw. When I refilled w/oil & new filter(Pure One) after clean-up, it took the full 4.5 qts to read full- it had pumped out 4.5 qts in seconds!

This time all worked fine, & I ran it for ~3k miles(Yes, at 49 I'm one of the "better safe than sorry" brigade, though I do plan to try my Schaeffer's out to 5k or so). The bad oil filter? A Purolator Premium Plus. I ran one before with no problems, & don't think your chances of getting a bad one are any greater w/PRLTR than any other brand. In anger, I threw away the offending filter, & lost any chance of big lawsuit $$.

Guess I'm just out of place in the modern world.

If I could get "non-fram" AC's for my car for $3, & Purolator Premium Plus for $2.50 or less, I'd get the Prltr. Of course, if another one blew, I'd save the filter, no matter who made it.

 

[Patman]

After my recent oil analysis, Terry recommended to me that I stick with the AC Delcos, that they appear to be working great! I'm sold!

 

[bottgers]

I'm getting anxious to do an analysis on my Chevron SL, and the PureOne. Should tell us a little something about both. I did happen to notice that the AC Delco filters were amoung those they recommended in the Mini Mopar comparo. Couldn't be too bad of a filter.

 

[Al]

I weigh in on the side of Stuart...they are less than .010". That's about half the thickness of Mobil 1 and K&N. As an engineer I appreciate "Economy of Design"- But I am also aware of safety factors and I gladly pay for 'em when I'm crusing hundreds of miles from home.

 

[Patman]

I finally got a reply from Purolator on the specs of these filters. Here is the email I was just sent:

quote:

---

Patrick,

The efficiency of Premium oil filters are 96% and up. The single pass
efficiency is about 99% using 10 - 20 micron beads. Burst exceeds the 200
psi minimum requirement. As for the micron ratings, the standard tests are
conducted on particles ranging from 5 microns to 40 microns.

Thanks,

Nishaj Attassery
Product Engineer
ArvinMeritor/Purolator Products
(910 321 0634)

---

 

[Dominic]

I'm about to run a premium plus on mine this next oil change - in the past I've never had a problem with a delco or purolator filter and I find they're interchangeable in quality and performance. The champion (Lee, Supertech, STP) filters are also good IMO and seem to work well.

 

[Bror Jace]

I'm a little confused about the Purolator line. Do they have 2 levels of quality or merely one? Can someone name/list them and provide a modicum of differentiating description/specifications?

Are "Premium Plus" and "Pure One" the same filter?

Oh, and on the subject of "Just when you thunk you'd seen it all," I heard from an irate Honda Prelude driver who claims he and another driver had Mobil 1 filters burst while on their cars:

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=163845&page=15

So, what does he use now??? Purolator Premium Plus ... go figure.

--- Bror Jace

"I was a patriot before a being a patriot was cool"

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bror Jace:
I'm a little confused about the Purolator line. Do they have 2 levels of quality or merely one? Can someone name/list them and provide a modicum of differentiating description/specifications?

Are "Premium Plus" and "Pure One" the same filter?

[/i]

---

The PureONE is different, it uses a different filtering media which has more synthetic content, and according to Purolator, it's more efficient below 20 microns than the Premium Plus. Here is Purolator's website:

www.pureoil.com