SuperTech ST3600 2,200mi 3.5 months

[Virtuoso]

Ahh, here we have a lovely specimen of an e-core ST3600 filter. This unit was in use for about 2,200 miles and three-and-a-half months on a '98 3.8L Windstar. Still not sure what to make of the striations in the media.
The "endcaps" peeled away easier than most other e-cores, but they were still firmly attached.

"Whole" view:

Some junk in the bottom of the can:

Side 1:

Side 2: (The cuts at the bottom are from the dremel)

Money Shot (seam):

You can see one of the pleats next to the seam had folded over.


I moved the folded-over pleat back, and the media had a couple small tears in it where it had folded. Not really sure if they happend when I moved the pleat back or not..

Media layed out flat..

 

[oilboy123]

Double the miles......looks great.

 

[tinmanSC]

You have some junk in the bottom of the can there (as you noted) but my real concern is that as I looked at the filter media I could see what looked like small metal flecks. It's very hard tell if that was the camera or not, but it appears in all of the pictures of the filter media. These flecks look clean, so I'm hoping it was just metal shavings from cutting with the Dremmel tool?

As for the end caps... well... as long as they stay together in your application I call it good.

 

[MrMeeks]

These filters just don't last long.I get the napa filter like this for $3.24.a little more money well spent.

 

[webfors]

I don't like that open space in the pleats with an ecore. Recipe for disaster. Why the heck can't champ labs make evenly spaced tight pleats!? How much extra would it really cost? Come on...

 

[Virtuoso]

The camera is an old Kodak EasyShare C330..at least 4 1/2 years old. It's the best we have right now, so I gotta use what works

The digitizer they used is probably not top-notch.

The really shiny bits that you see are actually small, very reflective pieces of carbon/broken down oil in the media. I know, I was really concerned the first few times I saw them. There are a lot more of them in the higher-milage filters I cut open from our Malibu. But they are really only reflective at certain angles/sides of view.

I love to defend my e-cores, and may still use them on these low-milage OCI's on the van (slow internal cooalnt leak). But the spacing next to the seam is horrible! If the pleats were even, it would be a much stronger design.

I think the center cage on the Super Tech filter I installed this time only has five colums of "windows" in the cage instead of this filter's six. They look to have closed off the top row of them. Will be easier to show you once I have that one off the van and cut open as well.

I used to subscribe to the "oil filters are a useless apendage" crowd, but this was a short, low milage OCI and it still trapped a surprizing amount of junk.

 

[Virtuoso]

Oh, and the media measured out at 200sq inches.

 

[jorton]

Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
I moved the folded-over pleat back, and the media had a couple small tears in it where it had folded.

No good. I pryed apart pleats on another used filter that had double the miles on it to check for metals and it didn't tear.

 

[chubbs1]

Man, I have to say this reminds me of the OCOD. If your a person who "subscribes" to the filters aren't a useless appendage crowd why not spend a few more bucks and get a better filter. Heck I cut open a Puro Classic yesterday with double the miles and it looked better than that. I'm not condemning you by any means, but I sure would use a better filter. I'm sure the Classic is pretty reasonable for your app. (short OCI's).

 

[Scienceman]

Looks ok but ehhh....

 

[Virtuoso]

Originally Posted By: chubbs1
Man, I have to say this reminds me of the OCOD. If your a person who "subscribes" to the filters aren't a useless appendage crowd why not spend a few more bucks and get a better filter. Heck I cut open a Puro Classic yesterday with double the miles and it looked better than that. I'm not condemning you by any means, but I sure would use a better filter. I'm sure the Classic is pretty reasonable for your app. (short OCI's).


Hey, no offense taken.

This van is not what you might consider showroom condition. Rust, or a deer in the road will likely take this thing out before a filter will. And if a failed filter does..I'm anal enough to cut it open and find out

With the short OCI's and devil-may-care attitude about this Windstar, it's the perfect candidate to run cheap filter's and see what happens.

I have cut e-core's (not ST's, but STP's and AC/Delco's) with over three times this milage and never had a pleat tear like this one. This filter had by far the worst spacing by the seam that I've personally seen. BUT, even with that torn pleat, it still filtered and did it's job. I could not say for sure if it was torn before I moved it or not. But either way, the way it folded allowed this to happen, and could allow for a blow-through given enough time/pressure.

I could not trust it for the distances I run on our car though. Same amount of time, but over triple the milage. And as soon as I get my hands on a dome-end filter wrench that fits Purolators, I will likely be running Quaker State's. (Cost mainly, at $2/filter you can't beat that)

 

[flatlandtacoma]

Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
as soon as I get my hands on a dome-end filter wrench that fits Purolators,


Slightly off-topic, but I find those filter wrenches are worthless! I always put my filters on and take them off by hand. If you are installing your own filters correctly, you shouldn't need a wrench to get them off.

If someone else installed one too tight, Murphy's law says your dome end wrench isn't going to fit the brand of filter they installed!

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
The "endcaps" peeled away easier than most other e-cores, but they were still firmly attached.

Thats what i found too when inspecting a few the end caps tore off VERY easily looks like it could fail with little ease.

these filters are [censored] look at the terrible glue job on some....and look at the small area in between the can and the end cap for the oil to flow into the filter,talk about restriction.

why anyone would run this [censored] over a WIX,NG,CQR,P1 or any other decent made filter is beyond me.

 

[AuthorEditor]

I'm beginning to think that one of the hidden problems with a lot of filters is the quality of the paper media itself. On an Ecore it is rather critical that the paper can't tear, because if it does the large holes in the cage have the potential to let really big chunks of filter material into the engine. On PureOne and MC filters I have cut open with OCIs up to 6200 miles and one year I have been impressed with how tough the filter material remains--very hard to tear deliberately. And, I have never observed a tear or hole as the filter comes off the car. We can't tell how good the filter media is by just looking at it, which I think is a great argument for a traditional steel center tube and end caps in order to minimize the potential for blow outs.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
I think is a great argument for a traditional steel center tube and end caps in order to minimize the potential for blow outs.

Thats just it with a escrap the potential of a blow out from a users extended OCI or moisture problem is just to great.

 

[Virtuoso]

I love my dome-end wrench. I have one that fits the Champ-labs filters and it works fine. Perhaps one that is builder-specific will work better than a universal? I hope I can find one that fits Puro's.

There isn't much room at all to get your hand (or strap wrench) around the filter on the Windstar. I had to do it once and I will never do it again. I scraped my wrist up good on the subframe.

I run these filters because they are dirt cheap, and I'm minimizing my maintenance costs as much as I can. There's just no reason to dump any more money into this van than I have to (or either car, for that matter). Even a dollar. Especailly for these super-short OCI's.

Now that I can get Purolator-made filter's for $2, there's a good chance the SuperTech that is on there now will be the last.

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
Now that I can get Purolator-made filter's for $2, there's a good chance the SuperTech that is on there now will be the last.

Let me put it this way. If there were only two filters available for my application, one a Fram for $10 and the other an ecore for free I'd buy the Fram. I don't trust ecores in any application because you can't inspect the media before it goes on the car, and since the quality and spacing of the media defines whether the filter is safe or not, I choose not to use it.

I bought a stash of P1's for $3 each using AAP's discount codes. The classics would have been even cheaper. For my application the Puro 14612 is a great filter.

 

[webfors]

BTW, it's not 'supertech' I have an issue with, it's any ecore, regardless of brand on the can.

 

[Virtuoso]

PureONE's for $3 is a sweet deal. That's about what I pay for an Super Tech filter.

 

[musicmanbass]

Look up the deals on Advance Auto Parts' $5 P1 sale and use coupon codes for 40% pff online purchases. If you don't have a store near you, they have free shipping for purchases over $75.