UPDATE - Defective Fram Ultra? Missing ADBV leads to engine damage in 2018 Mazda6?

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Earlier this month, there was a thread about a defective fram ultra filter for a mazda 2.5L. Because of some bickering, the thread was locked.

An update was posted on another forum so I thought y'all might be interested -

Original thread: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...leads-to-engine-damage-in-2018-mazda6.337263/

Update:
"Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone for their advice, insights and recommendations, they were all appreciated! I wanted to give everyone an update about what happened. After I took my car back from the Mazda dealership and decided to bring it to an independent mechanic for a second opinion. Long story short, I decided to have the mechanic take apart the engine to see if he could find the seal (since the Mazda dealership didn't do this for me, they only assumed the seal was there). Lo and behold, as seen in pictures, the orange seal was blocked inside the engine. I ended up getting replacing my engine and just recently sent the filter back to Fram to inspect with all the details from the Mazda dealership and my independent mechanic. I just got my car back on Thursday after everything was fixed so everything is okay now. But lesson learned on getting an oil change from the dealership while under warranty going forward. Let me know if you guys have any questions. Thank you again for everyone's posts!"


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Stayed out of linked thread. My thought, Wow. A large chunk of(initial pics makes it seem like entire) adbv sucked into the engine would be a very rare occurrence indeed.

It's a weird one.
 
Sounds like Fram will be paying for the fix. As mentioned in the now locked thread ... always inspect and shake a new filter before installing it. If the guts of an oil filter are loose for whatever reason it's possible the ADBV could get swept into the engine. This could happen on any brand of filter if the guts are loose and the ADBV is not tightly pinched in place. Especially if the delta-p across the filter increases or spikes for some reason. Could be that this failure didn't happen right away is because the filter loaded up and/or the car was started in very cold weather and the delta-p spiked up enough to dislodge the loose ADBV.

michael007 - since you're on that other chat board can you ask her if Fram is taking responsibility?
 
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The loose guts, rattler issue is something to watch for. Other styles of adbv are below the thread, much harder to sweep the adbv down the hole than on a Fram. Vindicates all the Fram can be defective sometimes too folks, the not so latched onto their brand folks. All the theories in the world why it can't be the filter, gone with one picture. This must be the first verified case of an oil filter destroying an engine.
 
It was said many times in those other threads that the engine needed to be torn into to verify if the ADBV went into the engine or if the ADBV wasn't there to begin with. It was all just theories before that happened. This is definitely a super rare failure.

Even ADBVs not designed like Fram's could get swept into the engine if the guts are loose. If the ADBV is not pinched tight, then the area the ADBV resides in essentially becomes a base end bypass area, and the delta-p and oil flow across that area is constantly trying to push the ADBV into the center tube area. There is always delta-p going on continuously on every oil filter in the world, and if the ADBV is not pinched tightly enough there is always danger of it getting dislodged and swept into the engine.
 
Just wondering if oil pressure spiked somehow and tore and pushed that piece into engine? You know some folks expect their stock engine to rev like a race engine. Bouncing off of a rev limiter with cold oil.......?
 
michael007 - since you're on that other chat board can you ask her if Fram is taking responsibility?

will do. her last update was she's waiting on Fram to analyze the filter kit

I'm pretty sure she ended up with a used engine because Mazda told her a new engine was out of stock (plus I doubt she wanted to pay for a new engine out of pocket - without a confirmation Fram is taking responsibility..)
 
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I wouldn't have believed this was possible.

This is what is known as a "black swan event". There can be a theory that black swans can't exist, and you can say black swans don't exist, but all it takes is one photo of a black swan, and that theory is done forever.

PS I've heard there actually are black swans in Australia.
 
It was said many times in those other threads that the engine needed to be torn into to verify if the ADBV went into the engine or if the ADBV wasn't there to begin with. It was all just theories before that happened. This is definitely a super rare failure.

Even ADBVs not designed like Fram's could get swept into the engine if the guts are loose. If the ADBV is not pinched tight, then the area the ADBV resides in essentially becomes a base end bypass area, and the delta-p and oil flow across that area is constantly trying to push the ADBV into the center tube area. There is always delta-p going on continuously on every oil filter in the world, and if the ADBV is not pinched tightly enough there is always danger of it getting dislodged and swept into the engine.
Not worth it, deleted.
I hope she gets the cost of a new engine even if she had to get a used one put in.
 
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Not like the windshield wiper company that bought Fram would shave pennies off materials cost or quality control.

It's possible the filter was damaged somewhere between coming off the assembly line and getting installed. Heck, the mechanic could have butter fingered it and dropped it, or it was damaged in shipping somehow which caused the guts to become loose. Now if Fram cuts the filter open and finds there was no leaf spring in the dome end, then that would definitely be a manufacturing defect.
 
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